Ihaan and I soon pulled up to the island’s beach, and Ihaan paddled us in. The hull of his canoe hit the sand, and smiling feebly, he said, “Okay,” to me, a way how he told me I could get out now. I noticed that he was sweating, and he rubbed his forehead.
“Are you all right?” I asked him.
Ihaan nodded. “Yeah. It’s just tough canoeing across a lake when a current is in play. Especially when there is only one person paddling. But hey, we made it, did we not?”
I nodded. “We did. Thank you, Ihaan.” While Ihaan messed around with some things in his canoe, I hopped out and checked out the beach. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was another campground. I saw lots of sites, a picnic table, and a fireplace. A beach. Yes, it was a beach! Praise the Lord for beaches!
The rays of the sun soon slithered through the clouds and scanned me. I wanted to check out the entire campground, but I ended up having to play nurse instead. As I mentioned before, this was one of few moments when Ihaan’s ankle really hurt him.
I heard him yell, “OW!!” behind me, and next, I heard a thump. Ihaan basically took one step on the sand and collapsed from pain. I’m also sure the tumble we took at Camp Wanapitei also contributed to the excruciating pain he felt.
I gasped, “Ihaan!” and whirled around. Yep, Ihaan was on the ground, and sweat fountained down his face. He was sweating even more now. Again, I yelled, “Ihaan!” and I hurried to him.
“AHH!!” he shouted, and he clenched his fist. “Not again!”
“Again?” I asked. “You mean, this has happened before?”
Ihaan next grabbed his head and shouted, “I feel like my head is splitting in two!”
“Your head?” I asked. I gasped. Usually when an amnesia victim’s head starts to hurt, it means a memory is coming to them. Was a memory coming to Ihaan? “Do you remember how you hurt your ankle?” I asked him, and I kneeled to him.
“I don’t know!” Ihaan shouted, and he clutched his head harder. “I think I remember a storm, but I’m not sure!”
“A storm?” was my next question. The legend of the Ghost of Ontario replanted itself in my brain. Why did he have to be so mean? I placed my hand on Ihaan’s bare shoulder and said, “Calm down, Ihaan. Please. Aside from your head, does your ankle also hurt?”
“Kylie please!” Ihaan shouted, and he turned on his back, still holding his head. “Make the pain go away!” His leg shook, and he tightened his grip on his head.
Now I knew why Ro sought me out. “All right, stay here, Ihaan.” I said. “I’ve dealt with injures and sicknesses before in the wilderness, so I think I know what to do until Dad comes.” What I said here is true. In all the times I’ve camped and canoed, I’ve had to deal with either a sickness or injury at least once. I first asked myself if Ihaan had a blanket in his canoe. I thought I saw one. Traversing over to his canoe, I peered into it and found that yes, he did have a blanket. What was cool was that it was made out of animal fur. Ihaan totally relied on animal pelts to survive the wilderness. He probably had so many cool things in his canoe, but I decided to check it out after I took care of him. Grabbing hold of the blanket, I pulled it out and returned to him.
“I remember doing Zumba with an eagle and a moose!” Ihaan suddenly shouted out.
“Zumba?” I asked. “What on earth are you talking about, Ihaan? Do you even know what Zumba is?”
“This is all I remember.” Ihaan continued.
I listened. I swear, Ihaan was so confused. This was his story: “Once, not so long ago, a little boy and his eagle friend Ro found themselves lost in the woods on their way home. It was so cold. With every passing minute, the little boy grew weaker and weaker until finally, he gave up. He collapsed in the snow, shivering, and told his eagle friend, ‘Ro, please save yourself. I’m not going to make it. It is time for me to leave this cruel world and journey to a brighter, freer one. You have always been my good girl. I will miss you. Farewell, Ro.’ That was the last thing poor little Ihaan told Ro. He departed from this world. The angels took him. Poor Ihaan. Poor little Ihaan. He’s gone. I can’t believe it. He was such a free-spirited, young man.”
Oh, my God, Ihaan, you need a doctor. That’s what I told myself. Was he really that brainless?
Crossing my arms, I raised my voice and yelled, “You’re obviously alive, Ihaan!” at the hermit.
“Wait, what?” Ihaan asked. “Ah, what’s wrong with me?!” He grabbed his head again. “Who am I?! I want to return to my Zumba classes!” His leg shook some more.
I felt so bad for him. The pain was so great that it even made mysterious Ihaan say random things. Audience, this right here is a soul in distress.
“Calm down, Ihaan,” I said, and I took his shoulders. “Just lie down and rest. Let me look at this ankle of yours. You may be wild and shy, but you’re still a person.”
“KRONIN!” Ihaan suddenly shouted.
