The Land of the Lost

Ch.4 Pinecones

It had been a long time since I last walked through these woods. The bike trail was no longer packed down from hikers. It now lay overgrown with weeds and littered with fallen branches, making it difficult to follow. The ground essentially blended in with it, both were full of ferns, the occasional bush, and pinecones. And let me tell you, PINECONES ARE THE DEVIL. I had almost rolled my ankle on them at least a dozen times. Every time I would try to find my footing after climbing over a log, or jumping over a rock, there would always be a pinecone waiting for me, trying to make me trip. And the brush only got thicker and fuller as I walked through the woods, and as it did, my ability to see where I was walking only diminished. The more I walked, the more my knees and lower back seemed to ache. I had been walking for what felt like hours. But it couldn't have been that long... had it? Speaking of hours, I hadn't heard Siri in a while. Although annoying at times, her voice was a nice disruption from the sound of leaves crunching under my feet, and the thoughts that cluttered my head. I pulled my phone from my jacket, looking down to check the time.

"What the-"

The numbers wouldn't stop changing. First it read 8:31, but then it read 3:40, 6:15, 12:22, 10:52. And then, the numbers were changing so fast I couldn't even read them before they were replaced with a set of new ones. I tried to rationalize what I was seeing. It must be a glitch, right?! Wracking my brain for any other reason besides I'm being haunted, I came to a less scary conclusion. A lack of reception could cause that I think. But if I don't have any reception, then... I quickly plugged my phone's password in, scrolled through my home screens, and opened up the Google maps app.

"No signal?! Are you f***ing kidding me?! You did this Siri didn't you?! No wonder you haven't been talking."

" Searching for 'No wonder you haven't been talking' on the web... I'm sorry, it appears you aren't connected to the internet, would you like me to try again?"

Great. NOW how am I supposed to get to school? Trying my best not to freak out, I continued walking. I knew it was just a straight shot through the woods to the school, but it was hard to tell how long it was going to take. I had no knowledge of how long I had been walking, nor what time it actually was.

"This is just f***ed" I mumbled to myself. I continued to complain about how tired I was, dragging my feet like an old mule. Maybe I should've taken another year of P.E. I thought to myself. I must really be out of shape if I've only been walking for a few minutes and feel like I've ran a marathon.

After what felt like a few more hours of walking, I decided that I deserved to sit down for a moment and collect my thoughts. I looked up ahead, the trees seemed to part a little, and peaking through, I noticed a large rock. Pushing myself a little bit further, I reached its position. Pushing off my backpack, I sat down and let out a deep breath.

What am I gonna say to my parents? I must be lost. I've been walking for hours, I'm starving, I'm thirsty. I can't even call anyone. The same questions and complaints rolled around in my head, all waiting for answers, but never satisfied. My head began to feel heavy, and my eyes drowsy. I looked up to the sky, trying to see through the underbrush.

The sun was setting.

Yep, I'm definitely lost.

I looked around, knowing well enough that I'd probably have to spend the night here. Scrounging up some sticks and dead leaves, I placed them into a pile. Using two of the sturdier sticks I found, I started to rub them together. That's how you make a fire, right? At least that's what the counselor said at the summer camp... I never ACTUALLY  made a fire at the camp. They probably just wanted us to rub sticks together for hours so that they could get a break from babysitting us.

"This is pointless" I groaned as I threw the two sticks into the rest of the pile. It had been at least 20 minutes, and not even a hint of smoke. It was completely dark now, and a strong breeze blew beneath the canopy. The leaves of the surrounding trees rustled, several fell to the ground, breaking the silence with their dull patter. A shiver ran down my spine as the wind began to travel faster, whipping my hair around my face.

Guess I'm gonna freeze... It's not like I haven't had an already terrible day.

Accepting my defeat, I grabbed my backpack and walked over to the nearest tree. I threw my backpack on the ground and then proceeded to curl up in a fetal position against it's moss-covered trunk. It's large roots cradled me nicely, and their height did a decent job at blocking the powerful blows of the wind. However, the cold was still prominent. It wrapped its fingers around me, the only barriers between them being my sweatshirt and pants. 

Although the cold would keep any normal person awake for the night, the sense of fatigue and lack of hydration from walking all day made sleep seem like the best thing in the world.

And so, as the moon loomed high in the sky, I drifted off to sleep, not knowing I wasn't the only person who found themselves in the forest that night.

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