Lightning & Thunder

Chapter Five

"Come on...come on..." Olivia muttered under her lips, rubbing the twig against the flint rock, trying to catch a spark.

One. Two--

"Dammit!" The useless piece of wood flung out of her grip, causing her to scrape her hand against the flint. She cursed under her breath, quickly bringing her finger to her mouth in order to soothe the fresh cut.

She was shivering, her clothes drenched and sloppy. Half the items in her bookbag were soaked, too, almost ruining the items inside.

Though she knew to count her blessings when she had them-mostly because she almost lost the entirety of her bookbag on the trek through the river.

But she didn't, and she figured it was worth the struggle.

Even as the breeze chilled her, caused her body to shiver. Even as she tried to pull her clinging clothes away from her torso, the cloth only finally letting go of her skin with a shlwooop.

In the end, she figured it would all be worth it. What was pain for a night's worth of sleep? One or two days of pain in trade for a lifetime of freedom?

Well, it might have to be more than two nights of pain. An uneasyness settled within her stomach. It might be a week's worth of pain-not really something she had accounted for. She figured it might have been the outcome, but she was still holding onto the hope that it would only be three nights-max.

Now, she wasn't so sure anymore.

She picked back up the stupid twig and kept flicking it across the flint. Tiny sparks flew in all types of directions, doing everything except lighting the damn fire. She huffed out a breath, re-adjusting her uncomfortable, kneeling position and scooted slightly closer to the ball of kindle she had in front of her.

Come on you stupid piece of tree! Work!

Her mind uttered nonsense. She was beyond exhausted, her hands cold and almost numb. They were red, and were starting to sport new cuts from the last thirty minutes of rubbing stupid sticks together and missing every other time.

This is the karma she got for only being a housewife and never picking up new skills.

Not really like she had a choice...

But it was final. Her mind was made up. As soon as she was in a safe environment, away from all of this nonsense, away from her ex-husband, she was going to learn all of the survival techniques. She was going to learn the way of the land, learn how to defend herself, and be nothing but a forest hermit collecting mushrooms for dinner and befriending all of the forest critters within her wooden home.

She'd be damned if she still found herself in the same situation as the current moment.

She was a fucking werewolf for god's sake! It shouldn't have been so hard to light a fire.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, glaring at the piece in her hand. Again, she brought her finger to her mouth, sucking the slight amount of blood that leaked from her fresh cut.

At least it was a different finger this time.

But still, it was no good.

Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. Her mouth trembled slightly, an outburst threatening to break free. She was not made for this. Although not pampered in the most recent years, she had no experience being outside in the woods, dealing with sticks, or drenched clothing, or shivering in the stupid breeze, or being hungry.

She missed the days of being able to simply walk to the kitchen and grab a snack without her Uncle or her husband-ex-husband wanting to use or abuse her in any way. She missed sitting in class, gossiping with her friends about which boy she liked that week and wondering what it would be like to have a loving, sweet family.

She missed being able to fall asleep in her bed without having nightmares of her husband strangling in her sleep, or becoming accidentally pregnant with his child.

And by the Moon Goddess, she missed being able to simply touch herself. The days where her body was all to herself, where she could simply enjoy her own touch at night and not be worried about anything.

She couldn't stop the sob before it clawed it's way out of her throat, threatening to tear through her whole body. Her shoulders shook with the exhaust, her hand still clutching that stupid rock that didn't want to obey.

The sound of her hurt struck through the air.

"W-what-what did I do to deserve this?" She choaked out through her tears, glaring at the rock. She knew she should have been quiet, but in that very moment, all logic was lost from her mind.

"Who did I piss off in my past life?" She yelled out, drawing her arm back, getting ready to throw. Her arm drew forward, powered by rage and anger, before her mind paused mid-way, the sound of a twig breaking in the distance catching her attention.

She held still. Tears streamed down her cheeks silently, but her breath was caught in the back of her throat. Her ears tuned in to the air around her.
Hesitantly, she sniffed.

Her whole body released an exhale, relief pouring through her. It was just a fucking squirrel. Her arm became limp-the anger no longer there. Her mind was exhausted, delusioned, and she was still so hungry. She couldn't catch the few remaining tears that left her, and the last sob that climbed it's way out of her throat, too, but it was the end of her breakdown.

"It's okay Olivia, everything will be fine," she steeled herself. "Breathe, everything will be fine."

Slowly, her grief and anguish were placed with desperation. The sky was darkening, the light a brilliant golden. She had no time to be having a mental breakdown.

She needed to be strong.
She was strong.
She had to believe in herself.

"Making a fire isn't hard." She muttered under her breath. She grabbed another twig-a different twig, for good luck. She paused for a few seconds more, letting her take a few more deep breaths, letting her mind slow down.

Then she flicked it, one, two-

Yes!

Her breath caught as she watched a large spark land on the kindle. Desperate but not wanting to jinx anything, she carefully cupped her arms around it to protect it from the wind.

Carefully, she blew on it, pretending this little spark was her child. She had to nurture it, protect it, let it grow. She had to have patience; she was internally begging.

Please. Her mind begged. Please let it work.

Excitement poured through her as she watched a tiny flame grow from the spark. It caught, quickly eating the kindle and turning into a bigger flame.

Shit.

She stumbled around, trying to keep it alive, trying to protect it. Within five mintues she sat stunned, staring at the campfire she had managed to create.

And it only took climbing through a river and an hour's worth of mental breakdowns.

She cheered mentally, pumping her fist in the air silently.

Oh she was so going to become a forest hermit. This shit was worth it! The struggle was worth it!

As the relief ran through her, so did the exhaustion. She slumped over next to the campfire, keeping one eye open to keep watch on the fire and her surroundings.

It probably wasn't the smartest to fall asleep next to the campfire, but she found that her mind simply did not care. She tried to stir it, tried to reason with it, but within a couple of minutes, she found it harder to even wiggle her fingers, her body too laid down with exhaustion.

Within a couple more seconds, she found her eyes drooping closed, and stupidly, she succumed to the feeling.

She would deal with all of her problems tomorrow.