"Okay." I gave in. The gum looked like a science experiment gone wrong, but we didn't have options. "If this turns me into a Jack Russell Terrier, it's on you."
"Deal," Beth replied with a grin, already chewing.
I hesitated as Wade and Daniel did the same. My piece of gum was gritty between my fingers, the odd bits tickling my palm. Shrugging off the dread, I shoved it into my mouth. It tasted like mint laced with dirt. Blech.
"Chew," Beth instructed, her words muffled by her own gum.
Then, she knelt back down and put everything back on her bag, chewing rapidly the entire time. When she was done, the bag wasback on her arm, and she looked like she was ready to be beamed up by aliens. Which was unsettling. Were aliens real too?
I winced, chewing with complete disgust. The texture of the gum was bizarre, crunching and squishing all at once. I chewed faster, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Suddenly, my feet lifted from the ground. I gasped, flailing as the pit's walls receded beneath me.
"Whoa!" Daniel's laugh boomed through the air. "This is wild."
"Keep chewing!" Beth called up to us.
Wade was next to me, his eyes wide with exhilaration. He reached out, trying to stabilize himself, but only succeeded in spinning a bit.
"Look at us go." he exclaimed.
We were rising higher, and laughter bubbled up within me, infectious and freeing. I looked over at Daniel, who was doing somersaults in the air, and couldn't help but join in the fun.
"Never thought I'd be flying tonight," I called out, my worry temporarily forgotten.
"Tell me about it." Daniel chuckled.
Beth hovered above us, clearly pleased with herself. "Told you it would work."
"Any idea how we stop?" I asked, noticing the treetops were getting closer.
"Chew slower, " Beth ordered from above me. Her command was punctuated by a thud as Daniel collided with a tree trunk and let out a grunt.
"Slower? Isn't that gonna make us rise more?" Wade asked as he dodged a low-hanging limb.
"No, it's counterintuitive. It'll slow the ascent. Trust me." Beth's tone left no room for argument.
I gingerly chewed once, twice, trying to temper my pace. The branches became a blur of dark shapes, and the cool night air brushed against my skin as our climb gradually eased.
"Is anyone else seeing this?" Daniel's voice trembled with urgency.
I squinted into the distance. There, shrouded in moonlight, stood the hooded figure again, motionless, watching us. A chill ran down my spine, and the laughter died in my throat.
"Can we get down from here?" Wade followed my gaze.
"Working on it," Beth snapped, her brows knit in concentration.
"Great, 'cause I'd really like to not be a sitting duck up here," I muttered.
"Keep chewing, just slowly," Beth repeated. "We need to control our buoyancy."
"Feels like a bad carnival ride," Daniel mumbled.
"Focus, guys," Beth said. "We need to concentrate if we're going to get out of this."
Only, we kept rising. Higher and higher. I rose through tree branches, being smacked ungracefully in the face as I spit out pine needles and flailed my arms, trying to help myself.
"Even slower!” Beth told me.
I obeyed. One chew. Then, none. One chew. Then, none. I stopped rising. I seemed to hover in the air, the wind whistling around me. The hooded figure not far away.