I yelped and fell to the ground. Geez, now that was out of nowhere! Well actually, what happened was that Ihaan did remember something here. He remembered his last name. His last name is, brace yourself, “Kronin,” Kronin spelled with a K. Are we able to connect the dots here? Ihaan leaped to his feet and stomped his left one. “Kronin is my last name!” he shouted. He flexed his biceps. “I am Ihaan Kronin!” Ihaan Kronin? Now that actually has a nice ring to it.
“Ihaan Kronin?” I asked. “Hold on a second!”
Before I could continue, Ihaan again yelled, “I am Ihaan Kronin, and I am not staying here!” He tried to run away, but he didn’t get far. Ihaan again collapsed from pain. “OW!”
“Oh, sweet cheese and carrots!” I frustratingly spoke. I slung Ihaan’s blanket over my shoulder and jogged to him. “Ihaan, please. Stay down. You may just have a cramp in your foot. You’ll probably feel better if I take your boot off.”
“I’ve been robbed!” Ihaan cried from out of nowhere. He flung his fists like a little kid.
“Robbed?” I asked, and I glanced at his blanket. “Oh no, no, no, Ihaan, you have it all wrong. I didn’t steal this blanket. I’m trying to get you comfortable. You’re hurt! You need a doctor!”
“Make the pain go away!” Ihaan cried. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He was in so much pain. Poor kid. It was enough to cause him to hallucinate.
He turned onto his back again and continued to grip his head. “Please!”
I noticed that he actually looked really tired. I have to admit, I was too. However, I decided to rest after I took care of Ihaan. I tossed his blanket over him and said, “There you go.” The blanket didn’t cover him all the way. It kept his lower legs exposed. It was very soft. I stroked it with my hand and said, “Oooh.” After I finished, I became serious again. I glanced at Ihaan’s feet and asked, “Which foot is hurt?”
Ihaan took one hand off his head and pointed at his right foot, answering, “My right one.”
“All right, I think you just have a cramp. Hopefully. Let me take your boot off and let your foot air out.” Then, just like that, I grabbed hold of Ihaan’s right boot and pulled it off.
I think I pulled too forcefully because he again yelled, “OW! Kylie!”
“Oh! I’m so sorry, Ihaan!” I apologized. “Please forgive me!”
“You’re trying to hurt me!” Ihaan sobbed.
“No I’m not! I promise! I’m trying to help you! Relax, Ihaan. Calm down.”
It took some time, but Ihaan finally managed to calm down. I think the boot coming off did help him. He ended up falling asleep, so he no longer was squirming and yelling.
I was finally able to play nurse, and during my role, I eventually found his foot injury. His right foot, his entire ankle, was bandaged with a bandage that was a bit bloodstained, and his ankle actually looked a little cockeyed. It was not pretty. What on earth happened to it? “Oh, Ihaan.” I remember saying, “You really are hurt.”
Ihaan flinched when I touched his ankle. He continued to sleep, though. I dug a rag out of his canoe and soaked it. As an attempt to ease his headache, I placed it to Ihaan’s forehead.
While he slept, I explored his canoe. It was so cool. I dug around in it until Ro returned. The wind blew my hair, and more waves scratched the surface of Lake Temagami. The first thing I pulled out was Ihaan’s bow and arrow. I had an urge to try it. I felt like Robin Hood holding it. Robin Hood is so awesome. I don’t think I should have done this, but I decided to play around a bit. “Oh boy!” I excitedly spoke, and I stuck an arrow in Ihaan’s bow. “I am Robin Hood! I steal from the rich to give to the poor! Watch me glow!” Pointing the arrow upward towards the sky, – I’m terrible at archery – I let it go.
Whoops. The arrow flew into the sky and ended up crashing in the forest. I heard some tree branches break. A few, frightened birds soared away and disappeared over the lake.
I lowered Ihaan’s bow and stared at the forest. Oh snap, now I’ve done it. I wondered if Ihaan counted his arrows. If he did, then I probably should go get it, right? But at the same time, I didn’t want to leave injured Ihaan alone. I mean, he was injured. He needed help. Ro sought me out for a reason. However, I didn’t want him to get mad. He probably already was mad at me for knocking Ro out of the sky, and I didn’t want to make him even more furious. What if he chopped off my head? Gasp, what if he knew the Ghost of Ontario? No way, I was going to fetch that arrow if it was the last thing I do! I didn’t feel like getting pulled into the Ghost of Ontario’s fire pit. I manned up.
Still holding Ihaan’s bow, I returned to him and kneeled, “Ihaan.” I took the rag off his forehead and dabbed it down. “I’ll be right back. You stay here. Dad will be here soon. I hope.”
Ihaan didn’t answer. He simply turned his head and shut his eyes tighter. His right foot shook a bit more.
“You’ll feel better tomorrow.” I continued. “I promise.” Peering back to his foot again, I placed my hand on it.
Ihaan immediately flinched, and I quickly pulled my hand away. “I’ll be right back.” I repeated. And just like that, I stood up and jogged towards the forest.
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