This
was not her first hike through a National Protected forest. She had
been hiking every year since her twenty-first birthday. She lived
alone and hiked alone. She did most things alone because she had been
born with an hereditary condition that made her, practically,
allergic to humans and, inexplicably, to domestic animals, too.
Her
self-imposed goal was to hike through every National Protected forest
in the world.
This
hike was unique in that the forest was the only Compact Forest known
in the world. It was hundreds of square miles in area.
In
a Compact Forest the trees grow so close to one another that no
animal higher than a hare can move through them. The sad thing is
that the Government decided to make a narrow pedestrian path through
this up-to-then virgin forest in order for humans to experience
hiking through the one-of-a-kind jungle.
The
Compact Forest assured the hike trail was free of large wild predator
animals; most of the time. Since there were no breaks in the Compact
Forest along the trail for the entire hundreds of miles, it was
forever a mystery how the occasional large wild animal, carnivore or
herbivore, got onto the hike trail: deer, wolf, bear, cougar.
It
was never a crisis for herbivores because they could graze on the
tree leaves and young branches at the side of the trail. Carnivores
on he trail were trapped, and in a while grew ferocious in their
hunger and thirst.
Whenever
Forest Management came to know about carnivores on the trail,
helicopter crews were dispatched to tranquilize the animals and to
transport them to be released beyond the forest.
She
had researched Compact Forest in detail on the Internet. Although she
had no intent to leave the trail to enter the forest, she adhered
meticulously to the clothing suggested on the Internet sites. Long
tight sleeves and denim long trousers. And indestructible army boots.
The
tourist brochure suggested a holstered cannister of bear spray. She
was equipped with that, too.
She
turned a corner and saw a hiker sitting on the ground at the side of
the trail. His backpack was on the ground beside him. She stopped.
Her
first thought in the circumstances was to be wary of criminals. She
looked around slowly, scrutinizing for signs of other persons in
hiding. She recalled the brochure's note that bear spray did not work
on humans.
He
greeted her. Hi. Please don't mind me. Keep on your way passed me. I
have texted the Tourist Station. Someone is on the way to help me.
What
happened?
A
small animal attacked me. I got out of its way, but I tripped and
sprained my ankle. It dashed out from the trees. I hope it was not
rabid. Please, carry on.
If
you wish, I can stay with you until they get here.
Thank
you. I mustn't spoil your hike. Please; I will be okay.
She
walked by him, not letting her guard down. Once past him, she
quickened her pace. As she increased the distance between them, she
heard him speaking on his phone. She walked on, faster.
She
wore a bear spray cannister in a holster, but she knew the label
stated the spray was ineffective against a human attacker. When she
turned a corner and was out of his sight, she picked up her pace to a
slow run.
After
a few hundred yards, she sat on the ground to rest. She unslung her
backpack. She drank water from a bottle, and ate a chocolate bar.
After a few minutes, she felt refreshed. She resumed her hike.
This
forest was proving to be like none other she had hiked through. There
was no breeze. No birds. For long stretches, shade from the trees
made the trail as dark as on a moonless night. This was a little
unnerving because the silence was total. Not even the slightest
breeze to rustle the forest leaves. It wasn't all her imagining that
she could hear her heart beating.
She
was shocked to see a full-grown black bear ambling toward her out of
a night stretch on the trail ahead. Had she not rested earlier on,
she would have encountered that black beast in that night-dark
stretch.
She
was an experienced wild-trail hiker. Even as her instinct catapulted
into overdrive, she clearly and instantly recalled the guidelines in
the brochure handout.
Her
hand automatically went for her holster, but she desisted when she
was blasted in the face by a sudden
gust
of wind. What? Where did that come from? The massive oncoming rushing
predator was gusting up a wind? The brochure cautioned that a spray
was to be used only when a beast was downwind.
She
turned around to run. She thought of that injured hiker; that if she
led the bear to him, he would be doomed. She had no choice; she had
to tempt the bear to chase her into the forest. She hoped the bear
did not know how difficult it would be to follow her among the trees
in a Compact Forest.
As
she ran, she unslung her backpack. Only if she held it in her hands
would she be able to squeeze it and herself through the trees. The
brochure said to not consider climbing a tree. It was virtually
impossible to climb any tree in the Compact Forest, even when not
pursued by a hungry carnivore; even when not wearing a backpack. It
helped considerably to know that the bear would find it more
difficult than she would to push through the trees.
As
she ran she looked for a likely spot to enter the forest. She hadn't
found one by the time she heard the bear getting closer. She stopped
looking for a likely spot. She dashed into the forest, violently
thrusting her way through between the trees.
That
bear was smart. It plunged in, following her in the path she made.
The bear's larger size gave the hiker a clear advantage. Whereas her
increasing fear gave her increasing strength to fight her way faster
through the entangled web of tree branches and boles, the bear's
larger size too soon slowed it down to a stop. The bear roared its
anger and frustration as it became stuck in a standstill.
A
main reason she was able to increase her progress, was that she had
instantly abandoned her backpack without a moment's hesitation when
it snagged between trees; her bear spray holster, too.
She
struggled along for a while even after she could not hear the bear.
She
stopped. Total silence in total darkness. She felt weak and
frightened. It was a relief she did not have to try to be upright;
she was so tightly wedged among sturdy tree boles and branches.
She
was an experienced wild-trail hiker. She felt confidence calmly and
steadily building up. She recalled that her phone was in one of her
pockets; not in her backpack.
She
had to struggle in uncomfortable twists and squeezes and pushes and
pulls to eventually locate and retrieve her phone.
She
paused. She had to be careful to not let the phone slip out of her
hands down to the ground in all that forest total darkness.
Contact
Ezra (Unless
you
type
the
author's name in
the subject
line
of the message we
won't know where to send it.)
