Page 30 of Your Fan Forever

My eyes followed the edge of the deck and Nip's little paw came out anddisappeared.

“Nip, I’m fine,” I said. A few more inches and I could leap to theedge.

“One, two, th—” My fingers lost theirgrip.

I cried out as I flung myself toward the ledge at the lastminute.

I misjudged the distance and the width of the ledge. The dirt gave way, a blessing to my ankle. I scrambled to grab onto something. It turned to dust in my fingers and I flipped and dropped a few more feet and landed smack on a small protrusion on the mountain. My head and face throbbed inpain.

I smacked against the side of the mountain so hard my teeth rattled. A cold shiver ran through me. I groaned. I inhaled and tasteddirt.

I grabbed my head. The world swirled into indescribable images. I thought I had reached out towards the earth, but I grabbed at air. I ran my hand through my hair. My hand came away wet and slimy. A familiar sound made me look up, but I wasn’t sure where it came from for who or what it belongedto.

I blinked. Tried to focus. I picked up on an image above me, brown hair, scrunched thick brows, beautiful full sexy lips. The thought made me giggle. The lips moved, but couldn’t tell what they were saying. I reached out for it, but it was far away and I was tired, sotired.

“I’m fine. I’ll be there in a minute.” I heard myself say, but it was like the sound came from outside of myself. “I need a littlenap.”

Yeah, that’s it. I need to rest for aminute.

I heard screams andgrowls.

A few minutes and I will befine.

Just a few minutes and … the world felt warm against my cheek. My body ached, but the warmth drew mein.

I closed my eyes and the world faded toblack.