Day 1

As the pod bay doors hissed open I was greeted with a view beyond anything I had ever hoped for. As far as I could see there was nothing but…. Nature! For miles around an ocean of grass and flowers swaying in the breeze, the trees rustling their leaves lazily. I must have stood there for twenty minutes just taking it all in until Trixie’s anxious barking drew me away.

“What is it girl?” I asked.  But she just whined and looked nervously out of the drop pod to the world outside. I thought she must be a little intimidated by such a large space. She had never seen anything close in comparison before. Neither had I for that matter. Not really. There were open spaces of sorts on a glitterworld but they were often holographic, or high in the sky above the buildings that covered the planet below. 

“Come on girl.” I stepped out and took in the rest of my surroundings. There were small mountains made of stone dotting the landscape. Two of the larger ones were close by to the northeast and to the west of me. CLose to the base of one there was an abandoned structure.

“Let’s go check it out Trixie”. After I went a few steps she quickly darted from the drop pod to my side. 

“Good girl!.” I said as she looked up at me with her big brown eyes.

“Oh don’t give me that you’ll love it here!” I said in my best glitterworld used ship salesman impression. I was about to explain the benefits of an active life outdoors with lots of fresh air when I lost her attention completely. Her nose twitched, her ears perked up, and her eyes focused like lasers. She’d seen her first rabbit. Forgotten were her worries as she was overtaken with the primal instinct to chase! Although to little effect. Which was just as well because she really had no idea what she was supposed to do if she ever actually caught the thing. 

“Well she seems to be acclimating well.” I said to myself as I walked over to the small building at the base of the cliff. This one and most of the others seemed to made out of a kind of sandstone. As I got closer I saw the small structure was simply three walls made of brick against the mountain with a corrugated steel roof. When I got there I could see the walls had a lot of holes in them but the inside was much larger than expected. Someone had dug into the mountain to make the room bigger. There was enough room inside for a bed and a table to go with it. 

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“Hey Trixie!” I yelled. The exhausted dog looked up at me from a spot she found in the shade. 

“Whaddya think of this?” I asked her. She lazily trotted over and plopped down on the cool stone floor inside. She rolled over and grinned approvingly. 

“Yeah I think it’ll work.” I said bending down to scratch her belly. 

“Alright. Time to get to work.” My sightseeing for the moment was finished. 

Of the supplies I brought with me on my escape from reality, the most important will invariably be my multitool. With it I can chop down trees, break stone, build furniture, till fields, build buildings, and harvest crops. With it I would build a home that I can be proud of and survive on my own. I’ve also got all sorts of seeds preserved and ready to be planted. 

I rolled up my sleeves and tightened the laces on my boots. First step was to plant a field of corn. The sooner I get it planted the sooner I can stop relying on the emergency food supplies I brought with me. I had enough to last me a few months past when I should be harvesting the corn but I would prefer not to come close to running out. 

Tilling the field is very difficult and slow going. The wondrous nature I was so appreciative of before needs to be cleared away before I can till the soil. And there are a LOT of trees. At least I’ll have plenty of firewood. 

After what feels like an hour of swinging the multitool like an ax the tree began to fall. I breathed a sigh of relief but cut myself short when I counted the trees I will have to cut down and the tingling in my fingers gets worse. Trixie has been more than happy to bark encouragement from the shade. 

Time loses all meaning. When the sun began to set I was shocked to realize so much time had passed. My arms felt like lead and my clothes were soaked in sweat. I realized I haven’t even eaten since I had gotten here. Painfully I walk over to the drop pod and grabbed two emergency meals. I began to walk toward the little room at the base of the mountain and grabbed a branch off one of the fallen trees.

“Trixie!” I called out as I began to make a torch out of the branch. 

“Time to eat!” I just finished lighting the torch when she bounded in and tried to lick me in the face. To my horror her teeth and mouth were bright red. The image of an unlucky rabbit flashed through my mind, but when she got close I smelled the sweet scent of berries. 

“Well I guess if you’ve already eaten.” I started to say as I grabbed her emergency meal. She decided to ignore me and began to chow down. The emergency meals weren't bad but you could grow tired of them very quickly. I had bought a week's worth back home as part of my training and could only eat two days worth before giving up. The rest were with me now along with some new ones. They looked like bricks wrapped in yellow tin foil. Inside I would find a delightful brown semisoft bar that didn’t taste bad but didn’t taste like anything else either. 

“These are only temporary.” I think to myself. As I chew I dream of fresh vegetables and ripe berries. 

“Trixie you really need to show me where you got those berries.” I say wistfully. 

And now I lay here on the stone floor arms too tired to do much more than write and wait for sleep. Trixie is next to me keeping me warm. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this tired before.