Hey everybody, TriageX again. I probably should have clarified this sooner but I forgot:

“....”=speech

‘.....’=Inner speech

Post any questions to things I forgot to clarify bellow.

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Week 5

These past weeks i’ve been frantically trying to prepare and set up a solid base that can help me survive the winter.

Collecting long solid branches and sharp stones I fashioned a few spears, they were necessary for protection from beasts and hunting for fish. I could only start really using them a week ago but having them handy kept my mind at ease.

Most of my time has been spent foraging for food and materials I can use to build a sturdy and warm fort. I need protection from the cold winds and snow that may intrude on my cave but my main concern has been starting a fire.

When I still lived in the temple I didn’t just live off fish. I set up traps and was able to procure quite a few furry mammals. This allowed me to gain the pelts I turned into clothes. I tend to drape and tie the pelts around me as I was missing the proper tools needed in order to create something….sophisticated...but the purpose was served and though messily cut they keep me warm.

Pelts however, do not help much in the middle of winter. A fire is essential and if I don’t create one ill die….plus eating raw fish for days gets redundant.

A warm meal would be utopic right now.

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“Finally FIRE!” a smile spreads across my face, it’s probably the first time i’ve truly felt happy after the fall...besides graduating from bugs, but still fire means cooked fish!

It took a while but I finally found some flint and steel. I had attempted a few other methods in creating fire like the hand drill but the sticks were too damp.

(if you want to see fire starting methods click-http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/04/29/9-ways-to-start-a-fire-without-matches/)

The other methods I had tried when trying to start a fire were also too physical, my bones still weren’t quite better and I didn’t want to overexert them.

With the spark set in the tinder I had collected, a fire quickly started. I set the burning tinder in a pit and quickly fed it the dryer branches I had found. I had collected a large pile of wood for the fire so it wouldn’t flicker out. I needed the fire to continuously burn since it would be much harder to restart especially with the winter snow dampening everything combustible.

That night I quietly watched the fire dance as I snuggled closer, enjoying the heat and warmth it spread throughout my frozen limbs. ‘I never realized how cold I was until I felt the heat’

I fed some wood to the fire as I also ate the rest of my meal and curled up. The flickering of the flames casting dancing shadows. Even the crackling of the fire acting as a lullaby, wishing me sweet dreams, a warmth my mother never gave enveloped me, lulling me to sleep.

Week 8

The cold has finally started to truly set in, I expect snow will probably fall soon.

I’ve done everything I can to prepare but i'm still worried about procuring food through the winter.

I don’t think the river will freeze over but the time I can spend fishing will be cut short due to the danger of hyperthermia.

Collecting animals and insects will also be impossible during the winter so i'm fully relying on my collected supplies of edible plants and opportunity to catch fish.

…………..I know it’s not enough.

Winter is harsh even without worrying about food. Even when I lived in the woods, where I had more foraging options I struggled with survival. Now with being limited to only fish, as there are no large mammals in the area I’m truly worried

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Week ???

My fears became a reality.

Winter hit hard. A white blanket of snow covered my surroundings. Not just the ground even the air seemed to freeze with an opaque whiteness as the wind swept up and swirled the snow into a misty fog. I thought the cliffs on either side of this cavern would obstruct the wind but they only caused a blizzarding torrent of snow that pelted the body like hail. A natural wind tunnel that enhanced the harshness of the environment.

For days(?) the storm pestered, trapping me in a cage of my own making. Closing up the entrance enabled me to avoid most of the wind and cold but it also hindered me from acquiring food and wood. I didn’t have to worry about water because i'd melt snow in a rock basin to drink.

The supplies I had gathered before the winter ran out a few days ago leaving me with only a large wood pile that I used to feed the fire. I had fashioned the food so it would last as long as possible but I was still malnourished even when I got to eat. You may be wondering, What about the fish you catch? Yes the river allows me to be able to catch fish but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Even in summer and spring when I can spend hours in the water hunting I have days i'm lucky and stab a few fish and others when I catch nothing. Now with the weather making it impossible to fish for long, I’m lucky to catch even one a week.

