Kara-I Will Protect You With All My Mind Body and Soul

Chapter 4

"Daddy!" Kara fearfully screamed as she roughly shook him.

He didn't say anything or move.

"Daddy, I scared!" She sobbed as she lay back down against his quiet frame. She trembled as she pushed her tiny body up against her Daddy. Kara faced away from him so as to keep a watch out for the rescue teams. But, she was also very afraid and pulled the soft warm blanket over her tiny head so she couldn't see the moving shadows of the tree branches swaying in the gentle night breeze. She confidently whispered, "Help coming…Help coming." Within minutes, her eyes grew heavy and somehow she fell back to sleep.

Kara awoke to a truly beautiful sight. The early dawn glowed through a small opening under her warm red blanket. She softly stretched and then gently rolled over to face her Daddy. She whispered softly as she caressed his cheek, "Daddy, awake?"

He didn't move or speak.

"Daddy?!" She loudly whimpered as she shook his shoulder.

He didn't respond.

Kara laid her small head against her Daddy's chest again and began to cry. Daddy had never ever slept that long and he was never that hard to wake up. She knew that there was something very very wrong with Daddy. She continued to cry softly for an unknown period of time. She didn't care. Kara wanted her Daddy back.

Her stomach growled viciously. Kara hadn't realized that she was even hungry until it made the loud grumbling noise. At first, she tried to ignore it. She didn't want to leave her spot next to Daddy. If he suddenly woke up, she wanted to be there. However, her empty stomach wouldn't give up its protest and now it was beginning to hurt.

Kara finally gave in to the calls of her wildly grumbling tummy and rolled over to look out from under the safe blanket. She cautiously lifted up just a small piece of the warm blanket to peek outside for danger. Kara needed to know that she would be okay before she would even consider coming out from under the blanket with her Daddy.

The mid-morning sun danced across the forest floor through the protective leaves of the nearby trees. It didn't exactly glare down but it was still so bright that Kara had to squint her eyes protectively. But, it wasn't as bad as the reflections of the bright sun shining off of the nearby water. She quickly looked away and then slowly crawled out from under her blanket.

Cautiously, Kara made her way over to the purple car. She had remembered that Daddy had opened a box of cookies for her yesterday. She also remembered that she had not finished them. After she confidently climbed into the car like it was Mt. Everest, Kara searched the seats for her box of Animal Crackers.

Kara found the still opened box of cookies on the floor under the seat farthest away from her. Her little hands tightly clenched her much-sought-after prize as she climbed back up into the soft seat.

Kara was still a little too small to see out the clear windshield as she sat down on the comfy seat. She didn't like it. Kara needed to keep watch over Daddy. So she stood up on the seat and leaned hard against the stiff dashboard as she hungrily jammed the really good cookies into her tiny mouth. She barely chewed as she ate. It was really good.

Suddenly, Kara thought about how hungry her Daddy should be too. So she jumped out of the tall car and rushed over to her Daddy who was still covered up by the red plaid blanket. "Daddy hungry?" she whispered as she lifted the heavy blanket up to check on him.

He didn't move or respond.

"Daddy Hungry?!" She yelled.

He lay silent.

Kara didn't care if he was asleep, he needed to eat too. So she removed a big cookie from her tiny red box and shoved it into his still mouth. "Daddy eat." She said contentedly as she sat down against his legs and continued to wolf down her delicious cookies.

Within minutes, Kara's mouth was feeling really dry. Those cookies, coupled with the fact that she had cried off and on all night and day, had dried her out. "Water?" Kara whimpered to her Daddy.

He didn't respond.

Kara slowly stood up and shuffled over to her Daddy's face and leaned in close, "Daddy, water?" she questioned louder as she stared worriedly into his still features.

He continued to lie silently in front of Kara.

Kara's dry mouth continued to beg her for cool clean water. She needed to find some real soon. That is when her eyes caught sight of the large quiet water Daddy had brought them here to see. "Water" she whispered and then left her Daddy's side to go get a drink.

Kara ended her thirsty walk at the steep edge of a sheer Cliffside. Kara had happily watched her Daddy stand in this very spot fishing yesterday. However, she needed water and it was too steep to climb down at this spot. Kara frowned but didn't give up.

She squinted her little brown eyes as she searched the water's edge down the way for an easier access point. Pretty far away, Kara saw the land go flat leading straight into the water. "Water" she hungrily whispered and began her purposeful walk.

The noon-day sun reflected viciously at Kara off the pristine lake. It made her hold her hand over her eyes to protect them. It was hot and she was getting really tired. She had no idea how long she had been walking but Kara was just about ready to give up when she finally stepped up to the cold water of the still lake.

Once Kara kneeled down next to the softly rippling waterline, she cupped her little hands and scooped up the clear liquid into them. With the water quickly escaping her grasp, she quickly slurped up as much as she could. Instantly, she spit it out, "Yucky!"

The nasty taste of the water might have slowed her down but, Kara didn't stop drinking it. Her little body needed it. Soon, she had her fill.

With her tummy sloshing around with the "yucky" water, Kara turned around to go back the way she came. But, she forgot which way she had come from. Which way was here Daddy? A real fear began to rise inside Kara as she searched down the lake banks for any idea of which way she had come from. She couldn't see her Daddy or the purple car anywhere.

While truly frightened, Kara began to run. She had no real direction in mind. She just needed to find her Daddy and she needed to find him now! Her desperate run led straight into the dense forest. The whole time she was frantically running, Kara was yelling, "Daddy?!"

Not more than a few minutes later, Kara's tiny tummy began to hurt. She wasn't hungry. It just started hurting and it was hurting really bad. It soon became so bad that Kara had to stop running. She cried in pain as she lay down on a small patch of sun-lit grass next to a large tree and curled up into a tiny ball. Her stomach was now hurting so bad, she couldn't think about anything else. Kara cradled her tummy and cried, "Daddy, I hurt."

Kara's tummy gradually became more painful as time went on. Not only that, she started to feel really hot and dizzy. "Daddy," she whispered in pain. "I hurt. Help." Then, she closed her eyes and painfully cried.