Welcome back, readers! Here's the second chapter hopefully you will find it enjoyable. If you have any ideas for the story or wanna see anything feel free to PM me. Without further ado, enjoy!
*WARNING: Gore, cursing, alcohol/drug abuse, and eventual lemons*
drip
drip
drip
I felt water rhythmically tap on the side of my face. I cracked open my eyes before groaning loudly. Sunlight poured into my vision like a flash bang and my head erupted into pain. It felt like the worst hangover I've ever had. My whole body was sore, it was like an elephant had decided to use my body as a trampoline. The light aroma of wet grass and plants tickled my nose. I was somewhere near a lot of trees. My eyes wanted to open and check out my surroundings but the headache kept my curiosity at bay. I tried to wrack my head to figure out what happened.
The last thing I remembered was I never got the telemarketing job, maybe I got drunk? No, I don't have enough money for any alcohol. Maybe I got into a fight? I wouldn't put it past me. I wracked my brain for anything, but nothing came up. I strained to dig into my memory... wait... maybe?
Last night's events slowly came back. I punched a sign, walked home, and... HOLY SHIT! The vivid image of a bus barreling towards me hit me quite literally. I ignored the pain and shot up real quick. Instead of maybe a city park or a small collection of trees, a forest greeted my awakening. I propped myself up on one arm to get a better look. My arm gently sank into the dirt below instead of concrete. The confusion I had was surreal.
I was in the middle of a simple dirt path winding through, what is that, bamboo? Rocks, sticks, and leaves peppered the unkempt grass that the path slithered through. The bamboo shot up as big as a building making a light canopy that allowed plenty of sunlight to break through. It was supposed to be the middle of fall and yet it was hot and humid. My jaw just hung open and I was shell-shocked. I had SO many questions. Where am I? How did I get here? How do I get out of here?
My back cracked as I fully pushed myself off the path and sat up. Now sitting up I stretched and rolled my shoulders, slowly waking up my muscles. Looking down for a second I saw my apparel. The suit that was once clean and ironed was now a dirty tattered mess with torn stitching and mud caked into the material. "Welp that's gonna be a nifty fine, nice going jackass", I muttered to myself. The shoes weren't any better with holes in the soles... heh that rhymed.
The moral of the story is I looked homeless, which is rather fitting since I will be just that in a week.
Enough preening over my appearance, I should be more focused on finding out where the hell I am. With a new goal in mind, I stood up to my feet. My legs were shaky and I had to slightly lean forward with my body weight to stay up. I managed though and began to slowly hobble forward down the path. Walking was a pain, but the scenery was beautiful enough and gave me something to look at. There were so many plants I had never seen. Everything was so different from the weather, plants, and even the dirt color. Didn't feel like Detroit. Weird.
I listened in for the sounds of a city, but I was only met with silence and the wind. I scan the horizon for a skyline and only saw trees. "How far did I roam?", I asked aloud. This was starting to get ridiculous, and I was starting to get frustrated. It has now been two hours of walking. My legs burned and shook, and still no city in view. The sun was slowly making its way across the sky to tag in the moon. At this point, my mouth was really dry and I needed a break. It had recently rained so the grass was covered in dew and water dripped off the leaves above. I kept walking until I saw a puddle, I quickly hobbled over to it and dropped to my knees.
This smudged more dirt in the pants but I could care less at this point. My hands greedily cupped the water and brought it to my lips. Each handful disappeared with a loud slurp and some ran down my face. My hydration was eventually satiated and I slumped back into a nearby bamboo tree. The sun was still on the move as if racing me to the finish line. I guess I'm hunkering down for the night. I was nowhere close and I don't want to risk getting caught out at night. The only smart choice here was to find some shelter and rest.
Once again, I tiredly rose back up and got to work finding shelter. After about thirty minutes of searching, I caught a glimpse of a small cave on a hill. It was a bitch to climb in my weakened state but I managed. There were some trees up there and a small clearing. And wow... it was breathtaking I had to admit. The view from the hill was like it was ripped right out of a painting. The canopy stretched out like a floor and the sun reflected off the wet leaves causing a shimmer. Mountains in the background stood majestically overshadowing the nature below. A fog blanketed the rocks and obscured the peaks from any onlookers. This captivated me but also made me finally feel the weight of the situation. Wherever I was, and however I got here. I was far from home.
