Everything happens for a reason

Everything happens for a reason 14

Chapter 14: The little rock ledge

Ellie's point of view.

I was getting sick of having no one to talk to, nothing new to look at, it all looked the same and it was getting to me.

It was digging away at my resolve, eating it away. Day by day, I could feel it getting less and less. If I remembered correctly-and I knew I was correct because I made a point to mark in on my first aid kit with a charcoaled stick from the fire-I had been lost and alone for one week and 4 days.

I was isolated, and thinking if I ever get back there is no way I am ever getting an apartment on my own, I am never living on my own, NEVER!

I growled frustrated. I had been getting sloppy, I never made a fire anymore, and I just found a spot on the ground and curled up around Pudge falling asleep.

I was loosing hope at ever being found again. Today though, as I trudged pointlessly through the trees beside the river I had been thinking to myself, they wouldn't get sloppy, they would have been going on, they would be looking, they wouldn't give up and get sloppy like me.

Wow, I wish I were as strong as them. I mean I know they have people to help them through this, but I thought I would have lasted longer than this before going sloppy. What if they are so close, and I had missed them, just because I hadn't lit a fire and sent out my smoke signal.

So I had made a promise to myself that I would pull myself together and get back on track, light my fires, send out my signal, and find somewhere Pudge and I would be safe from harm on the ground.

It was with this in my mind that I angrily scrunched up more of the band-aid wrappers and started my fire again.

Finding not a tree, but a dip in the roots where the dirt caved downwards and I could burrow down and keep warm and safe.

The next morning, I got up, making myself eat a whole muesli bar, and checking what I had left in my bag.

I had my chocolate bar, one and a half muesli bars, my coat, the aero guard, the sunscreen and my first aid kit.

Taking out the sunscreen and squirting it out onto my hand I thought about what a nice warm day it was.

I hoped that we were past the cold and were going to have at least a few warm nights.

When I had finished rubbing the sunscreen into my skin, not caring if I got it all or not; it wasn't like anyone was going to see me anyway. I thought.

I headed off, keeping up a good pace, and whenever I noticed myself getting a little slower I would speed up even more, until I was almost jogging up the hill going alongside the river. By the time I found my next camp, I was sweating and very hot.

I'd made it quite far today, and maybe since I had been heading down hill the first four days, that I might be closer to where I needed to be.

I smiled at myself, patted Pudge on the back and placed him down on the ground along with my backpack.

I found a little spot along the river where it was sheltered on all sides but on and had a top.

I thought that would make a good place to wash off all this dirt, so diving in fully clothed I swum over to my little spot.

The water was deep and dark here and came up to just below my shoulders. I peeled off my soaking wet clothes piece by piece washing it as best I could and putting them on the clean rock to dry in the sun. I loved the feel of the water against my skin, the ripples I made as I ducked under the surface getting my hair wet and combing my fingers through it while I was still under water.

My head bursting through the surface of the water and taking a deep breath I looked around for Pudge. He was standing on the side of the river soaking wet and shaking like a dog. His little body didn't look so small anymore after he did that because all the fur on him stuck out perfectly straight.

I was looking at the campsite and thinking I might stay here for a while when something crawled onto my shoulder. I turned my head and saw it was just Pudge. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You quite comfortable up there all curled up on my shoulder?" I asked and he snuggled in closer to my neck.

I noticed the signs; he was ready to sleep, which meant that the light would start disappearing soon and I still needed to find wood and start a fire.

So I pulled myself up onto the rock and pulled on my dry clothes. They were nice and warm and reminded me of home, when I'd put my pajamas on the heater in winter before I go to the shower and by the time I come out, they are nice and toasty warm.

The wood was easy to find and over the last few days, I found a few roots of plants that you could cook up and eat.

Of course, you could eat them raw, but one day when I accidently dropped them into the boiling water that they tasted even better cooked.

I had been boiling the water to purify it, and I had been planning to make some kind of tea with the berries I had found on a nearby bush at the last stop before I stopped lighting fires. Now I had started again so I cooked up the roots and made my berry tea, it tasted a little stronger than last time, and I liked it better that way, it had more flavour. I was tired from the days work, and I had decided to stay put for a while so I didn't have to wake up and get ready in record time to find a good spot for the next night. I closed my eyes and thought about Josh for the first time in a week, I wouldn't let myself think about any of them, especially not Josh. I lay there thinking for ages my mind eventually wandering as the hands of sleep dragged me down until unconsciousness prevailed over me.