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I lie by the fire shivering as I shift my clothes in order to avoid the chilling bite of the rigid stone floor.

My sense of time confused, as the heaviness of the storm along with the caves obscurity blocking the sunlight from reaching me.

I watch the glow of the blazing fire as the dancing flames are the only source of light in this pitch black darkness.

I’ve been watching this spectacle to distract myself from the hunger. ‘when was the last time I got this ache. The center of my body curling up as I feel myself being eaten away at.’

PAIN! My mind cracks. The sharp tinge of guilt overflows for just a moment….and it’s gone.

A fear constricts my movements like a python, squeezing my lungs in a vise as my body restricts me from taking a breath.

“........w….what was that?”

My voice quivers as I was released from the hold of the serpent. I try to remember the crack but my being refuses to let me. So I ignore it. Forget the pain I felt…...focus on survival.

‘Im okay.’

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Week????

The flickering shadows are haunting me…..whispering. Something about forgetting. I try to ignore them, but how do you escape what's all around you.

The fire is the savior of my body providing the warmth I need to escape the cold…..but it’s also the mother of the demons plaguing my mind.

I want to leave but the storm continues to lock me in this prison. It’s freezing bite like dogs cornering it’s prey as it howled in victory. I scream back defiant, “YOU WILL NOT DEVOUR ME!” my voice hoarse but strong as I used the last of my energy.

‘I won’t die, I won’t die, I will survive, survive, survive’

“How?” a voice whispers

They’ve started again.

“How will you sssssurvive? You’ve run outtt of ffffood for weeeksssss noww?”

The voice whispers, or is it voices. Like a resounding chorus the shadows on the walls hiss. Their hums harmonize to create a resounding sound that slithers it’s way into my ear.

I try to ignore them, to shut my eyes and seek comfort in the dark.

“Weeee know a wayyyy”

“A way for you to ssssssurvive”

They cackle gleefully as they watch me slowly turn to look at their flickering figures.

I hate their joy, how they find my misery amusing. I want to ignore them and find my own way to live…...but i’m growing desperate.

Like they can smell my breaking will they speak

“Vvventure out of the cave and ffffollow the wwwind ssssss”

The devil's whispers grab my attention, shocked I yell

“YOU WOULD HAVE ME DIE!! I am not stupid all that awaits me in that cold is a frozen tomb!”

Angry, I go back to ignoring them. ‘I should just wait for the storm to pass, when it does i’ll catch some fish, I also need some more wood.’

“KEKEKEKEKEkekeke!!

The culmination of whispers burst into a resounding laugh, the cave walls allowing the voices to amplify and echo through the chasm. The unusual loudness of their resonance causes my drifted attention to again focus back on them.

“Only Iff you sssstay hhear, willl ssshhurly die.”

“........Why would you even bother informing me of this. You seem to enjoy my suffering?”

It makes no sense for them to help me, when they only come out to torment me, strengthening their hold as I weaken but in this state I clearly know they are not on my side

“Go wwwith the winddd, only then can you ssurvive”

The whispers then slowly subside. I try to question them again and again but they refuse to respond.

I sit for days pondering about the information the shadows gave me. Skeptical of their intentions I try to hold out….but my body is constantly getting weaker and as my hunger persists my mind wains.

Finally I decide to take the gamble. I will do whatever it takes to survive. Gathering my furs, I add more wood to the fire hoping it will persist until my return.

Bracing myself I venture out into the storming blizzard with mixed feelings. Though it’s cold and freezing and moving is incredibly arduous my mind is more at peace in this world of white, where shadows cannot follow.

I walk.

The insidious darkness once again comes alive, watching the young boy venture to their direction. The soft vaporous voices obscured by the winds howling speaks “Jusst like three yyyears ago” (Snicker). The sentence out of the boys reach.