Life did start to return to my little corner. I don’t know if it’s because of new free real estate or critters are coming back to their old haunts after being evicted by Fear Shroom. Does it matter actually? Perhaps not.

There were new sights and sounds present, in the previously...lackluster forest. I could hear now the song of birds so much closer, a rustle of grass would make me turn and only see a small tail disappearing in foliage and new calls would make me stop and analyze possible meanings. I never was averse to nature, why, I liked to trek, and getting some miles under my belt felt nice, from time to time. This change in tune is a bit confusing to now my heightened senses but I try hard to adapt.

This new change in forest ambiance is both welcome and fills me with trepidation. I can try to hunt for small animals but it also means something much more my size or even bigger might develop a sudden taste for me. I debate with myself how to go around setting traps. Even small traps will have to be sturdy enough as critters around here do have mean-looking cutlery.

I spy two prehistoric birds in the canopy. Perhaps one of them is my previous visitor? They sit there and sing, no brimstone and hellfire are coming. One is arranging sticks and preening...heh, I have this feeling that other, probably female, alternates between sending disgruntled looks towards the nest and making ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ faces at the male. Dude, who asked you to get a high-maintenance girlfriend? You’re on your own mate.

Is the loneliness getting at me that hard? I don’t want to get loopy or I don’t know...go tribal and slowly lose myself, regress.

But traps have to wait. I have decided to get my ass in gear and scout the mountain. This small ember of hope that I will find signs, any signs that would point to someone being here, gets me going. I debated making a small basket backpack to travel light. I don’t want to go that terribly far into the mountains and who knows what the heck lurks there. I also might find some other goodies that might be helpful so maybe a bigger backpack? Let’s go with this. I don’t want to call it a resource run but it sure does start to feel like it.

It’s time to pack some water and leaf-covered provisions. I get my club and start a slow ascend into the unknown.

-&-

Only now that I put some distance from my cave I can really see a sharp divide between the forest and the mountain area. You would think that a change would happen gradually but it happens here so fast you can’t help but wonder what is going on. Is this a new normal?

The feet of the mountain sharply pierce into the green of the forest and now that I am standing on the spine of such, I see that my home is at the very tip of gently sloping down ridge. It makes me think of the Lonely Mountain. The sights are majestic. The mountain is rising sharply piercing the clouds and heavens. They gather around, obscuring the very tip. It divides into many spines and lesser rises that create valleys and sharp hills. I believe I can spot a few small waterfalls in the distance. Fog writhes lazily, hiding the sights.

I have this feeling I’m forgetting something. I jostle my mind but come up with nothing and this nagging feeling pisses me off a bit. I absolutely hate being jumped on and this feeling that my imaginary pants are currently down is really disgruntling.

That’s why every time I feel I made a good chunk of a distance I build a small tower of rocks as my trail mark, an arrow made of stones point towards the previous mark. Mountains can get foggy and the thought of losing my way back is not a welcome one.

So far I did not encounter any danger. I did manage to spot few disappearing lizard-like animals that sensed me before I did but they are small, don’t appear to be extremely dangerous. They do resemble Jim and his bigger bro though, which reinforces the idea that I had before. Plants in the area are diminished, there are no trees save some solitary ossified trunks. I wonder what happened here to create such an ecosystem. What is present though, are a variety of small gnarly plants, mosses, and lichens...probably. This area gives me a weird feeling of being both barren and not at the same time. I’m no botanist but I will endeavor to change this.

At each trail mark, I leave interesting samples, be they rocks or plants. I’m careful with brand new things, not touching them willy nilly but use the leaves I brought with me to pack them. I will pick them up on my way back and if I have to flee suddenly, I will not be encumbered.

Speaking of rocks, there are many that I think I can recognize but I’m also no geologist, just bits and pieces I have seen in various media. Some crumbled rocky mounds make me think of cooled lava fields and flow I saw on pictures made in Iceland. They look like freshly baked bread with ravines splitting their tops.

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Is this area geothermally active? It doesn’t appear so. Since I found myself here there were no ground shakes, at least I did not feel anything. On the other hand, lush forests around the mountain are probably supercharged by rich volcanic soil.

I stop as I reach the edge of a ravine that bars my path. I’m not scared of heights but the stability of this rock worries me, bad luck can happen anytime. Watching my step I check around for a path forward but during this search, I managed to get a look into the ravine, which opened into a sizeable canyon. It’s dark in there but the suns will soon reach the zenith. I might make a pitstop here and then get a good look down.

