A Failed Exploration

“He has started hunting in our domain, and if he doesn’t stop; we’ll fight back!”

-Vasyli, Fish Prince

The day was bright and sunny, the terrain hinting at a late-night drizzle, and I was feeling in a good mood to explore my surroundings. First, I remembered I had an emergency survival kit that included a hatchet, ice axe, and a compact fishing rod. Then, I remembered I packed food for myself since I was planning to go on a hike. So, the first place I was going to go was back to my car.

The hike back down wasn’t as treacherous as I remember since I was going downhill instead of uphill. Suddenly, I tripped and fell as I was distracted by the wonderful view of mountains from the cliff on my right side. A pack of wild geese fluttering through the late-dawn air, pine trees releasing their golden pollen as monarchs flutter along getting caught by hungry sparrows. The first flowers sprouting under my very feet as I was falling. Down, down, and down…

I awake with a sharp pain sprouting through my left leg, sitting up I realized I was washed up on the shore of a lake on the side of a waterfall. By the looks of it, the waterfall that sprouted next from the lake next to my home! Then, it all came to me. Slipping, falling, freedom, pain. Wait… Why am I still falling? Wait I’m falling with all the stuff around me! Noooooo…

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