Page 92 of Once Upon a Fable

I’d found my Jeep. My ticket home.

My knees buckled.

My body demanded rest.

My fear was no longer enough to keep me standing.

Don’t you dare. Keep going.You’re not safe yet.

Tripping forward, I gulped down air and tried to calm my tattered heartbeat. Running for that amount of time was different than climbing.My strength was great, but my cardio needed work.

My temples ached with dehydration, tempting me to go to the back of the Jeep and raid my supplies for water instead of the front to escape.

Drink once you’re far away from here.

Balling my hands, I trudged through the wet undergrowth. My soaking socks squelched in a tiny stream that’d appeared from the massive dumping of rain as I crossed the small clearing to my Jeep.

Another flash of lightning lit up the dark sky.

A cymbal crash followed shortly after, making me jump and look behind me.

Was he following me?

Had he woken before the storm?

Am I free?

You won’t be safe until you get out of this damn national park.

Hurry.

My fingers slipped on the clips holding down the Jeep’s hood. Circling the front grill, I popped the other clips and hoisted up the heavy metal. Bending forward, I reattached the battery cables, ensuring the engine looked untampered with and ready to race.

Shivering now I was no longer hot from running, I quickly resecured the clips before dashing to the tree where I’d buried my keys.

Where is it?

Rain continued to pummel me, getting heavier by the second. Each droplet was a grenade, bruising my arms and exploding with wetness upon my head.

Come on...where is it?

I squinted in the darkness, seeking the first ribbon tied in the undergrowth.

I can’t see it.

I skirted around the clearing, waiting for lightning flashes to peer into dark bushes.

It took too long. Far too long. I began to second-guess myself. I began to doubt the past few days hadn’t been a terrible dream brought on by sleep deprivation and food poisoning.

Surely, it couldn’t be real.

Surely, there wasn’t a man living alone out here...untamed and—

A-ha!

A bedraggled, soaking ribbon hung limply in the rain, pointing toward the ground and the small stone I’d nicked with my knife.

Pouncing on it, I dug with my bare hands, scooping away the dirt until my fingers closed triumphantly around metal teeth and a copper keyring of a climbing shoe, courtesy of my brother when I’d first hit online success.