Haven Mountain

Chapter 3

    I've never felt so alone in my entire life. Thinking about it, I've never had to be alone. I always had my mom and Josie and that was enough because they were two people that never let me down. Of course I had other friends and family that came and went but Josie and mom were along for the long ride.

    I studied my compass. All of a sudden I wished I would have paid more attention  in the class that taught us how to read compasses....wait did we even take a class about that? I thought to myself. 

    My mom owns many acres of forest in the mountains near our home that was passed down from my grandfather when he passed away. He was really big into hunting, camping, and hiking and use to stay in the cabin that mom was telling me about for weeks at a time during hunting season. I'm sure if I would have been old enough, he would have taken me too but I was only 7 when he passed away. It hurt my mom so bad when he died, that she refused to ever go to his hunting cabin and rarely even spoke of it, so I never brought it up either.

    I was about 1 mile in my hike and heard what sounded like a tornado ripping through the trees. I looked and saw fighter jets flying through the sky. I couldn't believe they were this close to me. Could they see me? Did they see me? My fight or flight kicked in and I took off running down the side of the mountain to take cover. I took the compass and stuffed it in my pocket while running. I definitely did not want to lose it. I saw a big, fallen tree and thought to myself that it would be a perfect hiding spot. I headed for the tree and tripped over a root and started rolling sideways down a steep mountain side. I felt every tree limb, every rock, and stump under me as I rolled until a sharp object impacted me in the side and stopped my fall. 

    My adrenaline was pumping through my veins so hard that I didn't realize how bad the injury was until I was able to get to my feet and pull up my shirt. A broken tree limb was sticking out of my side. Out of reaction, I freaked out and yanked the limb out. Blood started gushing from my side. I had never seen so much blood in my life. My head felt dizzy and abnormally light. The last thing I remember was the smell of leaves and the sound of machine guns going off in the sky.

    Metallic. The taste in my mouth was metallic. I slowly open my eyes. Everything hurts. I take a deep breath and it feels like 50 pounds of rocks are sitting on my chest. I look around but it's dark and nothing is visible. I'm laying face down and my stomach is so cold. Everything is cold. I'm freezing. I slowly sit and my eyes start adjusting to the darkness. Then it hits, I remember the accident that happened in the mountains. I'm still in the same place. How long had I been out for? I think to myself. It's completely dark and had to be only 4 or so when the incident happened. 

    I then remember my side. Scared to even look, I glance down at my wound. It's covered in dirt and leaves are stuck to it where I had passed out and landed on it. Thankfully I didn't see any fresh blood and I thought maybe the leaves and dirt helped clot the wound. I need to get to the cabin and soon so I can clean it up before infection sets in.

    I take my flannel jacket off my waist and put it on. I reach down to my leg and my dagger is still in place. Wow those leather straps really work! I reach in my pocket and feel the compass. Then I start to panic. My bag. It's nowhere around me and with limited vision, I can't see it anywhere near. I need to retrace my steps.

    Thankfully, I didn't hear the jets any longer. The only sound I could hear was the wind blowing through the trees. I start walking carefully up the mountainside I had fell down. If falling down it was so easy in the daylight, I can only imagine how hard hiking up it will be in the dark. I grab onto some tree roots sticking out of the ground to help stabilize myself. 

    Slowly and cautiously, I finally make it to where I was when the jets were flying by and shooting at each other. I squat to the ground and start feeling around trying to cover everywhere that the bag could possibly be. I feel a sharp pain in my side and remember that I need to be more careful. I stand to my feet and keep searching. I'm screwed if I can't find my bag, I think to myself, but at the same time, if I don't make it to the cabin soon, my wound will start to fester or even worse, mom will think something terrible happened to me and leave the cabin before I even get there. 

    I will just have to break into the cabin somehow or maybe mom will already be there and I won't have to. Either way, tomorrow once it's daylight, I will come back and get my bag. I get out my compass and start heading west again. The mountain starts to get steeper and with higher altitude comes colder temperatures. What I would do to be cuddled up on my couch by the fire place reading a book while mom is in the kitchen making vegetable soup. What I would do just have a drink of water. I think to myself as I try to gather enough saliva in my mouth just to swallow.