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The Brilliance of Stupid
Prompt #6
10/25/12

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a frozen forest, with night falling, and no idea what direction to go?

Nope. Didn't think so.

Well, my story starts in the middle of nowhere, with only a pair of baggy ski pants and a dingy snowboard to keep me company.

"I'm going to kill you when we get out of here."

Oh, and there was my idiot friend, Andy.

"Bryan, how many times do I have to tell you this isn't my fault?"

"Explain to me how this isn't your fault when you are the one who got the brilliant idea to ride off the trail?"

"You know not to listen to my stupid ideas!"

"If I hadn't listened to your stupid idea you would have been out here alone, half-dead, with no clue what to do. You need my brains to stay alive."

It was my intelligent friend over here who thought it would be fun to ride off the trail and have a little adventure. It would be epic, he said. So epic that I wouldn't be able to resist. Well, I could have easily turned him down, but I knew that there was no getting him out of this one, and I couldn't let him kill himself. So, here I was, fifteen miles from civilization with Andy the Stupid.

"Come on, the ride was worth it."

"The ride was worth it? Do you have any inkling- any at all- that we only have about a twenty percent chance of surviving out here? We are going to die, Andy!"

"Bryaaaan."

He gave me that whiny voice that little toddlers give their mothers when they're begging for a piece of candy. At first, I had thought it was totally cool to be Andy's friend. He was the popular guy, the one that made the girls go gaga. I had thought I was officially awesome.

Nope. I was about to die, still Bryan the Loser.

My fuse was growing short, but I refrained from throwing myself at him and clawing his eyes out.

"Fine. You know what? Fine. Let's find somewhere to camp." I held up the hand that wasn't holding a snowboard and closed my eyes in that expression that spoke 'extremely annoyed'.

"Camp?"

"Oh, for Pete's sake. You don't expect me to hike through the dead of night with grizzly bears prowling around? I'd like to keep both of my arms attached, thank you very much."

Andy just scratched his Beiber-cut black hair and shrugged.

After giving him an appropriate look of absolute frustration and exasperation, I began scouting for somewhere decent to stop. Nope, crows could peck out eyes out over there. Nah, we could be buried alive in snow here. Just somewhere decent...ah-ha!

Afraid that I would snap if I spoke to Mr. Cool again, I began trudging towards the small rock-sheltered alcove that I had spotted, without a word. Andy hesitated, before hastily scuttling after me.

* * *

"Bryan?"

"What." I grunted into my coat-covered arm, still fuming from Andy's naïve and stupid comments. I don't know why I was so ticked- perhaps imminent death did that to people.

I had insisted that we slept with our snow gear on, using our arms for pillows. If we hadn't, surely we would freeze to death. Another one of my friend's ideas was to sleep on our coats as pillows, so that the ground wasn't so hard. Did I mention he was clueless to the world?

There was some brushing as he fidgeted. "Do you really think that we could die out here?"

I blinked, turning my head a bit to look at him directly. It was hard to see- there was only the moon and stars for lighting. A fire would have been pointless, even if I had been able to start one. It had begun to lightly snow.

"There's a better chance that we die than live." I mumbled into my elbow, watching his dark silhouette.

A pause. He was obviously thinking- a first. "I just thought, maybe, you were being uptight about it," Another pause, and then an intake of breath. "Sorry."

I didn't respond for a little while, teetering on the edge of shock. Was Sir Popular actually apologizing?

"It's alright. I can forgive stupidity." A fist connected with my arm, and I grunted in pain- though a smile was forming on my face, and I could see the same expression mirrored on Andy's.

We didn't speak for a while. Assuming Andy had fallen asleep, I turned my gaze to the stars overhead. They twinkled kindly- so much clearer up here than they were at home. All of that pollution and smoke disappeared up in these peaks- everything was crystal clear. I thought, at least we'll die in beauty.

"You'll get us out of here." A slurred, exhausted voice sounded from behind me, and I jerked my head to stare over my shoulder at the bundle of snowboarding clothes. For I while, I kind of just gawked. Then I shut my jaw and blinked. His breathing had evened out, and a slight snore whistled across the treetops.

Did Andy Cynder just admit that he relied on me?

* * *

"Wake up. You sound like walrus." I nudged the pile of hair and clothes that was still curled below me. When I got no response, I kicked harder, right in the stomach.

"Ow!" Bleary-eyed and obviously grumpy, Mr. Cool sat up and glared daggers at me. "It's got to be, like, four a.m." He ran a finger through his hair (The way that the cool guys do it) and looked around at the heavy darkness still surrounding the rocky alcove.

"Exactly. The perfect time to start walking and avoid getting mauled by a bear. Let's go." Without further explanation, I hiked up my snowboard and marched off towards what I hope was a column of smoke and not a flock of pigeons.

"You sound like my mother." But he didn't complain, and quickly scrabbled to grab his board and trail after me like a lost puppy.

"Yo, I'm not going to take the fall when a grizzly comes to eat us. Get up here." I stopped, craning my neck to glare back at Andy. No way was I going to work my butt off when he--

I dropped my board, and could feel my eyes widen as I stared behind that mop of black hair. Andy gave me a look like I was some kind of freakish alien, before turning to look at what had captured my attention. Then he froze, and followed suit by dropping his own board.

Gray had begun to lap at the edges of the dark indigo sky, turning what had been dark and sharp to a softer, more tender color. As they looked over the white-capped peaks of the distant mountains, a very small beam of sun broke through, highlighting the treetops. Dawn had come.

And with it, a helicopter.

They were saved.

