Taken by Norah McClintock

Author:Norah McClintock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2009-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

NINE

My first thought: Stay dry.

My second thought: Water!

I sat up and scrabbled for the metal bowl, and set it out to let it fill with water. I unscrewed the cap of the canteen and set it out too. But its mouth was so small that I knew it wouldn’t collect much.

I sat huddled under the tree, watching the water hit the bottom of the bowl with so much force that it bounced right back up again. I held the sheet of plastic over my head like a little roof. It kept the top half of me dry, but the ground around me was packed hard, which meant it couldn’t absorb all the rain that was coming down. Water ran in streams between the rocks and the exposed roots of trees. It wasn’t long before the butt of my jeans was soaked through. I knew I had a decision to make. I could either look for some place to shelter during the storm, or I could give up trying to stay dry and take the opportunity to collect as much water as I could.

I thought about how thirsty I had been those first two days and about how far I might still have to walk. I also thought about the complete lack of water sources on my journey so far.

It didn’t take long to make up my mind.

I jumped up and started to claw at the ground with my hands. I think I broke every one of my nails ripping at the hard-packed earth. Then I remembered the utensil set. I pulled it out of my jacket pocket and unsnapped the spoon and fork. I used them to gouge the earth. They weren’t perfect—what I wouldn’t have done for a shovel!—but they worked a lot better than my fingers. I dug with both hands. I dug as deep as I could, until finally I had a large hole about six inches deep. I lined it with the sheet of plastic and anchored the edges of the plastic with rocks.

The whole time, the rain hammered down.

I sat next to the hole, my knees pulled up to the chin, my arms wrapped around me, my head down, shivering all over. The temperature had dropped since I’d settled down to go to sleep. Or maybe it only felt that way because I was soaked to the skin. I started to worry again. What if I was coming down with something? Or what if all this cold and wet made me sick?

I told myself to stop saying those two words. I didn’t need any more what ifs in my life. I needed water and food and shelter. I needed to get home.

The rain poured down. The hole filled and then overflowed. It got colder. I couldn’t stop shivering. My teeth chattered. Thunder rolled and roared overhead. Lightning flashed across the inky black sky.

I heard a deafening sound, like an explosion, followed a few moments later by a crash, as if something had fallen out of the sky and plummeted to the earth.

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