Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

09: A Familiar Noise

When I eventually woke up and opened my eyes, I was immediately confused.

My eyes had automatically drifted to the window when I opened them, and what confused me was the amount of light outside the window. When I had went to bed, it was already dark outside, with the stars already visible. But when I had woken up, it was dusk again, and the sun was just beginning to set over the trees.

Then it hit me.

Holy crap. I had slept through the entire day.

I jumped up from the bed at that realization, almost forgetting that my ankle was hurt. Although, the pain was quick to remind me, and I just hopped over to the window to avoid hurting my ankle any worse.

Once I got there, I pressed my hands up against the glass and peered out at the woods. Sure enough, the sun was setting, and the daylight was disappearing. I let out a defeated sigh, and pressed my head up against the glass. I let it hang low as closed my eyes for a minute, thinking.

I hadn't had food or water in two days, and, after sleeping for almost twenty-four hours, the affects of that were getting to me. My mouth was immensely dry, as if it couldn't even produce moisture anymore. I was extremely weak as well, and, no matter how much I slept, I still felt tired.

After a minute of thinking, I realized that staying here another night and heading out tomorrow, where I would be walking in the blistering heat of the sun, would probably be a death sentence. There was a high possibility that I would pass out from dehydration, and then, who knows what could've happened to me?

With those harsh facts, I decided that my only option was to head out into the night and look for the highway, or anywhere with people, really. But, if I didn't find anything by morning, I didn't know what I was gonna do. So, I decided to just set my mind on the fact that I would find someone, preferably anyone in our group.

I let out a sigh as I limped back from the window with my new plan in mind. I knew I had to get started as soon as possible, and there was absolutely no time for me to waste.

It took me awhile to make it out of the house, considering I had to hop all the way down those stairs, but once I did, I went directly in the middle of the clearing. I looked up at the setting sun, trying to figure out which direction the highway would be in. I also took a look at my surroundings, trying to look past the thick trees to see if something, anything, lied beyond them.

After several minutes of just looking around, I let out a sigh. In all honesty, I had no idea where in the world I was. I had no idea which direction the highway was in, and I had no idea where I was in correlation to it.

To shorten that up a bit, I was lost. Completely and utterly lost.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to sit down, right there on the grass, and bawl my eyes out. I was lost, I was hungry, I was thirsty, and I was exhausted. I wanted to be back with our group, back on the highway, where there was food, and water, and people I cared about. I didn't want to be alone anymore, I wanted to be back with my group, my family.

I wanted to be back with my dad.

But, instead of sitting on the ground and crying about what I wanted, I decided to use it as motivation to keep moving.