The Woods

Wednesday

I got up early and ate my berries while I made a list of things to pack. The house was too dangerous to stay in if the radio was right. I was going to have to start moving food and provisions to my various campsites to be safe. On top of that, I made a pack that I would need to keep with me at all times. That's the list I was working on.

Radio

Flashlight

Fire starter

Stake

Knife

Flares

Something iron

Something silver

Bow and arrows

Food and water for one day

I looked at my list and hoped that I was remembering everything. I wasn't very good with the bow, Dad bought it for me after I read Hunger Games and begged him for one. I tried to shoot with it a few times but got bored. I was going to have to remedy that.

I grabbed my strongest book bag and filled it with the items, adding a picture of Mom and Dad and one of all my friends in a big group shot. I sharpened my pocket knife and put it in the pocket of my most durable cargo pants. I found Dad's big hunting knife and sharpened that too. I put it in the side pocket of the bag so I could reach it easily. I also found Dad's old Zippo lighter and filled it with fluid. I put the lighter in another pocket along with one of Dad's handkerchiefs. I pulled on my hiking boots and dressed in layers, knowing that it might be warm now but the early

September night could get chilly.

I racked my brain about the silver and iron and finally decided on the iron poker from the wood burning stove and a couple of knives from our good silverware set. I searched my Dad's room and the attic for any other useful weapons. I didn't find anything in Dad's room but I discovered a ornate wooden box that I had never seen before in the attic. It was beautiful and it seemed to call to me. Inside, I found a leather bound book with strange markings on it, lots of different herbs, most that I could identify but a few that I couldn't, candles, a bowl, salt, bells, several rocks and crystals, a chalice, a small mirror, a tiny iron pot and a dagger. At the very bottom was a cloth embroidered with the same markings as the book. I opened the book and recognized my mothers handwriting from some of the old letters that I had seen. It looked like recipes or instructions. I didn't have time to decipher it now. Something was telling me that I needed to get out of the house by the afternoon. I made a hasty decision and put everything from the box in my bag.

I braided my hair in two braids. I then made another bag with extra food and warm clothes along with a couple of brushes and quite a few hairbands. Quickly, I cooked the rest of the mushrooms and squash and ate it all. I put out my fire and even poured a bit of water on it so it wouldn't be hot. I locked the front door. Then, I rolled up my sleeping bag and grabbed the bow and all the arrows. I put on both bags and hurried out the back door, locking it behind me. I practically ran through the garden and small field. It was a good thing too because right as I got to the tree line, I heard someone pull up in front of my house. I listened to the voices to see if I recognized them. I didn't. Someone knocked loudly on the door.

"Hello? We are here to help. We can take you to a safe place" they yelled.

I could hear the lie in the their words.

"No one is answering" one called to the others.

"Break open the door. They might be hiding. We need to find this one. Someone said that she's special" another one yelled.

I heard the door break and I ran farther into the woods. I found my first campsite less than an hour later. I dropped off some of my extra food and clothes and then continued to my next site. I continued until I made it to my sixth and last campsite. I was so grateful that I had fixed them up last week. I don't think that I would have had the energy to do that too. I cuddled into my sleeping bag and slept fitfully all night, worried that the van people would find me.

I went back to the house the next morning. After watching it for a while to confirm that whoever was there was gone, I ran from the tree line to the back door and unlocked it. Whoever had searched the house had done a careful job and nothing seemed too disturbed. I quickly refilled my bag with food and clothes and distributed it all among my campsites, staying at a different site that night. I did this everyday for the next week until all the food and most of my clothes and blankets were out of the house. I also checked the garden and foraged as much as I could. I spotted the van a few more times but never saw the people (if they were people) in it.

I live in the forest now. Eating what I pick or forage, saving my food stores for the upcoming winter. I've lost track of how long I've been out here. I know that I moved in early September and by the looks of the trees and plants, I would guess that it was at least late October or early November, so almost two months.

My days quickly fell into a routine, wake up, wash up in the creek if I'm near it, eat a handful of berries or vegetables. Forage for herbs, mushrooms, berries or sneak to the garden and pick any left over veggies. Eat a quick lunch. Reinforce at least one of my camp structures for the impending winter. To be warmer and stronger. Target practice with the bow, which I was finally getting good at. I also practiced throwing the knives. Switch campsites and sleep. Then, get up and do it all again.