I took a few minutes to take in the view before walking a little bit further uphill to the cave. Now when I say cave you probably pictured a big jagged opening into a mountain right? Well... this one was a small opening in the rocks. Just big enough to crawl into. But it will have to do for now. I needed some leaves to place in there so I can make some sort of makeshift bed. Sleeping on hard rock doesn't sound like a whole lotta fun to me. So, that's what I did. I walked back down the hill and began collecting leaves. It took me a good twenty minutes but I found an area with some pretty big leaves. My body was exhausted and the process of toting leaves up and down the hill was killing me.
I also needed sticks and timber as well to make a fire. My legs were numb as I went back and forth grabbing all these supplies. Slowly producing a pile by the opening in the rocks. My little collection area was running out of stuff so I had to go a little bit further in search. I now had a normal gate but my legs were still sore. Ignoring the pain to survive, I continued further until a beautiful sound caught my ears. It was the sound of a rushing river. "Water!", I shrieked. I dropped what I was holding and began running to the source of the sound. I did admittedly eat shit halfway there tripping over a branch but I sprung back up and continued. The roar got louder and louder until it came into view. It was about a four feet deep river and it was gently moving.
Like earlier I rushed towards it to get a drink. I kinda didn't pay too much attention and tripped on a rock. Instead of barreling into the ground, I hit the water with a splash. The sounds of the forest were dampened and I could hear the movement of the water. Cold enveloped my body and it honestly felt heavenly. I held my breath for a long time to stay under and enjoy it. However, I'm a human. So, I eventually had to break the surface for air. I swam around a little bit for a good 30 minutes before exiting the river refreshed. I felt really good. The only problem was my clothes were now soaked.
They were extremely heavy and walking felt weird in wet shoes and socks. I was also in the middle of nowhere. It's not like I will run into anyone so I just stripped naked and balled up my clothes in my arms. In hindsight, it would've been better to swim naked and have dry clothes but I fell in so whatever. I trudged back to the cave and grabbed a few more branches and leaves on the way. When I reached the cave I laid my clothes on the rocks in the sun and tossed the rest of the stuff into the pile. It looked like I had enough So I got started stuffing the cave with leaves. With each pile, the rock slowly became obscured. I then pushed down on my pile and it was noticeably softer.
Happy with my bed, I got to work on the fire pit. There were plenty of rocks nearby to make an outline and it was done in no time. There were some leftover leaves and small pieces that fell off of the branches in the remains of my piles. Gathering them and throwing them in the firepit, I fished the lighter out of my pants pocket. I tried to light it and realized the flint got wet. I groaned and shouted a little in frustration, "Damnnit!". Now I had to take twenty more minutes to shake it and dry it out. The sun was even closer to the West now almost taunting me with my limited time. I dried it the best I could in a short amount of time and put it against the pile. I flicked it once and it did nothing. Again, same thing.
I kept flicking it over and over whispering "come on" through gritted teeth. I almost lost hope but then there was a spark! Now even faster and harder I flicked it until It finally caught flame. I quickly pressed into the pile and the fire slowly left the lighter and moved to the timber. The timber started to smoke and I lowered myself instantaneously to start blowing. The smoke grew in volume until a tiny flame was there. I put more timber on it and some smaller branches. I watched hopefully as the flame spread. It took a few minutes but the flame started to slowly grow in size.
"YES! YES! YES! HAHAHA! YES! THAT'S SOME ANIMAL PLANET SHIT RIGHT THERE!", I cheered jumping around.
I may seem crazy but I'm happy to live another day. Almost if on cue the sun began to set. I sat myself down near the fire and propped myself up against the side of the cave. I watched the sun slowly set with a sigh. It was honestly beautiful here. The colors were so warm and vivid, like a painter stroking their brush across the sky. The way the sun fell behind the mountains, it was just, how do I put it? Serene.
I leaned forward to grab my cigarettes and lighter with a groan. I gingerly picked them up and opened my pack. There were only three left. I had to ration them but, tonight I think I deserve one. The cigarette was gently extracted from the pack and the rest was set aside. Lighter fluid also needed to be conserved so I lit my cigarette carefully over the fire. Taking a long drag, I relaxed back into the wall. One day you're getting fired and the next watching the sunset by a fire naked in a forest. At this point, I learned not to question life. For the life of me, I can't still figure out how I got here. No point in fretting I just decided to enjoy the peace. So I quieted down my brain and finished watching the sunset.
Pretty soon the only resemblance of it was cast in the orange hue of the fire. I finished the last drag of my cigarette before putting it out on the rocks and flicking it off of the hill. I decided to turn in for the night and crawled into the small cave. The leaves made it softer and it was kind of a tight fit. I made it work however and settled down. I never really did good sleeping outside but I was too tired to care. Soon, I drifted off into a deep sleep.
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