I have made a very respectable distance I believe. As I check my immediate area for danger, I try to figure how to proceed forward. So far nothing implies I might find a rescue or anything. Why I couldn’t be dumped in a place with civilization or anything that is not a neck-deep wilderness. On the other hand, I don’t know the local language and locals might not be too friendly. Asking for the local language to be English is a bit of a stretch. If there is any local language. Aren’t I a ray of sunshine?

So what, just let it all go in case I don’t find any signs? Reject the man, embrace the caveman? Should I just go and ‘bonk’ the nearest raptor with a club, abduct his mate, and ride on it towards the setting sun? The inner child suggests that Beast Tamer is a very respectable profession and there is nothing shameful about it. My banter both amuses, worries, and disgruntles me.

The suns glare is intense by now. My grassy coverings are doing a swell job and without them, I would have serious problems. Mists around surrounding areas and above the forest clear slightly. Before, when I was ascending a few wary glances back shown me a sea of green and heavy vapors. I should get a better view now but let’s check the ravine for now.

I approach the edge varily and peer down, fog flows lazily down there but I can spot a few shapes, like big mushroom-like trees and diversity of other growths. I don’t feel a sudden wave of fear and my mind is clear. Am I developing mycophobia? Is that even a word?

“Oh shit.” I exhale slowly at the sudden sight below me. A lazy ray of light fell from heaven and like a cruel presenter, exposed how truly fucked I can be. A mound of bones made itself visible as the mist cleared. A large jaw, sporting a positively impressive selection of pointy deaths, is grinning. Bones just as large are scattered around and I can’t tell from this mess how the late monster might look like but the most important facts are present. Large teeth, large claws, big bones. Danger. Death.

At this point, I thought I will start hyperventilating but even if this sight is seriously scary I managed to not freak out. My brain started to fire off short commands like an old telegraph. Be clam. Asses. Don’t poke. Retreat.

And I did. On all fours like a lizard, I inch back and pray that there is no living specimen around. I quickly grab my stuff and retreat to the last trail marker, casting frenzied glances around. I’m vigilant but no weird sound, sight, or smell reaches me. I reach the pile of stones and decide that it’s for today, enough is enough.

I pack whatever I have left here and get myself ready to head back when I cast a glance towards the forest. As I face the trail down I get out a hollow stick of bamboo. It’s no spyglass but maybe it will help me focus my sight just a bit.

As I scan the forest I notice a few things. It’s not very uniform. Different kinds of flora create a perplexing mosaic of colors, mostly greens but there are some different flecks mixed in. Some trees seem to be of definitely immense size, their crowns shooting above the canopy.

Every now and then I stop my search and check my surroundings, I have a quite good vantage point here. I should be able to spot anything trying to sneak on me, I hope.

My home should be somewhere in that direction but it’s hard to pinpoint it, it’s the first time I can scan the area from above, and stuff’s new. Lines that I think might be streams, sneak around and I even identify a body of water lost somewhere in the vegetation. I swallow, thinking of roasted fish.

That’s when I notice a small dot moving on the green expanse. I can barely follow it but it moves...are those flapping wings? I try to follow but it disappears as quickly as it appeared. I try to examine my mental state. My brain does not go haywire at the sight and the lid is firmly on. Good.

That’s when I notice an edge on the horizon. I strain my sight as hard as possible and if I press the tube harder I will end up with a blackened eye but I don’t care. Somewhere there I can detect a line, greens and browns are cut by yellow followed by the sky.

The feeling that I’m forgetting something returns. I spin like a top, scrutinizing the horizon. It’s the same. From one side of the mountain to the other, I pan around and see the same mass of green, then a strip of browns that transforms into a band of yellow. It reaches the horizon and the wall of blue sky.

My hands lower the spyglass and I face the sky. There are no clouds. There are no clouds, save those who cover the mountain peak.

I am lost. Absolutely and utterly lost in a mega oasis, with desert surrounding me. I am a castaway on a small dot of green among the sea of sand.

Lowering myself I take a seat on the warm stone. I don’t break down, somewhere deep I expected that I will be dealt another sour revelation. I don’t feel shocked or despairing, just a sharp spike of annoyance that I got kicked again. Is that bad?

Somewhere behind me a howl reverberates among the hills and ravines. I look behind and check but nothing stands out. Could be close or far away, it’s hard to tell in a mountainous area. It started low and quickly rose to high pitch and continued like…

“Like some clogged vacuum cleaner. Nice try, not good enough, come again.”

I gather my junk and start the trek down, feeling irked to hell and back, the ember of hope smoldering.