Stranded by Matthew P. Mayo

Author:Matthew P. Mayo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning
Published: 2017-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1849

* * *

Late yesterday afternoon, I was so cold and tired when I finished gathering wood that I decided I could do away with having to change out of those sweaty clothes. I should have known better. I did know better, and that is the thing of it. Today I awoke stiff and chilled to my marrow. I should not have neglected such a basic chore, and yet I did. Isn’t that the way with people?

Thomas knew he should not stick his hands time and again in the jerky pouch, and yet he did just the same. It is as if each of us must see how much we can get away with in life. Always testing ourselves, our situations, thinking that one day we will find a better way to do a thing. Perhaps that is why people are the smartest of creatures. Then again perhaps we are not.

I do not know the answer, but I do know that from now on I will take care to lay out dry, if not warm, clothes to change into even if I am unable to bathe first. Anything would be preferable to how I feel as I write this.

I do not think much of heading out into the day, though it is a bright one with a blue sky overhead. That first snow caught me unawares and I can’t let that happen again. So now, Janette girl, it is time to put down this pencil and once more make my way to the woods.

It is many hours later and the exertion of dragging more wood back to my nest was what I needed. I warmed up again and with it, I am afraid, I stank to high heavens, as Papa used to say when he’d return from scything or trudging behind Clem.

Though I am alone in this forsaken valley surrounded by mountains and little else, I do my best to keep my dignity when I am bathing. In truth, I long to peel off all these clothes and lie right down in a bath large enough to hold my entire body. Now wouldn’t that be a luxury!

I must settle for heating water atop the stove and stripping off my shirt, blouse, undergarments, all the rest of it from the waist up, washing with a flannel wrung out in warm water. I start with my face, since the flannel is still clean and not yet smelling like sweat and little else. Then I pull on the layers of clothes I have hung up for the day to dry in the nest.

I tried putting damp clothes outside, but it is a rare day when the sun can do its job quicker than the cold air. I came back to the camp less than a week past and found shirts, socks, a dress, and a set of long underwear frozen stiff like planking. I was disappointed, but when I peeled them from the rock where I’d laid them out to dry in the sun but a few hours earlier, they retained their shape.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.