Chapter 3 It was the kind of sleep where you don t wake up at all. Not for noise, not to roll over. The kind of sleep where if you re randomly sleeping in a cave in northern Michigan, you d be surprised as hell when you woke up and realized that that s exactly where you were. I dug under the blankets, wide awake now, looking for my cell phone. It was still kind of dark outside, very early morning. It was pretty warm inside my tent but I d used it enough to know that as soon as I unzipped it, the real weather would hit me. I wasn t ready for cold, which I knew was waiting beyond my zipper.

4 missed calls

2 voicemails

I was paranoid enough to know I was going to have to change my number. I wouldn t put hunting me down like a dog past Caleb. I checked the time, which is why I looked at my phone to begin with and saw it was 4:24am. I d slept a pretty long time. I put my phone back under the blanket. I didn t have to check my call log or voicemail to know it was Caleb. The thought stressed me out. I didn t want to hear it.

I sat up and felt my stomach growling harder than last night. I reached towards my feet and pulled a sack up towards me. I packed about a million granola bars. Granola bars are pretty much the best. They re fast, nutrious, delicious and cheap. I ate 3 and laid back down. I set off into more sleep with a little something in my belly.

The light woke me up this time. I paniced when I thought of how late it could be. I definitely had lots on my agenda today and my situation couldn t survive with any screw ups. I grabbed my phone, 3 more missed calls and one more voicemail. The time was 7:43. Thank god.

I stood up and stretched. Grabbed a smaller bag out of one of my sacks and grabbed a towel. I was going to attempt a stream bath. This was definitely going to suck but I m a big girl. I d rather freeze than smell. Besides, people don t hire people who stink. It s good sense.

The water was pretty cold but not winter cold. Steam bathing isn t as glamorous as the movie make it seem. Some bathing beauty someone sees from afar. I fell a couple times. The rocks were slippery. It was better than I expected though. I washed my hair and other important areas that don t need to be named and quickly ran back into the cave. Scared of the animals, scared of people spotting me. Once I got back into my tent I got right back under the covers to thaw. My hair was going to be crazy but that s where braided pig tails come in. They can hide the crazies.

I gave my hair some time to dry before I braided it and got dressed for the day. I ate another granola bar and then I packed everything as far back and right as I could and grabbed my bike. It was 9:30am and places were probably starting to open. Time to find a job. One step at a time I would pull myself out of this hole. I would have a home someday, a family. One day, I won t be a girl living in a cave. One can only hope.