Yip, yip, and... a yowl?
I jerk up from my curls position. What is that? Please, don't be wolves. No, wait wolves don't sound like that.
Looking over my shoulder towards my backpack I see the snacks I had packed are in a million different little pieces, and the wrappers are sprawled everywhere. Damn coyotes. Thank god they were not super hungry or they would have taken a bite out of me!
Getting up and stretching before looking at how much damage the coyotes did on my food supply. They ate most of my food. My popcorn, protein bars, the apple I had found yesterday, all destroyed. "I'm gonna die out here!", I wail. The police will find my body picked to pieces by scavengers.
Groaning and grumbling as I go to check on the leaf that I had placed the night before, to see if it held some water. Walking towards the clearing when I hear a little scuffle. Oh shit. Coyote? Bear? Snake? As it gets closer to me, the rational side of my brain is screaming at me to grab a weapon. Looking around I see a stick with a splintered end. At least if I die fighting I'll get to meet Odin in Valhalla. Quickly grabbing the stick I make myself some room by moving backward into a clearing. That way I won't be fighting something in a closed space and I might have a chance.
Another rustle comes from a bush. I doubt it's a big animal because that is a small bush it is hiding in. Crouching down to get a better look under the bush I see little brown paws peaking out. A few seconds later the little brown rodent bounds out from its hiding spot. A ferret? No, maybe a mink. They are so cute with the little white spots near its mouth! Oh my lord I want to hug it and snuggle it. Talk about cuteness aggression overload! Relieved that I now know I won't die on the spot, I return to a standing position.
"Hey little buddy, you are so damn cute!" Shuffling toward the little mink.
All of a sudden the little thing starts barking! Frightened, I backed up close to a little cliff. The mink releases the most putrid smell I have ever smelt in my life! It's like a dog's fart. Trying to not burn my nose hairs I back up further to try to get away from the disgusting smell.
Losing my footing and rolling up the windows with my arms, before I fall on the gravely dirt a few feet below landing heavily on my wrist. Dazed and kind of confused, I regained my consciousness. My head starts throbbing. I must have knocked it on the ground. My wrist is beating along with my heart. It hurts when I move it and my wrist kinda feels warm when I hold it closer to my body.
Climbing back up, I have to go through the cloud of mink fart to get to my sleep spot. After packing everything back up, I continue to go west away from my house.
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It has now been a week since I've left my little house. My snacks are no more, the stupid coyotes ate a lot of my snacks. The seam in my sweatshirt is ripped in a few places. My stomach hurts from not eating yesterday and the water I drank was out of a little pond thing. I'm guessing the pond gave me some stomach bugs. The blisters that formed on my feet continue to burst and bleed every once and awhile. I fell on my wrist a few days ago, I think it's sprained. My new pants are muddy and ripped. The backpack strap broke so now my shoulder is always sore and tired. Life is so fun.
The river I had been following this morning flowed into a crystal clear lake. I tried to make a fire or something before I got in the water. But I didn't bring matches and the rocks didn't want to spark. I never did the girl version of boy scouts, looking back now I probably should have signed up.
After cleaning my clothes and setting them on a rock. I stripped, wadded in, and hopped in to get my stench off. As I'm trudging into the water I take some time to look around. The lake looked a bit like Pebble Beach I had frequented in my childhood years. It had little round rocks on the bottom and the shore of the lake. The rocks aren't sharp and I noticed some fish swimming in and out of the reeds. Maybe I could catch and eat them. I don't have a fire, but as long as they don't have parasites I should be fine, right? Ugh, I don't know anything about surviving other than what I learned in 7th grade. "eVeRy MaMmAl NeEdS sHeLtEr, FoOd, AiR, aNd WaTeR." That's what my teacher said, but good lord she was annoying. Dunking my head underwater to get all the grease and grime out of my hair. And trying my best to rub the dirt off the rest of my body. Before long I was shivering and had goosebumps all over.
I struggle back to the makeshift camp site to air dry and get on my clothes. My legs were shot, bruised, and partially numb.
I'm sitting on the ground thinking how stupid the PoPo is because they haven't found me yet. I notice the sky starts to get darker and the clouds move over the sun. Sighing at life and wondering why the hell I didn't just turn myself in. A little raindrop falls from the now dark sky into my eyeball. I squeak and blink rapidly. That is the weirdest thing to feel. I get up to find some cover from the rain so I don't get soaked. Then, I think of the most brilliant thing. I quickly drop my stuff under a tree and go searching for a rock that looks like a bowl or a big leaf.
Finally, I found a leaf big enough to drink out of. Rushing to prop it up by some rocks in the middle of a clearing, hoping and praying it will hold the rain. Scrambling back to my bag to hunker down to sleep and wait out the rain.
After a sleepless night I go back to check on the leaf to see how much water I got last night. The leaf has caught more rain water than I thought it would. Lifting the leaf to my lips I practically chug the water. I relish in the feeling of it flowing down my throat.
As I'm picking up my little campsite I start to notice how the leaves at the tops of some trees are starting to turn an orange and yellow color. Staring up at the leaves I also am now aware of how extraordinarily beautiful the woods are. With the nice brown bark and the leaves complementing everything around them. Walking, looking up and trying not to run into anything is kind of hard to do.
After what I think is a few miles of walking I take a little break and sit on a fallen tree that has little mushrooms growing out of it. Looking around trying to figure out where I am.
"Okay, sun rises in the west and sets in the east? No, no it rises in the east and sets in the west." I didn't care to pay attention in earth sciences. I hated the class but the teacher was my favorite. Mr.Bowman was a great guy, and always helped with homework and kept everyone in line. Especially the football boys.
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"When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." - Carol Burnett
All the best wishes!
-SK
1,298 words
YOU ARE READING
Roughened
Romance20 year old Delilah has just sat down to watch the news when her picture comes up with WANTED stamped over it. She decides to make a run for it and sprints out into the woods. Can she survive the wild, find something or someone and figure out what s...