Near Death Experiences and a Messed up Forest
I have decided for my sanity to write this all down; I heard that writing down your problems and events in your life can be very therapeutic. Well, that's what they said back home.
I could start with my name and all that, who I am, what I do, and how completely normal my life was blah, blah, blah. Boring.
Let's skip all that boring stuff. I'm assuming you've heard it all before. You know what you came for and I know what you came for. So let's get right to it.
Now! Let me start off this story; it all started off when I was falling 100 feet through the air to what felt like my incoming doom.
____
The wind whipped past my ears, sounding like angry howls to my ears.
The ground was fast approaching, getting more and more into detail by the second. I was screaming out of fear as the ground approached, my mind telling me I was going to hit it for sure any second.
Then unexpectedly, it all came to a standstill. I felt myself lifting again by something pulling on my legs. Then I remembered, through my partly irrational fear that I was bungy jumping.
Still, I was scared. I was finding this wasn't at all a fun experience like my siblings said. I soared through the air, and for a moment, it felt like flying. Until Gravity retook hold in a stark reminder that I am mortal and land-bound and doing crazy stunts because I lost a bet, I screamed all over again.
This process lasted for quite a while before momentum was lost, and I hung there limply. I thanked the universe for physics and damned it for inventing gravity. Soon, I was at the top and back to my siblings who were cheering and patting me on the back. I'm sure I looked like a ghost, and I felt like getting sick. I did.
After I felt coherent, I groaned in dread. Our agreement to the bet was that I had to do the jump, twice. I hoped the second time down wasn't as bad as the first. Unlucky me that I like to keep my promises to bets no matter what I have to do to repay debt. After all, It's just one more time. Then it's all over, I tell myself.
"Hey, looks like you had fun down there, I've never heard you scream like that before," said one of my brothers, David. He was mostly known for his overall happy demeanour that sometimes comes off as kinda rude. But some people notoriously know him for his somewhat questionable and dangerous science experiments on collage campus. I knew him as the asshole brother who I lost a bet too, and was currently thinking of not nice things about.
I gave him a scowl, not able to talk yet due to my stomach doing flips. He just smirked, the stuck up asshole. Let me tell you being the youngest of three brothers wasn't a cakewalk, especially when they have things to throw in your face. If I didn't go through with this second jump, they would hold it over my head for the rest of my life. David soon left me alone, after it he got I wasn't exactly in a talking mood. I emptied my stomach some more im the next few minutes.
Soon after I felt better. I found myself at the jumping platform for my second and final turn. I looked down at the height below with a bit of fear. I questioned my sanity, and the chances of living through the humiliation of dropping out.
My childhood fear of heights was not entirely gone. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself. Then jumped, keeping my eyes closed, hoping that if they were closed, it would be a more pleasant experience. It was not. It was worse. Not knowing when the ground was coming then was worse then knowing. I opened them again and was met with the grounds approach. I didn't let my mind think I was going to for sure die. I reminded myself the rope would save me.
Just as the ground felt to close, I felt the pulling again, and everything felt like a standstill again. Then something broke with a snapping sound. I felt gravity take hold, and I screamed. The ground was fast approaching me, and I realized this was real; it broke, the rope broke, and I was going to die.
I am going to die!
Oh god, I didn't want to die! I closed my eyes in terror, realizing I actually didn't want to see the impact. I heard a loud snapping noise, then nothing.
______
When I next woke up, I expected to be in a hospital room.
Or dead.
Well, waking up would, unfortunately, not be an option if I was dead.
But I did wake up with bird song in my ears and sunlight on my face.
I opened my eyes to blades of grass that rose above me. They were the thick and tall kind that were it hard to see above from my current position.
The only thing I could see was a tree that looked impossibly big, I've only seen trees this big in pictures online, and even then they aren't this vast.
Where the hell was I?
I pushed myself up to look around. I found I was in a forest full of huge trees. The remains of the rope that was supposed to keep me safe were around me, and my clothing was in disrepair. Surprisingly, I was relatively unhurt.
I could tell my clothing wouldn't last too long, a few days at most before it would be impossible to wear and impractical. I wondered where the hell I was and if it had even a Walmart or something so I could get new clothes. Cheapwe the better if I take my bank account into consideration.
I thought it would be practical to get up and look around. No uses in keeping stationary.
I wondered around the forest, feeling oddly small as I did so, giant leaves littered the ground some smaller than me and some way bigger than my body. The grass came up my chest, but it was only slightly hard to walk through as if it magically parted at my fingers touching it.
It felt like I was on an alien planet where everything was huge. I felt out in the open and vulnerable in this place.
As I walked, it become apparent that I wasn't in an area that's ever been documented before. I passed many things like in my journey through the four feet high grass.
The giant leaves, a ladybug that was slightly bigger than a chawawa, a fricking dog-sized grasshopper that gave me the scare of my life by unexpectedly jumping not two feet from me. I took several minutes inspecting the giant acorn that was bigger than a basketball. It was odd seeing things at this scale and a bit unsettling.
