WILDFIRE

Theres Only One Story

Two objects, a spray can of sealant, the other a canned drink, are sitting up high on a crane in the big city. The sun is low in the sky.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but could you tell me what happened? From the start, before we met." Sealant said.

"... oh, uh, yeah sure I guess. I'll... try to tell it the best I can."

*Can starts narrating*

In my life, I've always been around trees. When I was young, I lived in a cabin in the woods, nothing but forest as the eye could see.

Then, I lived in an apartment when I went to college, but right after I got my degree I went back to living in the woods, where it was quiet.

"You got a degree? In what?"

"Business, it took a while to get there though. What a waste of time."

"Well it wasn't a waste of time then, was it?"

"Not really, but I wish I could have done something else with my life."

"Well if you did, we wouldnt have ever met."

"...true. anyway-"

I had a good job, paid off all my debt, and just worked. I just worked. 8 hours or more, 7 days a week. It's all I really had.

"WHAT?! You worked that much? Didn't you have any friends? Hobbies? If your debt was paid, why not relax a little?"

"I never really had any friends, or hobbies. I went out of touch with my family when I left for college. Hell, the closest thing I ever got to a hobby was reading."

"Oh, neat. What kind of books did you read? Mystery? Horror? Oooh, lemme guess... romance!"

"... mostly just non-fiction, historical events, sometimes I would just look up words in the dictionary."

"... wow that is sad."

"Just shut up and let me finish talking already!"

"Alright, alright. Do go on."

The closest connection I ever had was with the trees. They never spoke, just listened. And, for some stupid reason, I decided I wanted to go hiking.

So I booked a day off from work, which my co-workers and boss were very happy by, and got ready for the day ahead of me.

Around the time it was really hot and dry, so I packed plenty of water.

It was going to be an 8 hour hike, so I made sure to pack lunch and a small emergency kit, which only had a few bandages, flashlight, and rubbing alcohol. Not much of an emergency kit rather than an inconvenience kit. It didn't matter anyway.

So off I went through the forest. There weren't any paths, but I made sure to keep an eye on some landmarks... for the first 30 minutes.

In my head I thought, I shouldn't have to worry about getting back, the forest probably ends at a road or something pretty soon.

I was very wrong.

I walked, and I walked, and walked and walked and walked. It felt like my legs were going to give out.

The air was incredibly dry, I still had a water bottle but not much was left. The sun was setting.

I tried and tried to find my way back, tried to find any kind of civilization. Nothing.

It kept getting darker and darker... and soon I wasn't even able to see the trees right in front of me.

I tore through my bag, and found the flashlight that I almost left at the house, so I at least made one good decision that day.