Sierra surfaced from the freezing water with a ragged gasp, she looked around wildly trying to push her wet hair out of her eyes! "ANGELIIIIIINAAAA!" She strangled, almost going under again and sucking down a bitterly cold mouthful of the lake water in the process. She choked and gagged trying to kick her numb feet and keep from going under again. She called out again, and again frantically, searching every direction... No sign of her.. The woman's mind reeled. What HAPPENED? They'd just been sitting together in a nice café, laughing talking.. and then the bottom seemed to fall out of the world. They'd both screamed as they fell into what looked like... nothingness. They both screamed reaching for eachother. Their fingers brushed, and then there was only darkness, a bitter chilled whipping wind, she tumbled blindly through the seemingly endless void…and then the water. Ice cold.
"Angeliiiinnaaa!" She cried out again, sobbing, chuffing in small circles in the water. Trying to see anything she could.
Sierra did this for what felt like hours, searching, calling, hoping for some sign of her cousin she cried out in every direction in the growing twilight gloom... feeling her strength ebbing. Finally, she spotted the shore and began to kick feebly towards it.
Once she made it to the lakes edge, she dragged herself up onto the shore, trembling from shock and cold she was operating on pure survival instinct. Fire... She needed to make a fire or she'd probably die. The sun was setting quickly and she didn't know where she was or how cold the night might get. She lurched to shaking feet, and began to eye the tree line. At the base of a nearby cliff she found a large jutting rocky overhang beneath which she could shelter from the elements a bit. She began to collect fallen branches and dry duff to make a fire and piled them at the edge of the rock. After she had collected enough, she set about making a fire, for once thankful of her "rustic" upbringing. With a fire going she wrung out her clothes and draped them on some bushes to dry the rest of the way. She wrung her thin cotton undies and tank top out as best she could and, shivering, held them up to the fire to dry faster. Once they were dry enough to be tolerable, she donned them and set about drying the other garments in much the same way. The flannel long-sleeved shirt and the was the easiest to dry and once it was finished, she put it on immediately taking solace in the warm, slightly toasted fabric. There, now at least if she encountered any campers or hikers out here…. wherever here was. She would at least be half-way presentable. She decided that the jeans would probably take all night and, giving up for now set them back out on the bush. She wrung her socks, but didn't put them on; setting both them and her shoes propped up on stones around her little fire. She stoked it again with enough bigger logs to last through the night, and just sat by the fire for a spell, still trying to warm herself from the chilling slog through the lake. Out of the immediate danger of hypothermia, and with a fire for light and comparative safety, the trials of the last few hours caught up to her... Beaten and exhausted, she allowed herself to just completely break down. She cried.. long and hard, ugly cried. Allowing it to wash over her utterly, the grief, the horror, the uncertainty and fear… It wracked her soul and she allowed herself to feel it completely, in every bone...just this once, because she knew that until/unless she found Angelina, and they were able to make their way back home.. She would never be able to afford herself the luxury again. She'd have to turn it off, and be strong.
So, just this once, she purged the valve of her heart and let everything out; bawling, howling, keening... she screamed up at the sky. Until there were no more tears and her voice was hoarse.. She quieted, rocking, holding her knees for comfort and for warmth, letting the exhaustion take her. She fell finally into a dreamless sleep.