Chasing Fire

Alone - Part 1

Noralee Hale stood staring hopelessly at a red ribbon she had tied to a tree branch three hours ago. She was fighting back panicky tears because she knew she had been walking in circles for days. Why she couldn't find the trail again, even with a map, she had no idea. She had been wandering aimlessly for five days and her supply of oatmeal, canned tuna and granola bars was running out. Luckily, she had been able to find a plentiful supply of fresh, clean water to drink and took a very chilly bath early that morning. She was trying to keep a routine like she did at home to keep her spirits up, but her efforts were quickly wearing thin. Now, she was in a full blown hysterical panic and sat down on a large rock and started crying. She found a good cry could make a world of difference as a stress reliever.

Her life so far had been a simple, comfortable existence. She met her first boyfriend in high school and they dated exclusively all the way through college at Auburn University. They had just graduated weeks before when Dewayne took her out for a nice dinner that she thought was going to be the moment he was going to finally pop the "question". She bought a new Marc Jacob black dress and had her long sandy brown hair blown out at the salon just for the special occasion. She wanted to be unforgettable in the moment they would decide to be together for the rest of their lives. However, Dewayne told her he was leaving for California to continue with a Master's degree in Political Science and he didn't want her to come with him. They both were from the same small town in Alabama, Fairhope on the Gulf Coast, but he said he needed to see what else was out there. He knew there was more to life than what they had known in Alabama and he didn't know if she would fit in California.

Noralee was stunned and humiliated.  She wanted to pitch a fit, the hissy, hysterical kind you see in movies, but she couldn't with all the people around them.  She couldn't believe he took her to a public place to lay that kind of rejection on her. So, what if she came from a small town? So, did he, but he thought he could find better than her.  He elaborated that he wasn't happy and wanted to break it off with her for over a year now, but didn't want the drama of a break up so close to graduating.

"What did your Mama say?" She grabbed the one-hundred-dollar bottle of wine off the table and started drinking from the bottle and suddenly felt very spiteful, "Are you actually going to move across the country without your Mama?" She emphasized the word "Mama" making sure she got the two full, elongated syllables out of it with her Southern drawl. Dewayne was a spoiled Mama's boy and she couldn't imagine him having to cook, clean and wash his own dirty underwear without Mama's assistance.

"I know you are bitter about this and I guess I deserve it. I want us to be friends. We have known each other our whole lives. There is no reason we can't walk away from this amicably." He furrowed his thick blonde eyebrows and looked uncomfortable.  "Haven't you ever wondered what other people are like?  Noralee your problem is you aren't adventurous enough.  You never leave your bubble."

She knew it wasn't easy for him, but damn, did he really think she would be hippy skippy about breaking up. They made plans like, how many kids they would have and their names. It was always assumed they would get married after college. That was just the way it was done, you meet, date, fall in love, go to college and finally get married. All her hopes and dreams were wrapped up in the jerk in a nice suit and a fifty-dollar haircut. She realized how much of a fool she had been to tie herself down to someone while she was young.  She had other guys flirt with her at the sorority events, but she always turned them down.  She thought faithfulness was the most important thing about a relationship.  She waited patiently and a lot of good it did her. 

The experience made her question everything in her life. She had been waiting  to start living the life they were supposed to share, and she realized she didn't do anything for herself. Everything had revolved about Dewayne and what he wanted. They were different in many ways, but Noralee was a laid back Southern Gal who never got upset and always smiled and said, "Yes, Baby. Whatever you want." Now, she was angrier with herself than she was with him. She had held herself back, but not anymore. She was throwing her parasol to the wind and doing whatever she wanted to do from now on. 

For as long as she could remember she wanted to explore Alaska, its pristine wilderness and wild life fascinated her. Dewayne hated camping and wouldn't even stay in a three-star hotel, even if they were "roughing it". But Noralee loved the outdoors, she could be alone with her thoughts and finally relax. She bought a Coleman tent for one, a backpack and a sleeping bag and one-way ticket to Alaska the next day as she said goodbye to her old life, which was never really her life, just an extension of Dewayne's. She had been chasing pavement to a dead-end street that lead to nowhere but disappointment.  She would blaze her own trail and do it all on her own. Finally, she was her own woman, completely alone and the first few days were like waking up in Heaven. The mountains and valleys of Denali National Park were a wonderland and a soothing balm to her aching soul. The place, with its unparalleled beauty of majestic sunrises and soft sunsets, made her wonder if she had ever known how beautiful the world really could be to someone who had lived so little of it.

But on the third day, she spied some deer, a doe and her fawn, and she left the marked trail, following them for a little while. She tried to pick the trail back up, but for the life of her could not find it again. At first, she didn't really get too worried, still living in the pink cloud of being on her own in the beautiful refuge away from her old life. She figured she would find it again, eventually. A week passed and after five days of sleeping in the cold night air, shivering so hard she thought she would crack her teeth, she knew she was in trouble. Even though she loved camping, she didn't know anything about real wilderness survival. She failed miserably trying to create a spark to start a fire. Every night she would go to bed with blistered hands from desperately rolling sticks between her palms to create a spark. She dreamed of the warmth from a nice fire every night and went to bed dejected by her failed efforts. It was a metaphor for her disappointment with her relationship with Dewayne, the more she chased the spark, the more elusive it became. She couldn't chase fire, it had to be there or it wasn't.

She heard a branch above her head shake violently and as she looked up, a figure of a man jumped down in front of her scaring her half to death. He was a sight to behold, half naked wearing only a loin cloth and covered in mud from his face to his feet! A pair of bright blue eyes stared up at her from his crouching position in front of her. He had long, reddish brown hair, but it was tangled with sap and twigs, and he smiled a big, little boy smile and she decided not to run away.

"Are you hurt?" He had an accent she had never heard before, like he only half pronounced the words because he spoke so quickly.

She stared at him in wide eyed amazement and wiped the tears off her flushed cheeks, she had been crying so hard she could barely breath. "No. I am fine. I just find a good cry can be very therapeutic."

He cocked his head quizzically to one side, "Yes, I guess it could be. Hmmmm. I find running helps me feel better or climbing trees. Can I ask you why you are crying alone, all the way out here?"

"Isn't it pretty obvious that I am lost?" She hated to admit it and was a little embarrassed, "Can you tell me why you aren't wearing clothes?"

He looked down at his bare mid-drift and legs, "Oh! I am sorry. I know this looks weird, but I find it easier to hunt when I don't have the scent of my clothes. Plus, I can feel the vibrations in the Earth unencumbered by layers of clothing and shoes. It is more primal like ancient hunters. Did you know that Nicoli Tesla said the frequency of the Earth is about seven megahertz and interestingly, so is the internal frequency of the human body? It is possible to sync with the Earth without clothes."

She was sure she had never met anyone like him, and thought she should be afraid, but deep down she was so happy to see another living soul, she decided to accept the strangeness of the new person. Whoever he was, he was a very different and took his task of hunting very seriously.

"Well, you can stop crying now. I can fix your problem. I know how to get back, but it is going to be dark soon.  My camp isn't far from here.  You can stay there until tomorrow and I will take you where you need to go." For a second, Noralee forgot why she was crying, the young man had a calming effect on her. He looked wild on the outside, but his mannerisms were gentle and kind in a socially awkward kind of way.  She thought he must not get many visitors. 

"I think that would be ok with me. It doesn't look like I have much of a choice. What is your name, anyway? I'm Noralee." She held out her hand for him to shake it.

"I love that name," Instead of shaking her hand, he very nobly pressed his lips to it and looked up at her with those soft blue eyes, "My name is Solomon Freedom Brown, but everyone calls me Bear."