A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,15
in the Black Hole Woods, but as his mind gained clarity, he realized that this was more of a forest than a grove of trees. The dark loamy ground, with its rich earthy smell, was different from the soil in the Woods. He was sitting in a small patch of cleared ground, but near the base of the trees, there were random green clumps of plants providing ground cover. The trees, with their light brown bark and overarching canopy of green leaves, were more densely packed than in the Woods. He could hear the sounds of birds as they moved around the top branches.
"What the hell happened and how did I get here?" Jake muttered out loud. "Where is here, anyway?" He slowly stood up, turning in a circle, looking for something familiar. Nothing was right. He grabbed his phone, hoping he could call for help, but he saw it had no signal. He tried the GPS app, but it also had no signal. That could just be because of interference from the trees, he tried to tell himself. Fear began to worm its way into his mind. He was confused, lost and with no way to contact his family or friends.
He began to panic slightly. He yelled "Help!" as loudly as he could, causing the cut on his lip to reopen and trickle blood again. He waited a few seconds and yelled again. Frustrated and growing more frightened, he yelled over and over, hoping that there was someone, anyone, near to help him. His voice echoed through the forest, but he got no reply.
He finally stopped, his voice becoming raw, fear rising in his chest. His breath began to whistle as it blew in and out in a shallow, rapid pattern. His body began to tremble, sweat burst from his pores and he suddenly felt light-headed. Concerned he may pass out, he sat back down, bringing his knees up near his chest. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he put his forehead on his knees, closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He felt tears start to leak from the corners of his eyes and he moved his head side-to-side, wiping them on his sweatpants. The pressure generated pain in his swollen eye, but he ignored it. He was lost, really lost, alone and he was now sure he would never see his family or friends again. A sob escaped from him; the urge to weep threatened to overwhelm him.
As he teetered on the edge of full-blown panic, his father's voice suddenly came into his mind. It was his warning to Jake when they had first gone camping. "Jake,..." his father had said "...if you ever find yourself lost, the worst thing you can do is panic. Panic kills because it makes you do rash things. You must stay calm, even if you don't think you can. Take the time to assess your situation and develop a plan. That is how you will survive." Clinging to his father's words like a lifeline, Jake tried to slow his breathing and clear his racing mind, desperately willing himself to relax.
After several minutes of effort, he had succeeded for the most part. He was still frightened, but he brought his breath back under control and his thoughts calmed. Once he felt secure enough, he stood back up.
To put the nervous energy that had built up in his system to use, he decided to explore the area he was in. He glanced up at the sun and believed that it was about mid-day. He slowly walked around the clearing, looking for the way he was brought here, hoping he could follow it back out. He was surprised to find no trace of any tracks coming into the clearing. The only tracks he found were his own shoeprints. After circling the clearing a couple of times, he stopped next to a tree, leaning against it, to think. He could not understand how he got here; it was as if he dropped from the sky. After a moment or two, he determined that there were no clues to be found on how he got here. Because he was so unsure of his location, he realized that he would have to assume that the likelihood of rescue was non-existent. He needed a plan on what to do next.
He knew that he could not just stay here. There was no water or real shelter and this was clearly not a traveled area. Not knowing where he