Monday, December 25, 2023

Day 359 - Echo from a hollow planet

Echo from a hollow planet
Matthew Ryan Fischer
 
 
The trees were four hundred feet or more and the green filled the sky above with a brilliance Ethan had never seen. He had walked and slept and walked more. There was no end to the forest. A mountain towered in the distance. Green with a dusting of white at the top. No indication that life had touched let alone conquered. But it was a point he could aim towards. A spot a million miles away perhaps, but a spot nonetheless.
The air was crisp in a way he wasn’t used to. Everything was open. And high. Like he was lightheaded from altitude or something close to pure oxygen. The sky was clear with little hint of clouds or birds. Foraging for food had proved mostly unproductive, but if there was no sign of birds or other wildlife, then any trip he was taking anywhere were going to be futile very quickly.
Solitude had always been appealing. Now it signaled death.
There was no value in focusing on that. He had to move. He had to try. There was moisture in the morning. His camping skills were beyond rusty, but there was a chance to stave off dying of thirst. Of hunger though? Shut up, he commanded himself. He would eat leaves and dirt if it gave him a chance to take one more step. Somewhere on this god forsaken planet there would be something.
He was alone. As an obvious statement of fact. But he was alone meaning he had come here alone. There was no one else with him. That was an important fact. Perhaps. But being alone meant the others were elsewhere which meant there was always a chance of rescue. A very small chance, but enough that he couldn’t give up. He would find water. He would find food.
The mountain never seemed to grow closer. The travel was long and exhausting. The lack of food made him irritable and cranky. He wanted to nap but dared not stop.
The ground turned wet and muddy and the mud turned swampy. Ethan realized he had been descending, but not by much. When he looked back, he could see he was feet lower. But it was unclear what he was walking into or why. But the path forward would have to wait. He couldn’t trudge through mud. Tired already, there was no way he could power through. Plus, he had to way to dry wet muddy clothes. He would have to go around.
The sun began to set, and the trees thinned a little and little sparkling glimmers began to appear. The sunset was reflecting off water. A lot of water. A lake that went forever. Inches deep, but enough for him to drink deep. In the distance the trees continued, growing out of the water, for miles and miles and they appeared to sink lower. The lake was more like an ocean. But he drank the water and it seemed crystal clear. A fresh water ocean? Perhaps. There didn’t seem to be any motion, so no sea life? There didn’t seem to be any waves or tides, so a lake. Just a really really big lake that seemed to go forever.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to get to the mountains now. Even if he did, what was the point? He had hoped that from higher ground he would be able to see signs of human life. Fire. Or buildings. Or something. But he was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen. And he doubted he was going to find much wildlife anyway. Maybe he had a week or a month. His body would slowly eat itself. If he stayed here and didn’t exert himself maybe he could get two or three months. In a dream scenario. Would that the others enough time to find him? It was a grim reality and he didn’t want to think of it.
What had they done? Why had he ended up here? There was no one there to tell.
The sun set further and he realized he should have been working on some sort of shelter. Maybe the water would rise at night. Maybe he needed to retrace his steps and head back inland further.
The sky was clear and the stars were bright, like there had never been an ounce of smog to block them. And then Ethan saw the rising moon. The moon was splintered, with debris trailing behind it in the night sky.
That’s different, he thought. Probably not good. Like he needed another thing to add to the list.

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