Victoria drifted in and out of sleep as the storm continued to rage around her all night. Her makeshift shelter had offered only a
little sanctuary from the unearthly squall. The rain didn’t just attack from above, but also seemingly from the sides and below. There was no escape and she was forced to get used to being constantly drenched from head to toe.
A heavy gust of wind ripped through the forest and nearly knocked Victoria from the thick tree limb she was using as a bed. It woke her up with a start and she clung to the tree for dear life, her eyes glued to the ground nearly thirty feet below her. The speed of the wind increased and it felt like she was trapped in the airplane again. Flashes of the hull being torn apart and objects being sucked out into the atmosphere flooded her mind. Her body began to shake violently as her fingers clutched at the bark of the tree with such force that the rough surface cut into her skin.
The wind finally died down after what seemed like another hour, but Victoria didn’t stop clinging to the tree. Her mind hadn’t recognized that the storm had passed, and the rain had stopped. She was still stuck on that plane in her mind.
It was the noise of the jungle that brought her back to reality. The storm had caused all the animals to flee for shelter, but now that it had passed they tentatively came out of their dens to enjoy the peeking morning sun. She looked around, still troubled and trembling, but she was able to marvel in the sight of impossibly green leaves glistening with droplets of water. Spider webs that she hadn’t realized existed were now shining like little diamonds in the light, and she idly wondered how such fragile looking creations could have survived the gale.
The sights and sounds distracted her from the pain all over her body and she felt herself relax. Her breathing slowed, and her heart began to calm down. For the first time, she felt herself appreciating her surroundings instead of simply wishing she were safe at home with Chloe in their little apartment, munching on popcorn and watching guilty pleasures on TV. At least it was an adventure; but she wasn’t handling it very well.
“I’m a mess,” she said softly as she stretched out. Her muscles were so tight that the motion was strained and painful. She winced and brought her arms back to her body where they wouldn’t ache.
When she turned over her palms she could clearly see the cuts all over the surface of her skin. The sight reminded her of the pain in her knee and she sighed as she twisted her leg to see the gash. The area surrounding the deep cut had become swollen and turned an angry reddish-purple. The cut itself looked glazed over and had scabbed up. She pressed her fingers lightly against the wound and small amounts of cream colored pus escaped the scab and pain shot through her leg.
“Disgusting,” she grunted. She allowed her leg to slump over the limb and leaned her head back against the trunk. It had been very difficult to climb up the tree to cast the chute over the branches with her wounded leg, she feared how much worse it would be now. “I’m just going to have to man up and climb down. I can’t starve to death in a tree.”
She slowly swung her leg over the tree branch, and stretched her good foot out to steady herself on a branch further down. She had no issues at first, until she attempted to put pressure on her wounded leg. The pain that coursed through her was so intense that it froze her in place and she let loose a shrill cry of pain.
“Come on. You can do this, Victoria,” she encouraged herself gently as she forced herself off the branch. She paused once she was balanced on the lower branch and grabbed her clothes that were still hanging near her. “Thankfully that wind didn’t take you guys. It would suck to get rescued butt naked,” she said in an attempt at humor. It was all she could do to fight off the waves of hopelessness that threatened to cripple her.
Her good leg touched the ground softly and she used all the strength she had left to slowly lower her wounded appendage to the forest floor. She was panting from the effort of her climb. Her clothes were soaked and needed to be laid out to dry. Her eyes looked upward toward her canopy that hung thirty feet above her and sighed. “Perhaps not my greatest idea ever,” she muttered to herself as she walked toward her log.
She reached into her pack and picked up an energy bar, thankful that the material the bag was made out of was waterproof. She took a bite from it as she lay herself down on the large fallen tree, stretching her limbs out against the bark. It felt surprisingly smooth against her naked back and she allowed herself a few moments to relax and enjoy her meager meal.
“I need something to wrap my leg up with,” she said thoughtfully, “and a plan for what the hell I’m going to eat. Funny how a week ago I was worried about my hair being straightened and if my clothes flattered my figure. I guess you never think about water or food until you don’t have any.”
She sat up slowly from her log and glanced around. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get food. She had no hunting skills and no earthly idea what was edible or poisonous in the forest. Thankfully, the rain had left her with plenty of available drinking water. She reached into her pack until she found a depleted water bottle.
