Chapter Five

Exhaustion

 

Food.

A person can go 3 weeks without food and I have just reached 8. I’ve had a steady water intake, finding streams here and there, but food is scarce. The acorns I had finished off days ago, now I was in desperate need of something to eat. Anything. I have become so weak, its hard to get up without falling over from dizziness. If I don’t put something into my system soon, I fear I won’t be able to make it home. To my family. Slowly I stand up, bracing myself against a tree, the familiar nauseous feeling surge through my stomach. Think Mae.

I’m trying. 

Back home, I was never into the survival shows or books, in fact I preferred being in my room most of the time. Away from all the hate and anger from my school.

Sometimes it was too much.

I focus on the task at hand. After being here for almost two weeks, I knew one thing for sure, there are a ton of squirrels. Everyday, their constant chattering echos through the trees above me. If I could make a simple but effective trap to kill it instantly that would be perfect. I have no way of cooking it, so I will have to eat it raw. My eyes search the perimeter around me. dirt, moss, trees, rock.

Rock.

yes that’s it! I scramble over to a large rock buried about halfway into the ground. Its a little bigger then my head, but the best size. Quickly, I start digging my hands into the soft earth, trying to dig up this massive rock. My mind shifts from getting the boulder out, to food. It was all I thought about as I dug. I dug as hard as I could. Not even noticing when the tips of my fingers started to bleed. Soon I started to try to move the rock. It jiggled slightly. I start digging faster, my hands burning, I’m so close. So close.

I’m coming honey. 

The rock sprung lose, and I toppled to the ground. The wind had been completely knocked out of me, and I was sprawled out across the ground, but smiling from ear to ear. I did it. After catching my breath,  I heave the rock up into my arms, and take it over to the tree where I’ll be setting up the trap. I take off my sweatshirt and take the draw string out of the hood. This string is vital for the trap to work. I tie it around the boulder, and set it gently against the tree. Now the last thing I need is something to attract the squirrel. I have no food left, nothing that could attract it to the-

My eyes flick down to the front pocket of my backpack. But there is something. My mind flashes back to the day I woke up in the woods. There was a rag stuffed into my mouth, and it tasted like death. It smelled like it too. I knew that it must have been a gag, the cause of my unconsciousness. I immediately put it into the front pocket of the backpack and I haven’t taken it out since. Until now. Slowly, with trembling hands, I unzip the pouch and pull out the crumpled rag. I open it up, and immediately gag. The smell is still there all right, and strong as ever.

I lay it out on the ground, right under the rock, and take the string in my hands. walking back behind a bush, I kneel down and wait. If this works, a squirrel will come, go under the rock, I’ll pull the string and it will smash it, giving me, sweet, sweet food. I realize I’m tensing up, and try to relax.

Breathe.

slowly, breath by breath, I relax. This will work. I know it.

——–

I snap awake. I fell asleep, dang it. Something was tugging on the string. I peak out from my bush, and look towards the tree, to my excitement I see a squirrel slowly moving towards the rag. I almost yelp with joy, but stop myself.

Come on. Come on.

It’s nose was in the air, it was so close to the rag. Just one more step.

*C R U N C H*

The rock slams down onto the squirrel before it gets a chance to move. I shoot up, and run over to the rock, carefully raising it up, making sure its not moving. Its dead all right. Blood is seeping out of it’s head. Without thinking, I tear into it, where the large gash was on its body. As soon as the meat is inside my mouth, I gag and spit it out.

Take it slow.

This time, I take a piece out, and close my eyes. Putting it to my lips, I imagine a chicken strip. The thick crust, and juicy meat. My mouth waters, and I put into my mouth, chewing slowly. I raise my eyebrows. This wasn’t too bad. No, not at all. I continue this process, the aching hole in my stomach soon vanishing. As I sit against a tree, eating the last bits of the squirrel, I laugh at myself. Who could have ever imagined that I would be here, in the middle of nowhere, eating a raw squirrel.

I could get used to this.