It was supposed to be a perfect afternoon, but it turned out to be the first day of my perdition. Camping on my own had seemed like a great idea, the perfect opportunity to relax and clear my mind. But a moment of distraction, just a second of personal leisure, was enough to turn a beautiful event into a most dreadful one. I have been in this forest for quite some time, don’t know how long exactly, all I know is that I am ravenously starving and severely dehydrated, but mostly, extremely nostalgic. My little girls Suzanne, Ivory, and Padi appear in my mind calling me home. I don’t know how, but I am getting out of this infernal forest, if not for me, for them. They lost their mother three years ago upon Padi’s birth; she chose Padi’s life instead of hers. We miss with all our might; she was the best wife and mother I could have asked for. My heart longs for her with every muscle and every nerve; and even though she is not here with me anymore, I know her soul accompanies me everywhere I go, including this forest of doom and sorrow. I found a cave near a cliff I found while wandering through the insides of the forest and have hunted three squirrels, their meat filling my empty stomach in this very moment. I started a fire at the mouth of the cave, in case a commercial plane flies over me. Pictures of little Ivory flow through my mind and I remember when she was two, the most innocent creature in the entire world, and only I existed to protect her. She is now thirteen, strong and very beautiful, but with all those blockheads drooling for her, I know she still needs my constant protection. She doesn’t know I still keep the shotgun I used when I was a cop; I’d say she doesn’t really feel the same way about my concerns. As I lie on the cold ground, thinking about my girls, a bright light shines through the mouth of the cave, scaring away my thoughts. I shuffle outside to find the source of the light: it’s a helicopter. I try to catch the pilot’s attention by waving my arms like a palm tree in a hurricane. The men in the helicopter see me and throw a rope, I climb it, and I am safe. They take me to a hospital and check my vital signs. Aside from the dehydration and hunger, I am in perfect health. Padi’s pitched voice then fills my ears and warms my heart, and Suzanne’s laugh resounds in these cold hospital walls, making me burst out in tears of emotion. They run towards me and I clumsily stand to do the same and meet their long-needed embrace. Then, thunder roars and I find myself inside the cave, the deceiving dream now spiraling further and further away. Depression strikes a sudden blow at me and my stomach growls like my neighbor’s bulldog. My vision is clouded and I am not able to hunt any prey, and as I feel my senses slowly diminishing, I fall to the ground. Perhaps this is the end. No, it can’t be, not after all I’ve fought and battled. I manage to stand and walk back to the cave, but I smell flesh. I turn to find a dead deer and, with strength I make out of persistence, drag it to the cave. It may be decomposing already but it is as close to food as I’ll get. While dragging the deer I see a light, exactly like the one in my dream, only this time it is real. I scream at the top of my lungs and gather strength to jump as if I were spring legged; I take off my belt and move it so that it reflects the light. They see me, but a storm, a strong, muscular storm, arrives, forcing them to leave me.
It has rained for days; I start to lose hope but still don’t give up. My mind is constantly tricking me, making me see helicopters everywhere and hearing my girls all the time, but the cruelest trick of all is making me see Claire, my late wife, everywhere. Days pass and the storm finally leaves. I go out to the cliff outside the cave, to the place where they saw me with the deer, and wait for my rescuers. I know they’ll return for me; I know.
Based on the movement of the sun, I must have been waiting for at least two hours. I start to think maybe they aren’t coming back. Tears stream down my face like a silent waterfall stroking me to sleep. My girls will have lost their mom and their dad. Who will protect them now? A light then shines bright through my eyelids and one thought crosses my mind: they came! A sudden stroke of energy fills me and I spring up like a puppy whose owner has just arrived home, jumping up and down as it would. While they lower the rope I slip, and though I struggle to remain standing, I wound up hanging of the cliff. My heart starts beating a hundred beats per second. I can’t die, not after everything I’ve done to stay alive -all the suffering, hunting, making fires- it won’t end this way. But I realize it will. The ground is still wet and weak due to the storm and I know it won’t hold me for long. The rescuers hurry but it is too late. As I feel the piece of ground I am holding on start to break off, I say my last prayer: “I’m sorry girls, but I’m going with mommy now. We will always protect you.” And I feel free to let go and join my beloved one.