Rosebud

The Second Night

Thefirst night had gone smoothly she thought to her self as she stackedthe last piece of wood on top of her pile. Her fire was alreadyburning low but stable. It was the first time she had ever beencamping by herself. She was less than a pro at it, but she was stillconfident that she could do it on her own.

Shestood next to her large pile of wood, proudly looking over her smallcamp. Her tent was up, her beg unpacked in the Sun was just above thetree line. It was only a matter of time now before it would be dark.She sat down next to the fire and prepared herself a meal. It was asmall bag of dried condensed soup. She poured it into her boiling cupof water and stirred it slowly. It wasn't a four course meal fit fora queen, but it satisfied her hunger.

Shespent the next couple of hours reading a book by the Light of thefire. Every so often she would look up in the sky and, the moon wasjust a little closer to the center. When the moon was above her, shetook the silk pouch in her hand,and with a soft toss she threw itinto the fire. Just as Alo had instructed, she watched it burn untilit was completely gone. She then retreated to her tent and for thefirst night in a long time she slept peacefully. Her dreams were notwonderful, but not nearly as frightening as they had been.

Whenshe woke the next morning she was somewhat relieved. The sun had justbegin to rise her fire was only embers and she could feel the coolbreeze on her skin as she stepped out of the tent. She began to packup her stuff. She started by rolling up her sleeping bag, and by thetime her bag was full, the fire was out.

Therewas nothing left, but Ash as she left the camp. It was a 40-minutewalk to the parking lot, down a steep path. As she got closer to hercar, an unfamiliar sound came to her. It was a sound of watersplashing against rocks. As she got closer to where her car shouldhave been, the sound got louder. As she moved past the clearing andBeyond the trees she looked on with fear as she realized, the pathended on a steep cliff and down below there was nothing, but theocean.

Itwas not like this before. Her mind looked for logical reasoning, butthere's no way she could be anywhere near the ocean. She was inOklahoma, it was landlocked and no Lake could possibly resemble thisendless body of water. She clumsily pulled her phone from her pocketand unlock it. The first person she tried to call, was her father,But as she pressed the green call Button, Nothing became of it.

Ofcourse there was no reception not this far out. She tried to run backup The Path, her phone in hand, as trying to catch a signal. Over andover again she dialed 911, hoping just once it would connect, butNothing.

Shebegan to wonder what she had done, and what was in that silk pack?Was it really some kind of witch magic or was she just finally sosleep-deprived she couldn't wake up.

Sheran the whole way back to camp, adrenaline raced through her veins.She held her cell phone above her head the whole time hoping for atleast one bar. Hot tears begin to roll down her face as reality sunkin, she was stranded. She dropped down to her knees, into the drydirt. A wave a fear ran through her body, and she just took the timeto cry. She held her phone out in front of her and after about anhour she decided to turn it off, only for a little while.

Itwas about midday when she had finally formulated a plan. She wouldJourney down to the parking lot one last time and if it was still acliff, she would come back and set up camp. She was too afraid towander off into the woods and she thought maybe, if she stayed nearher original camping place she might wake up from this impossibledream. She made her way down the path and as she came closer to theend she could hear the waves.

Sadnesswashed over her, as the enormous body of water came into view. Shelooked over the cliff closely to see where it led. There was nothingbut sharp Jagged rocks at the bottom. It was another 40-minute walkback to camp. As soon as she arrived, she dug through the soot of thefire to see if she could find the silk bag. Maybe it hadn't allburned, Maybe she had done something wrong. As she moved the asharound she found nothing.

Inthe end, she put her tent back up as quick as she could, cut morewood, and restarted her fire. Her camp was not as put together as itwas before, but it only needed to get her through one more night.

Shecried herself to sleep that night. The sound of the running rivernearby in the crackle and pop of the fire helped sing her to sleep.