It was a painful task to walk around her little area, finding trees with leaves wide enough to have gathered water in the middle. For a half hour she limped around, scavenging what moisture she could until her container was completely filled. She didn’t want to waste water right away, and decided it was better to drink directly from the leaves until her thirst was quenched.
The chore had been far more exhausting than Victoria first thought it would be. It amazed her that an injury could drain her of her energy both emotionally and physically. Even though all she wanted to do was to get some more rest, she knew that her survival depended on getting things done. The first of which was going to be wrapping up her leg.
She looked at her wet clothes and decided the best garment to use for a wrap was her panties. They were made from comfortable cotton, mostly dried, and the easiest to rip apart and retie. “Not like I need them anyway,” she said to herself as she ripped them at the seam. She sat down at her log and stretched her leg out, wrapping her wound in the torn fabric. After she had tied a knot to secure her wrap, she flexed her knee several times to make sure it would hold. Satisfied she stood up and looked around her little camp.
The next chore on her list was building a fire, followed by finding food. She had no idea how she was going to accomplish either task with her skills and the present conditions of the forest. Everything was soaked from the storm and she had no other method of starting a fire besides rubbing sticks together. She sat on her log, trying to think of anything that could help her, but nothing was coming to her.
There was a gathering heat on her cheek that she brushed away in annoyance. She shifted herself on the log and quickly felt that same heat gathering on her neck. “What the hell?” she muttered to herself and glanced around. There was no insect she could see or hear attacking her, nor was there any other animal. Even the sun was starting to set in the evening and couldn’t be accounted for the sudden discomfort.
“Wait, the sun,” she said quickly and looked right at it. It took a moment for her to realize there was a thick droplet of water hanging from a leaf above her and the sun was shining right through it. Memories of high school science classes, and setting newspapers on fire with a magnifying glass, came rushing back to her. Victoria quickly rushed around to gather as much firewood as she possibly could, throwing it into a pile and aligning the sticks to be off the ground. The sun was setting rapidly and she had no time to spare as it was quickly moving behind thick trees.
She picked up her clear water bottle and moved it around until it caught the light just right. When nothing happened, she began to panic, wondering if the color in the bottle was somehow hindering the magnification. She shifted the bottle again, closing her eyes and silently begging Malcolm’s spirit to somehow help her make this work.
Smoke began to fill her nostrils and her eye lids opened suddenly. Flames began to dance in the wood and more smoke rose from the site. “Air, it needs more air,” she said as she leaned over, blowing softly at the flames to encourage their growth.
She picked up leaves from around her and ripped them apart, lightly sticking them into the fire. It took a moment for the fire to fight past the dampness of the leaves, but eventually they dried enough to be ignited, and Victoria was able to use them to spread her flames to other parts of her woodpile.
It was difficult to stop herself from shouting in joy at her accomplishment, but it seemed that every time she had allowed herself a moment of peace, something went wrong. All of her focus and attention was nursing the fire to life until it could sustain itself. She helped it along by continuing to use her water as a magnifier, but the sun was quickly moving into a bad position.
After battling with the wood for the better part of an hour, her sticks had taken a life of their own, burning without aid. Now, she could finally allow herself a moment to relax and enjoy the dry warmth the fire was providing. The smoke rising from the wood was black and thick and made Victoria cough if she got too close, but she didn’t care. It would be visible for all to see, and all she had to do now was keep it alive until she was rescued.
“I did it, Malcolm,” she said softly as she laid her head down on the ground. “I’m pretty sure I have you to thank for this, champ. Thank you.” Her stomach was growling from the lack of food, but Victoria felt too weak to go and try to find any.
She lay there for a little while longer until she felt she had no choice. Victoria dragged her lethargic body to her feet, and forced herself to wander away from her camp in a search for food. Her stomach was demanding it, and she remembered from Chloe’s lectures that she needed to keep her body nourished in order to heal. A small bushel of wild berries was growing nearby. Victoria greedily shoved a few into her mouth, closing her eyes to enjoy the sweetness. She then gathered as many as would fit into her arms and went back to her camp, content for the moment.