At Your Service

Chapter 25- Alone In The Forest

After about 45 minutes, the carriage dropped me off into the forrest. It was dark, I could barely make out the faint outline of the trees around me. The ground was crunchy, I could hear the crunching of twigs and leaves beneath my feet. I'm almost afraid to move. There's a shit ton of poisonous snakes that live in Elodia, I don't want to step on one. I pull out my phone, turning on the flashlight. I shine it around the area. There doesn't seem to be any clearing, my best option would be to wait until daylight to press on forward. I need to find a safe place to sleep. I eventually settled on leaning against a tree trunk. It took awhile but I finally managed to drift off to sleep.

. . .

I woke up to the sounds of rustling above me. I prepared myself to run, but I looked up and saw a monkey. I guess I had nothing to worry about. It was daylight now, I checked my phone, 10:45 am. I needed to start moving. I picked up a bunch of sticks, in case I needed to make my way out of here I could follow the sticks back to where I came from.

I wander around for around ten minutes before I find a spot that looked like a clearing. I placed my sticks, which ended up not being too far away from the end of the forest. I stepped into the clearing, which revealed a large ass open area. There were two large ponds in the area. This was the perfect place to stay. Of course, I had no shelter so that was the first thing I had to take care of. I remembered something my dad told me while he was still alive. "If you're ever alone in the forest with nowhere to stay, tie a rope around your leg and sleep in a tree." Well there were a shit ton of trees around me, but those might have dangers of their own. I found a tree next to the pond closest to me. It looked relatively clean, not many bugs, but tall enough to stay off the ground. I placed rocks around the base of the tree so I would remember which tree was mine. When I finished, I felt an empty pain in my stomach. I clutched my stomach, looking down at it. It growled. Damn I'm hungry. I could try fishing. But of course, I didn't have a rod, or a net. I looked along the shoreline of the pond, and I noticed a sharp, pointed rock. It was perfect, like it was carved by a blacksmith themself. I picked it up, walking over to the tree. I break off a branch, a strong one, it was thick but not too thick. I pulled a vine off the tree and tied a knot, connecting the rock to the stick. I've got a spear. Now I can hunt.

I approached the shoreline of the pond a little further from me. I couldn't understand why but the water here looked... cleaner. I pick up worm from the grass, plopping it onto the water. I wait a few seconds. A fish swims up to the surface, grabbing the worm. Immediately as I see that, I stab my spear into the water, pulling out a catfish. I pull out my phone and look up how to gut a fish. Surprisingly, I've got pretty good service out here. There's probably a few power lines near me. I use the spear I made to gut the catfish I caught and take out the guts, and the bones. Now I just need a fire to cook it on. I gather more rocks, making a small circle. I bring some sticks and leaves, and threw them in the middle. I notice a shard of glass near the tree I'm sleeping in, and I remembered a trick my dad taught me.

I grabbed the glass, and held it up to the sunlight, creating a focused beam of light on the sticks and leaves. I can hear a burning sound coming off of them, and before long an ember ignites. I blow on the embers softly, and before long it became a searing fire. I grill the catfish over the fire, which takes about 30 minutes to fully cook. I cut it into fillets, whatever I don't eat now I can always save it for later. The catfish tasted good but I wish I had a little seasoning, maybe some hot sauce; some little salt would be nice.

Suddenly, a crowd flew up to me, it stared at me. "Um hello?" I called, hoping to get a response. It didn't do anything. I broke off a piece of my filet, and tossed it at the ground in front of me. Immediately, it scooped it off the ground with its beak, and swallowed it. I tore off more pieces of my catfish, this time placing it closer to me. The crow inched closer to me, scooping up the pieces in its mouth. It flapped its feathers at me, I had no idea what it meant. I was hesitant to make a move. Suddenly, it perched itself on my shoulder. I reached out, petting its back, which it seemed to enjoy. "I'll call you Catfish," I laughed. It let out a loud caw, causing me to laugh. Honestly, having Catfish was nice. It made being here a lot less lonely.

I looked at my phone. Shit, I'm down to 10% battery, and I've got no way to charge my phone. I stand up, and put some dirt over the fire, putting it out. I made my way over to the tree where I planned to sleep. I placed the spear against the trunk. I took a look at the pond. I still can't shake this feeling. Something's obviously wrong with it. I kneel over the water, peering into the water. Slowly, I reach out a hand, extending it to the water. I stick my hand it. ZAP! "Fuck dammit!" I shout, flinching, pulling my hand out of the water. Catfish it flying in the air around me. Obviously it felt what I did. Suddenly, it hit me. I reached, my hand out, placing it back in the water. ZAP! "Is this water... electrified?" I asked, myself out loud. That's perfect! I could use the electricity in the water to charge my phone. I just need to find a conductor. I search around the clearing, there's gotta be something here I can use. I notice a long metal rod around the other lake. It looked thin enough to fit into my phone. I tested it, inserting it into the plug. It's a perfect fit, almost like a regular charger.

I make my way back to the electric pond, placing one end of the rod into the lake, and the other end into the plug in my phone. I get a shock, but the battery charging icon displays at the top. Success! But I need to do something about the rod, otherwise, I'll get shocked every time I try to charge my phone. I looked down at my shoes. "Rubber! I can use this as an insulator, that way the electron flow is limited. I took off my shoes, grabbing my spear. I carve out the rubber around the edges of them. I wrap them around the rod. Success! I didn't get shocked once. Catfish, perched back onto my shoulder. I look at the time, it's 4:00 now. I've been awake for that long? I let out a yawn, I'm so tired. Survival is so exhausting. I climb up the tree, tying a vine around my leg. Catfish rested on a nearby branch. If I fall, this should catch me.

. . .

I wake up to the sound of Catfish cawing, loudly. I wiped my eyes open. It's dark, only the light from the moon is faintly lighting the area. I read up on crows a bit before I fell asleep. They sleep at night but they only caw at night if they feel threatened or scared. "Catfish, be quiet," I whispered. It stopped cawing. I hear a loud rustling coming from the entrance of the clearing. I untied the vine from my leg. I jumped out of the tree grabbing my spear. Catfish perched on my shoulder. I readied myself. Whatever it was, I'm not going down without a fucking fight.