Some afternoons when it's too cold or rainy, after sharpening the arrows and knives, I would cuddle in one of the structures and look through my Mom's book. I always keep her things with me. They make me feel safer. Her book seems to be full of spells of all things. I have no idea if they actually work but I did end up doing a protection spell and ring of salt around all my campsites a few weeks ago. I had to sneak back to the house and get more salt. Luckily, we had a bunch and I took it all. I briefly thought about putting a protection spell on the house too, but decided against it. I didn't know if it would effect the people in the van that kept checking the house. Besides, it probably wouldn't work anyway.

I began memorizing the spells and recipes even though I didn't believe in them. It was something to keep my mind sharp. It made me feel closer to my Mom. I was so desperately lonely that I needed something to connect me to anyone.

I visited my Dad's grave every few days and talked to him about what was going on. I wanted to keep up the practice of talking. I know that sounds strange but after a while, my voice grew weak and horse so I made myself go and talk to him.

I also started talking to the plants and animals too. I swear that it seemed like they were listening. Rabbits would stop and look at me as I spoke to them. Birds sang back to me and squirrels chattered to me like we were having conversations. After a while, I was convinced that I could understand some of what they were saying. I would whisper to the berry bushes that I would need some berries tomorrow and there would always be some, ripe and ready. I would ask the garden to produce something every time I checked it and it always had something for me.

Several times, I felt like someone was watching me in the forest. I would catch a whisper of movement out of the corner of my eye but when I turned to look, it would be gone.

Today I got up the same as every other day, but there was a chill in the air that said that winter was here. I sighed. I seriously doubted if I could survive the winter. I didn't think that I had enough food stored and I still couldn't risk a fire at night. I would probably freeze to death one night. I knew that I would need to start hunting but I couldn't make myself kill something unless I absolutely had to.

I decided to spend the whole day foraging and checking the garden since the cold weather was about to kill everything. I ate a little and changed my clothes quickly. I grabbed my bag and an empty shoulder bag and left. I checked the garden and was happy to harvest some corn and a medium pumpkin. I whispered to the remaining plants to grow and produce as I left. I had been lucky with the garden, there was always a squash or corn or beans, perfectly ripe every time I checked it. I dropped the food off at a site and then went foraging. I had been happy to find some mushrooms, wild onions and quite a few edible herbs. My bag was surprisingly full when I heard a shuffling sound behind me. I spun quickly to see a flash of fur running away.

I was shocked. I knew that there were some coyotes that lived around here but the animal I saw was much bigger. I had never heard of wolves living in this area. I remembered hearing the baying the night I buried my Dad and wondered though. Shit. Coyotes were already going to be problem this winter but wolves could be even worse. If it was a brutal winter and food and prey became too scarce, they would try to come after me. Yet another reason I would probably not survive the winter.

I hurried to my nearest campsite and slept there after storing the herbs and food. The night was so cold that I could barely stand it. By the next week, I was freezing every night. One day in mid November, I woke up with a terrible sore throat and a cough. I knew that it was bad right away. I rarely got sick but when I did, it was usually severe. I looked through my herb stores and risked a fire to brew a tea recipe from my Mom's book and make pumpkin soup. The notes about the tea said that the drinker would be well exactly one day after drinking it. I hoped that it was true. I ate and drank and then went back to sleep after dousing my fire. I woke in the middle of the night, crying from the cold. I pulled on every piece of clothing and blanket I had on top of me.

Suddenly, I heard a shuffling on the edge of my campsite. I stilled and peered out a crack of my structure. As I stared into the darkness, I was startled to see a pair strangely familiar brown eyes looking back at me. The wolf! It was here! I barely had any energy to fight it off but I pulled on my pack and found my knife. I managed to stand and grabbed my bow and arrows. I stumbled out and yelled.

"Go away! I'm not your dinner!" I called waving my arms at it.

Then I stopped, confused as it whined at me. It was stopped at my salt line, like it couldn't cross it. I looked at it and it looked at me. Then I noticed another wolf with green eyes behind the first one. I stepped closer and they backed up as if not to scare me. I was overcome with dizziness and passed out, falling right over the salt line. I knew that I was a goner.