Depths Of The Cave [Part I]

They said people like me could never amount to anything. People always thought that I would never get anywhere in life, because I was so weak... I showed them...

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was in gym class with all the other classmate of room 201. It was dodgeball day, and of course, like every other day, I was picked last. I would always be pelted with the red, hard rubber dodgeballs. No one ever believed in me...

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"Gale! Stop staring off into space and play the game!" I've always hated my gym teacher, Mr. Ramirez.

"Sorry, Mr. Ramirez. I'm just not too good at sports." I felt embarrassed because everyone was staring at me.

"Noted," I heard Mr. Ramirez mutter to himself.

When I turned away from my gym teacher, I saw a ball fly to my face. I was out like a light.

I woke up in a hospital bed, and all I heard was the news.

"Madman still on the loose. He was last seen running into Cosgrove Woods wearing dark clothing." I didn't pay much attention to the news lady on t.v., and that's all I heard.

My mother came running over to me and gave out a sigh of relief.

"What happened? Why am I in the hospital?! ... And why does my face hurt?" I had so many questions.

"Oh sweetie, you got a dodgeball to the face... And well, it knocked you out cold," my mother told me in a kind of smirking way.

"Oh," is all I could spit out at the moment. "Am I going to be okay?"

"Honey, you're going to be fine. Now let's get you home, you still have to go to school tomorrow!"

School... Joy.

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I waked into school the next day and I didn't get one 'Are you okay?' Nope, what I heard all through the day was a mocking rhyme, "Gale, Gale the dodgeball fail!"

I couldn't bare the mocking and hatred anymore!

... I had to leave.

Right when I got out of school, I didn't go onto the bus. No, I ran, I bolted straight for the woods. No one would know I was gone. No one would care. My mother might start getting worried, but that wouldn't happen if I don't come home for a few days.

It would seem like my mother would care deeply about me, but when she found out at the hospital that I was fine, she was just relieved that she didn't have to pay a big bill.

All I had was was paper, pencils, a half eaten sandwich, and a quarter of a water bottle in my pack. It's not going to be enough food. I looked around the forest to see which way to go.

Then I realized something... Where was I going and how long am I going there for? What was I going to do?

I decided to take a walk on the path that the football players use for training.

After walking for about ten minutes, I got bored of the same old path. I decided to go off the path and explore the woods.

'This isn't so scary,' I thought to myself, but I was lying. I decided to build a shelter out of things, because right then... I knew I was lost.

Shivers ran through my body as the wind blew in the nearing darkness. My shelter looks like a pile of sticks and leaves, which is what it was.

A strong wind gust came along, and the "shelter" was gone. Disappointment ran through my head.

I decided to keep walking before total darkness, and try to find a good site. The only lucky thing that happened all day was that I found a cave that went very back. I climbed up the big rocks and shimmied into the cave. I only stayed near the front because I didn't want to also get lost in the cave. As I put my pack down, I remembered I should build a fire. I hopped out of the cave and gathered some twigs, sticks, and small branches. Eventually after much stick rubbing, I got some sparks.

A lit fire and a jacket for a pillow. I'm starting to think that running away wasn't the best solution. But I don't want to show defeat now! Let's see how long I could live in the wilderness life.

I tried falling asleep, but, believe it or not, hard rock is not the comfiest thing to sleep on.

Eventually, I fell asleep around one o'clock in the morning. And sadly I woke up at six thirty a.m.

I had a big day ahead of me. The only thing was that I had no idea what to do. I didn't have much wilderness skills, so I'm sure I would've dead over night. Maybe I could go learn some new things. There's no better place to learn strength than in the forest...

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After a long day of jogging, lifting, and pushing, I am sweaty and tired but at least I'm not too cold. The late spring air is hot tonight. No wind. Just the hot sunset tonight.

I sat on a log and decided to take in the beautiful sunset. The sky was orange and there were only a few stretched out clouds near the sun. I was facing my cave shelter so the sun was only half visible above the top of the mountain. It truly was a glorious sight.

I went back to the cave and tried to make a fire again. As was I laying some sticks down in the cave, I heard a rustle from back in the cave.

Just the wind? No, there is no wind or draft tonight. An animal? It's possible, but I think I would've scared it out by now. Then what could it be?

I let out a faint "Hello?" Like anyone was going to answer me... But I did hear some more rustling. I tried a little louder. "Hello?!"

I could feel my heart racing.

Suddenly something jumped out from behind a bolder...

I was scared for my life.