I abandoned the acorn, and I continued to make my through the alien forest. I was hoping that this place would start making sense the more I walked. But it got more and more confusing and frightening. I passed many creatures that are unusually so small to humans but big enough to cause me concern now.
It was several hours and multiple scares later that I spotted something in the distance, that made my heart pound and my face go white.
It was a hawk, that was very, very giant and was headed straight for me. Now, I don't have to know much about nature to know that at my current size, I would make an excellent snack for the giant predator.
I did the sensible thing and ran for cover. As I ran, I had a distinct picture of nature documentaries where mouses where scratched up by birds before they could save themselves. My mind 'helpfully' replaced the image of a mouse with my fugly face screaming in terror as I was ripped from the ground before being pulled apart gruesomely. Thank you mind, I needed that image.
I ran faster, going for the closet thing that could offer any kind of protection. That being one of the giant trees. I hoped that I could somehow make my way to the giant roots in the ground and find cover between them. It turns out that for the first time in many hours, I was lucky, and found probably one of the few trees that had an opening in the bottom of the roots that lead to a tree cave of sorts.
I dived into the darkness of the tree and just in time apparently, as I heard a screech and scraping of human-sized claws on wood.
I moved to the back of the cave, a beak longer and broader than me appeared in the opening and scraped at where I just stood. No doubt the bird was on my scent and out for my blood.
I sucked in several frightened breaths. I tried to calm myself and keep from freaking too much as the giant bird attempted to get at me to make me it's lunch. It made a rather violent few attempts, and the wood creaked and broke in places under the abuse.
Now, I wasn't a person that uses foul language or even a person that was even loud at all but in a situation like this...
"Holy fuck!" I screamed out, as the wood made very concerning noises. I let out a few more uncharacteristic words and screams as the minutes wore on. But it seemed that despite the hawk's best efforts, it couldn't beat the tree and get to me. Eventually, the predator gave up to go in search of easier prey.
For several more minutes after that, I couldn't move. I was very shaken up and shivering in fear still. I couldn't and wouldn't move from that spot, even though I knew that the danger had long passed hours later.
It was odd despite being paralyzed by fear I was oddly alert and ready for anything. Most importantly, I wasn't a shrivelling crying mess in the bottom of this tree cave despite bring scared, I just was. I decided it was the situation. I couldn't afford to break down right now. So, my mind wouldn't let me.
I felt this before, but only as a little girl. I remember I had gotten into a fight with another girl who was bullying me on the playground that got in trouble with the teachers. This fight made me very upset, but I didn't break down. It wasn't until several hours later when my mum came, and I felt safe with her presence that I broke down into tears.
That's what's happening now, much like when I was a little girl, I wasn't safe, and I couldn't cry until I felt like I was in a safe enough place. I worried I wouldn't be safe for a long while yet.
By the time I dared to leave the cave, darkness had fallen in the forest. I knew at that point I would have to stay under the tree for the night, or I would be facing death for sure. I curled up at the very back, trying to conserve body heat as the place got colder. I fell into a restless sleep filled with fear and strange creatures.
______
I woke up the next morning feeling cold, hungry and oddly in pain all over. I expected pain in my legs from all the walking and running, but even my pinky finger fricking hurt.
I got up and stretched the sleep out of my body to wake up. Generally, in the mornings I don't have enough brain power or energy to do much besides stare dully into a bowl of cheerios. I don't exactly hate mornings. They just don't agree with my brain processes.
But morning in this place seemed to agree with me more because I was awake and, more importantly, alert almost instantly. It was probably the thoughts of more life-threatening situations. Yesterday's events were too fresh, and I wasn't exactly out of harm's way yet, as my stomach seemed to remind me with a sharp pain of hunger. My body may just kill me before any hawk if I don't find any water or food fast.
I pushed the fear I had back at the prospect of leaving the rather pathetic safety of the tree. I had always been good at controlling my emotions to the point it was concerning, I decided to use that to my advantage and focus on logical thought rather than how messed up and scary this situation was.
I needed three things right now and fast.
Water
I decided water was at the top of my list. I think humans can go a bit longer without food living off of the calories of body fat. I'm more likely to die of thirst than hunger. If my limited and possibly wrong knowledge of biology is even correct.
Shelter
As for the second on the list, I could use the tree I was currently in as shelter until I have everything I need to make my way through this alien forest. That's if it's even close to a water or food source. If it isn't, I'll have to make or find new shelter. From what I experienced yesterday with that giant bird, I need shelter, preferably near food and water.
Food
Lastly food, I remember reading some articles on google at 3 am a few months ago on what you can eat in the wild if trapped and lost. I was bored. It didn't help me with what I cannot eat. All I know is red berries bad, or something like that.
