Donut Dwellers #7

  
 Here is the next episode of Donut Dwellers for my now five year old buddy!  Happy Birthday :)  I hope it was an amazing one.
Here are the previous episodes.

Donut Dwellers episode 1
Donut Dwellers episode 2
Donut Dwellers episode 3
Donut Dwellers episode 4
Donut Dwellers episode 5
Donut Dwellers episode 6
August didn't know when Zandy had left.  Had it been minutes ago?  Hours?  He had no idea where she was headed.  He didn't even know if she was safe or cold or scared.  He just knew one thing.  He had to find her.  
"I shouldn't be gone long.  I hope."  he told Zoomer.  
Zoomer blew bubbles at him.
"I know, I'll miss you too." August said, giving his pet fish some food.  
What if he wasn't back before Zoomer ate it all?  He would just have to make sure that he was. 
Opening his backpack, he tossed in a flashlight and a few of his sister's favorite snack foods.  He slipped the straps over his shoulders and crawled out the tunnel.
What if he couldn't find Zandy?  No.  He wasn't going to let himself think like that, besides, he had a trail of crumbs to follow.  
It felt funny not talking.  He and Zandy always talked.
"I wonder how far I will have to go."  he said to himself.
Talking to himself was even stranger than not talking at all.
The door was getting closer and closer.
When he was almost to it he could see that it was open just a tiny bit.  
August had to turn sideways and hold his breath to squeeze through.
"Phew. This is it.  I'm going outside."
Funny or not he had to say it anyway.  He'd never been outside before and now he knew why.
It was just like a jungle in a story book.  All he could see was green, green under his feet, green reaching toward the sky, and green growing on top of green.  
It was a good thing he liked green.
He pushed aside a huge stalk of grass and marched on.  
He kept going until he heard a noise.
It sounded like a sneeze.  
"Zandy?" he called.  "Is that you?"
Whoever it was didn't answer.
"Zzzzandy?"  
This time he didn't need an answer.  He saw a girl up ahead.
She turned around.
It wasn't Zandy.