I wake up on a beach. Which is strange, because I don't live near one. I live in a semi rural area, by pine trees and a main highway that meets the interstate a few miles down the road.

It's bright, and sunny, but cold. I go to get up and I notice this weird, diamond shaped thing implanted in my left wrist.

…

What is that?! I scratch at it to try and get it out, but it hurts! I leave it alone and look around.

Are those...palm trees? We don't have those at home. Nor any of these other tropical looking plants.

In my confusion, I fail to immediately notice that I have no clothes on. Only when the cold wind that bites at my skin and makes me shiver do I realize.

I hastily cover myself with my hands, only to realize they won't do me any good.

This makes me think of the tv show, Naked and Afraid, but without the camera crew and medical people who hung out nearby to actually stop a person from dying.

Oh God, where am I? I see no footprints near me, so I was not drug here. No tire tracks, no marks except for my own. How did I get here?

I hear a strange warbling sound nearby and the rustling of a bush, and before I can react, out wanders a colorful, fat, fluffy…. Dodo bird?

"Hold up…" I say aloud to myself. Dodos are extinct. If I remember correctly, their only surviving relatives or anatomically similar descendants are the turkeys we eat for Thanksgiving.

Maybe I'm wrong, and it's not a Dodo. But what else on Earth could it be? It looked just like the ones in Ice Age, just not as cartoonist. Still cute. And I bet this one didn't know Tae Kwon Do or was in a group of highly trained Tae Kwon Dodos.

What the hell am I thinking? None of this is going to help me. But maybe the bird might. Maybe if I follow it around, it'll show me to food, or maybe even some a primitive shelter, like a cave or something.

And so, I begin to follow the bird, admiring its plumage. The feathers on the main part of the body were a bright pink hue, with white on its wings and single patch on its head. The face was yellow, and the rounded tip of the top of the beak was a dark green.

"You're a very pretty bird, I'll give you that." I say to it, rubbing at my arms to try and warm up. It isn't freezing, I think, but I'm a small person. Five feet two, and weigh less than a hundred pounds soaking wet. I get cold real easy. I hope i was able to find some warmth soon.

After a while of just walking along the beach and wandering around, the Dodo, who I am deciding to call Peppermint because of the coloring, began eating some berries from a little bush. I see a similar bush nearby and go to pick some of the berries off of it.

Red, yellow, blue, purple, white, and black were the color of the berries I found. Basic knowledge told me anything brightly colored would be bad for me. Immediately I discard the black and white berries, leaving only the red, yellow, blue and purple ones.

I look over at Peppermint, and see they are chewing mostly on the yellow ones. Those must be safe, so I eat a few of those as well.

I'm not a fruit and vegetable person, and prefer berries cooked in a cobbler or a pie, but these would have to suffice if I want to survive. I decide to keep the rest, as I see my new companion eat them as well. If only I had some pockets…

I collect a few more to eat as we walk, following Peppermint all over the beach. There are more Dodos around ahead of us, one of which is a very dull yellow with purplish white wings, and it seemed excited as it waddle-runs this way. I'm wary before it runs up to Peppermint and nuzzles up against the other bird.

"Awe, you got yourself a mate." I remarked, smiling at the cute scene.

…

Oh no… What about my husband? Our three kids? What was going to happen? If I'm in this God-knows-where place, who was going to keep an eye on them while he was at work? His mother is legally blind, she can't. The hours he works, he can't drop them off and pick them up from a daycare. My parents live in different towns, and have very strenuous work hours.

Were they all alone? The older two would get off the bus and I won't be there to get them. My youngest, at home, all by himself….. For hours.

I don't want to think about the implications. Maybe the neighbors would notice? At least then they'd have a guardian until someone calls him.

I sigh, a deep heavy breath.

Worrying about it won't really do me any good now, I'm way the hell over here in BumFuck Egypt for all I know.

The Dodos begin wandering off and follow, trying to focus on the birds instead of other things. It wasn't working well and before I realize it, I'm lost. I don't see the birds, and I'm not on the beach. I'm in some kind of forest. Dense, but not too dense, I can still see splotches of sunlight on the ground.

At least I won't get sunburned….

I look around, trying to see if I can find the beach again, but all I see is forest.

"Shit…" I curse aloud. Maybe if i just go back the way I came? That usually worked, right? Backtracking? Ugh, I'm no good at trying to survive on my own like this….

I can see it now, I won't last two days….

Yeah, there's a beach nearby, but watch that shit be salt frickin' water and I can't drink it. Even if I find water, and keep on with these berries…

I stop when I hear thunderous footsteps, slow and very, very heavy nearby. What the shit? I look around before I see a giant foot.

…

…

…

The damn toes on it are freaking almost bigger than I am! Is this a damn elephant?! I look up, and blink.

Then scrub at my eyes.

I know...there's no way….that I'm staring….at freaking...Littlefoot!

I didn't have much time to marvel at it though, before something slams into me and I hit the ground.

I hear a high pitched type of squealing, but I can't move or see, all I can feel is claws. Sharp claws raking into my flesh, and I suddenly don't cold. Probably because the warm blood in my body is now outside and covering me in it.

I try to move, to get away, and all I manage is to turn my head a bit.

I regret it, because what I see has haunted my nightmares since childhood. Horror scenes of Jurassic Park play in my head.

Raptors.

That's all I can think before everything goes black. I hear nothing, feel nothing, see nothing, know nothing.