I made my way to the entrance of the tree roots, holding down shivers, and I took in the claw marks on the wood. Some were so deep and wide I could place my arm in them.
I looked cautiously up at the sky, looking out for birds like the day before. Then I scanned the ground, looking for any threats.
When I didn't see anything, I made my way out. Sunlight hit my eyes, and my eyes gave sharp hits of pain. I was reminded of my sensitivity to sunlight in the mornings, and my severe lack of sunglasses.
It wasn't like the sunlight was going to hurt me. It just takes a bit for me to get used to, and after a while, they will start to burn then that fades.
I never was a person who liked the sun, but I would have to live with it in the coming future. Until I got home, that is.
After my eyes adjusted, I decided I didn't like the idea of standing out in the open, when anything from the sky can spot me. What I was wearing wasn't exactly blending with the forest floor. Because of that yesterday I almost died.
I would make sure I'm more concealed this time. I looked around for ideas. Spotting the giant leaves that littered the forest floor, some were about as tall as me and getting longer from there. It would be a perfect cover for anything looking from the sky.
I grabbed one of the leaves and tried to use it as an umbrella by holding it atop my head. The result wasn't what I had hoped. For one, I couldn't keep the leaf on top of my head for too long, seeing as most leaves were way too wide for me to hold the sides even with my arms spread wide. The front and back ends kept falling in my face, to which I had to push it up. Then I would lose my grip.
After a few minutes of attempting my idea, I realized it was a dumb one in practice, and probably made me more noticeable with my fumbling.
With a bit of embarrassment, I abandoned the leaf and made my way quickly through the forest.
I had no particular direction I was going and didn't even remember where I went yesterday. I completely lacked any directional skills. I even struggled with google maps embarrassingly. I was good at many things. Directions were not one of them.
In about an hour, I did find what I was looking for, in the form of a large stream. I was pretty sure that running water was safe to drink if it wasn't, I didn't have anything on me to boil the water. So, I kelt by the stream and gulped down a bunch of water. I hoped it wouldn't make me sick in a day.
With that done, I moved onto my next bit of business. Shelter. I looked around at all the trees, hoping to find a parting in the roots like the last one. About five minutes away from the stream, I found one. It was a bit smaller than the last one, but it would serve its purpose.
The problem was that it did nothing to keep out the cold, so I would have to look for a way to make it warmer at night. I thought I could use leaves and sticks that litter the forest floor as a cover to the entrance. I decided to come to that later in the day. I had shelter even if it would get cold I needed food more pressingly right now.
I found a grouping of giant dandy lions that towered over me. Though very bitter, I knew they were edible, including the stem.
Embarrassingly I was having I was having trouble with them, I was attempting get them from the ground. With no success. The stems were as thick as a arm and very hard to get from the ground.
After ten minutes of hacking at one and many shouts of frustrations, I was able to remove it from the ground. The dandy lion fell, and I was able to get to the top of it.
The flower part was a lot softer and would be easier to eat then the harder stem when the head of the dandy lion was on the ground I when up to it. It was wider than a women's sunhat and just as tall. It would feed me for a while.
I pulled off some of the yellow petals and chewed them. I grimaced at the taste but didn't spit it out. It was my only food source, and I wasn't going to complain about flavour. This was about survival.
As far as I was concerned, comfort was thrown out the window until I was in a better place. Preferably out of this place wherever the hell this place was.
I ate a bunch of it to give me the energy I needed. Then I lifted it by its sunhat sized head and pulled it on my shoulder. This action raised half of the stem from the ground.
I dragged it to my new shelter for who knows how long. All the dragging and lifting of it made me tired.
I was never the most athletically inclined individual, so this tiny bit of activity over the last few days had made me very tired. But I couldn't slump down under the tree I claimed just yet. I still had the problem of heating. And as of right now, anything could go waltzing right in there, and I couldn't have that.
It was a long day after that. I put together a makeshift doorway out of leaves, sticks, and that thick grass as rope. It ended up blending pretty well with the forest ground. I also was able to gather leaves for a bed, it wouldn't be the most comfortable, but it'll work. At the end of the day, I was pretty happy with my work.
Now that I knew wasn't easily found and had food and water in my system. However, I had no way to store the water and had to keep heading back to drink.
I could finally think and relax a bit. I had so many questions. The top being "where the hell was I?" None of the things I had seen so far were normal. They were recognizable, that's for sure. But regular trees didn't tower over 500 feet. Normal dandy lions weren't big enough to feed a person for two days. It was as if the world grew and grew and left me behind.
I had so many questions that were left unanswered, and I wouldn't be able to answer them right now. My mind went in circles, for abit going to question after question. But it circled onto those I left behind. My family. My friends. Was I ever going to see them again? Oh, god, I hoped so.
I ended up in another fitful sleep, ending my very first day in this strange place. Little did I know that I had so many more days ahead of me in this place.
Author's Note
Sorry for any grammar mistakes, I'm not the best at editing but I do the best I can.
