A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,18
slope downward as Jake moved farther west, sharply in places, then more gently. Eventually, the rocks began to give way to sandy banks and the trees crept closer to the river. The river broadened and the rapids decreased the further Jake traveled.
Jake walked for several more hours, stopping to drink and rest occasionally. He saw no signs of other people. At all of his rest breaks, he tried but could not get any signal for his phone or GPS. After keeping a good pace for most of the day, he started to stop to rest for longer periods of time. As he stopped to rest again, he could see that the sun was sinking low in the western horizon. He was hurt, tired and hungry, so he decided to find a place to sleep for the night while he still had some light.
Without a fire or some sort of protection, he did not want to sleep exposed next to the river, so he moved back into the trees. A hundred feet or so into the forest, he found a large evergreen bush that had room under its foliage that he could slide into. He hoped it would give him some shelter if the weather changed and cover against any predators that may move around the forest at night. He put on his sweatshirt, pulled up the hood and crawled into his hiding spot. He shifted around for a few minutes, finally finding a comfortable position. He wanted to turn on his music, but was afraid of falling asleep and draining the battery. He took some deep, calming breaths and closed his eyes. Surprisingly, within a few minutes, he fell asleep.
…
Jake awoke with a start, troubled and shaking. He had been having a terrible nightmare about being chased by some faceless monstrous creature that he could not outrun. It was reaching for him, almost touching him, when he woke. Caught up in the emotions of the nightmare, he was initially confused about where he was. After a few moments, he recalled what was happening and relaxed.
It was still dark, so he took out his phone to check the time. He saw that he had slept for about eight hours. He estimated that he had at least another hour or so before the sun came up. The forest was quiet, with only the sound of the river recognizable. He crawled out of his shelter and stretched, trying to work the kinks out. The air was cool, scented with the earthy smell of the forest. Feeling the need to use the bathroom, he made his way a little deeper into the forest, using the light of his phone to guide him. He had a method for such occasions that he used before on an extended camping trip. He just hated using large leaves as paper.
Once he finished, he worked his way back to the river to wash his hands. Without any soap, he used sand to scrub his hands and rinsed them off. He drank deeply to ease the hunger pains he was feeling. He hoped he could find some food along the way, maybe some berries or nuts. He moved away from the river to find a dry piece of land and sat down. He noticed that the night sky was starting to lighten in the east. He checked his phone's signal and GPS, but still nothing. Sighing, he turned off the phone, put it back in his pocket and waited for the sun to come up.
After falling into a semi-dozing state for a while, Jake felt that the light was sufficient to walk safely. He rose and started to travel along the shore of the river. Everything seemed to be gray in the pale light, the shadows darker. Gradually, the world gained color as the sky became brighter. Then, with a burst of reddish-gold light, the sun rose. He looked around, noticing that the sky was clear, with only a few high clouds. He felt somewhat better since he would not have to worry about getting soaked in rain.
As he made his way down the river, the distance to the opposite shore grew less and the trees of the forest crept closer. The sandy soil of the riverbank began to transition to a loamy dirt. The relatively wide and even ground Jake was walking on began to shrink as more trees began to dot the river bank, forcing him to maneuver around.