[OC POV]:
Dreams are nice.
They give us hope.
They give us inspiration.
They give us respite.
All dreams, however, unfortunately end.
...
I found myself abruptly ripped from mine; right before I cashed in the winning lotto ticket.
...
As my consciousness resurfaced, I felt a bombardment of sensations.
'Cold.'
Overwhelmed by the initial sensory overload, that's all I could really think at the moment.
'Freezing.'
My eyes shot open to an opaque white sky- the wind howling in my ears, nipping at my exposed extremities. In my periphery, the pine tree I was under was much larger and more distinct than I remember.
I recalled falling asleep on brisk spring day, but what I felt now was akin to the peak of winter. A pile of snow had already formed around me, burying most of my body.
'Surely I hadn't slept that long?'
I didn't have much time to contemplate, however, as my body shivered uncontrollably in protest of the weather, and the snow that covered me. While my jacket was helping to mitigate the cold, my shorts weren't doing me much justice. I took that as a sign to seek shelter and warmth A.S.A.P.
The problem was that I appeared to be in the middle of nowhere- a seemingly endless pine forest unlike the park I had previously entered.
...
In the distance, I spotted what appeared to be a ginormous mountain with a network of caves.
'Bingo.'
I resolved myself; sprung up from the snow like a gopher; shook off the snow; put my headphones on to protect my ears from the blistering cold; pulled up my hood; and headed off in the direction of the nearest cave, seeking refuge.
...
Slowly, I made progress.
...
I fought the wind like a champ, but still had to walk carefully to prevent slipping, which I can assure you, totally didn't happen at all.
'If only I wore boots,' I thought to myself.
Alas, I had to make do with the worn-out black sneakers I'm wearing. Reliable though they may be most of the time, right now was an exception.
...
A grueling 10 minutes later, I found myself inside the cave, free from the onslaught of the wind, but still shivering.
With shelter acquired, and the ability to think more clearly, I took a mental inventory of what I needed next.
My clothes were still damp.
My socks were more soaked than middle aged women at a Twilight film preview.
I needed to fix that.
In order to fix that, however, I needed to go back outside.
...
Life is a comedy to those who think, and a tragedy to those who feel.
...
I walked outside of the cave to gather some fallen twigs and branches. Carefully, I arranged kindling, then a teepee of logs, and finally some rocks to surround it that I found in the cave, to construct a fireplace.
Ideally, I wanted it to be as deep in the cave as possible, far from the winds outside, but I also needed adequate ventilation so I could breathe fresh air. I didn't venture too far in the cave just yet, especially with how dark it got further in.
Fortunately for me, I noticed that I forgot to give my friend back his custom lighter that he gave me for safekeeping before he went diving yesterday.
It's been in my jacket pocket since, and it still works! I also had my pocket knife, my smartphone, my wallet, and my keys.
Unfortunately for me, the wood I used for the fireplace was still damp, having been buried in snow no more than a few minutes ago.
I could feel my body temperature dropping, however, so I had little time to reflect.
I desperately tried to light the kindling, gently blowing on it.
...
Eventually, after much effort, I was able to get a consistent smoke generating from the kindling.
I smiled.
'I'm gonna make it!'
Still blowing, though less intensely than your mom would, I moved the kindling to the heart of the fireplace, where flames spawned a few moments later.
The larger twigs caught on fire, then the branches, soon to be followed by the larger logs.
I could feel the heat building, and my body warming up.
I took my socks off, and exposed the dogs, so that I could dry them next to my shoes.
I kept the rest of my clothes on, deciding it would be better to dry them with them on.
...
As I sat by the fireplace, warm and toasty, I finally felt relaxed, even as the world outside the cave got darker and the winds picked up speed.
30 minutes had passed since the first flames grew out of the pit, I found, by checking the time on my phone before and after starting the fire- the timestamps I got were 2024-10-23T04:00:03Z and 2024-10-23T04:30:21Z.
I still need a source of food and fresh water, but I wasn't hungry or thirsty yet.
'It can wait...'
Probably not the smartest thing to think at the moment, but I was exhausted, and probably borderline hypothermic at one point.
The little sunlight that was visible outside had begun to wane, and the visibility outside the mouth of the cave dropped considerably.
I thought about everything that's transpired thus far.
I went to sleep in the local park and woke up in an entirely different forest, subjected to near-arctic conditions.
'Did someone sedate me, then dump me in the middle of Siberia?'
I felt this was the most logical explanation, but there were still many holes in this theory.
'Where the hell am I?'
I checked my phone again.
No cell signal, GPS, WiFi, or anything.
'Damn.'
My phone had 74% charge left, and I unfortunately didn't have a charger on me. Not that it would be very useful at the moment without a proper power source. I decided to put my phone in to power conservation mode, and use it as sparingly as possible.
I tried to recall what happened before I took a nap in the park, but nothing seemed out of the usual. I don't remember pissing off any mobsters recently either...
'What a cruel prank.'
Fate seemed to have it out for me.
As I ruminated the nature of my predicament, I felt a sense of unease wash over me.
It was instinctive- I felt like I was being watched...
I looked deeper in the cave, and outside the mouth of the cave, but failed to pinpoint my voyeur.
'It's probably an harmless animal,' I hoped.
If it was a predator that perceived me as prey, there wasn't much I could do in my situation. I was still recuperating, didn't have a means to defend myself, except rocks and sticks, and didn't really have anywhere to run. The weather outside made fleeing very difficult.
'Oh well, if it wants to fight me, I'll give it hell. If I die, then I die; but I won't just keel over either!'
I glared outside the mouth of the cave.
As quickly as I felt my instincts flare, the feeling of being watched disappeared.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but was still somewhat vigilant.
I decided to let the fire continue as I brought some sticks and rocks close to me, and drifted off to sleep.
Not the smartest decision either, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
'Maybe the fire will scare it off.'