--

(C) Sunshockk.deviantart.com

Description
The Brilliance of Stupid
Prompt #6
10/25/12

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a frozen forest, with night falling, and no idea what direction to go?

Nope. Didn't think so.

Well, my story starts in the middle of nowhere, with only a pair of baggy ski pants and a dingy snowboard to keep me company.

"I'm going to kill you when we get out of here."

Oh, and there was my idiot friend, Andy.

"Bryan, how many times do I have to tell you this isn't my fault?"

"Explain to me how this isn't your fault when you are the one who got the brilliant idea to ride off the trail?"

"You know not to listen to my stupid ideas!"

"If I hadn't listened to your stupid idea you would have been out here alone, half-dead, with no clue what to do. You need my brains to stay alive."

It was my intelligent friend over here who thought it would be fun to ride off the trail and have a little adventure. It would be epic, he said. So epic that I wouldn't be able to resist. Well, I could have easily turned him down, but I knew that there was no getting him out of this one, and I couldn't let him kill himself. So, here I was, fifteen miles from civilization with Andy the Stupid.

"Come on, the ride was worth it."

"The ride was worth it? Do you have any inkling- any at all- that we only have about a twenty percent chance of surviving out here? We are going to die, Andy!"

"Bryaaaan."

He gave me that whiny voice that little toddlers give their mothers when they're begging for a piece of candy. At first, I had thought it was totally cool to be Andy's friend. He was the popular guy, the one that made the girls go gaga. I had thought I was officially awesome.

Nope. I was about to die, still Bryan the Loser.

My fuse was growing short, but I refrained from throwing myself at him and clawing his eyes out.

"Fine. You know what? Fine. Let's find somewhere to camp." I held up the hand that wasn't holding a snowboard and closed my eyes in that expression that spoke 'extremely annoyed'.

"Camp?"

"Oh, for Pete's sake. You don't expect me to hike through the dead of night with grizzly bears prowling around? I'd like to keep both of my arms attached, thank you very much."

Andy just scratched his Beiber-cut black hair and shrugged.

After giving him an appropriate look of absolute frustration and exasperation, I began scouting for somewhere decent to stop. Nope, crows could peck out eyes out over there. Nah, we could be buried alive in snow here. Just somewhere decent...ah-ha!

Afraid that I would snap if I spoke to Mr. Cool again, I began trudging towards the small rock-sheltered alcove that I had spotted, without a word. Andy hesitated, before hastily scuttling after me.

* * *

"Bryan?"

"What." I grunted into my coat-covered arm, still fuming from Andy's naïve and stupid comments. I don't know why I was so ticked- perhaps imminent death did that to people.

I had insisted that we slept with our snow gear on, using our arms for pillows. If we hadn't, surely we would freeze to death. Another one of my friend's ideas was to sleep on our coats as pillows, so that the ground wasn't so hard. Did I mention he was clueless to the world?

There was some brushing as he fidgeted. "Do you really think that we could die out here?"

I blinked, turning my head a bit to look at him directly. It was hard to see- there was only the moon and stars for lighting. A fire would have been pointless, even if I had been able to start one. It had begun to lightly snow.

"There's a better chance that we die than live." I mumbled into my elbow, watching his dark silhouette.

A pause. He was obviously thinking- a first. "I just thought, maybe, you were being uptight about it," Another pause, and then an intake of breath. "Sorry."

I didn't respond for a little while, teetering on the edge of shock. Was Sir Popular actually apologizing?

"It's alright. I can forgive stupidity." A fist connected with my arm, and I grunted in pain- though a smile was forming on my face, and I could see the same expression mirrored on Andy's.

We didn't speak for a while. Assuming Andy had fallen asleep, I turned my gaze to the stars overhead. They twinkled kindly- so much clearer up here than they were at home. All of that pollution and smoke disappeared up in these peaks- everything was crystal clear. I thought, at least we'll die in beauty.

"You'll get us out of here." A slurred, exhausted voice sounded from behind me, and I jerked my head to stare over my shoulder at the bundle of snowboarding clothes. For I while, I kind of just gawked. Then I shut my jaw and blinked. His breathing had evened out, and a slight snore whistled across the treetops.

Did Andy Cynder just admit that he relied on me?

* * *

"Wake up. You sound like walrus." I nudged the pile of hair and clothes that was still curled below me. When I got no response, I kicked harder, right in the stomach.

"Ow!" Bleary-eyed and obviously grumpy, Mr. Cool sat up and glared daggers at me. "It's got to be, like, four a.m." He ran a finger through his hair (The way that the cool guys do it) and looked around at the heavy darkness still surrounding the rocky alcove.

"Exactly. The perfect time to start walking and avoid getting mauled by a bear. Let's go." Without further explanation, I hiked up my snowboard and marched off towards what I hope was a column of smoke and not a flock of pigeons.

"You sound like my mother." But he didn't complain, and quickly scrabbled to grab his board and trail after me like a lost puppy.

"Yo, I'm not going to take the fall when a grizzly comes to eat us. Get up here." I stopped, craning my neck to glare back at Andy. No way was I going to work my butt off when he--

I dropped my board, and could feel my eyes widen as I stared behind that mop of black hair. Andy gave me a look like I was some kind of freakish alien, before turning to look at what had captured my attention. Then he froze, and followed suit by dropping his own board.

Gray had begun to lap at the edges of the dark indigo sky, turning what had been dark and sharp to a softer, more tender color. As they looked over the white-capped peaks of the distant mountains, a very small beam of sun broke through, highlighting the treetops. Dawn had come.

And with it, a helicopter.

They were saved.

--

(C) Sunshockk.deviantart.com