could recognize as oak and birch trees, others may be elm or beech. Many others he
could not recognize.
On the plants and other vegetation, he could not even begin to guess what they were.
Some did look familiar but a gardener he was not. He had just to pray that at the very
least his luck could help him avoid this world’s version of poison and other deadly plants
which act on skin. Carnivorous plants would also be a possibility in this world. What
they are and how they look was beyond him. Same with the fauna. He had not seen
any animals except for that stupid frog. If it wanted a kiss, no way it was going to get
it.
On the bright side, the water appeared to be safe and potable as the current state of
his stomach had now reassured him. Making sure that his items were already dry, he
inventoried and repacked everything in his pack. He left out the tent, the emergency blanket, and the multitool for the time being. His tablet and cell phone appeared to be
dry but he thought better of turning on his tablet. Even if it functioned, the battery life needed to be saved for now. As for his cell phone, it was next to useless. He wryly
smiled as the thought that this world was really out of his service provider’s coverage
area came to him. The vacuum packs of the biscuits he had eaten he now filled with
water from the lake. His spear he pitched outside his tent. He now had a clear idea of
what to do. To survive. And for the first time in several years, he prayed before going
to sleep.
His third morning found him ready to move out. Spear in hand, the multitool in his
pocket and carrying his backpack, his hope was to find civilization of any sort. But the
strange quiet that surrounded his location still disconcerted him. With a short prayer, he
entered the forest.
A few hours later, Tyler was running like his life depended on it. Actually, his life
depended on it. He stupidly stumbled into a wolf pack’s dinner time after rolling down a
small incline when he tripped on a vine. Curling as he bowled over the vegetation on his
way down, hands covering his head for protection, he finally stopped at the bottom.
Somewhere along the incline, he had lost hold of his makeshift spear. He was fortunate
enough to land on his side facing the five wolves having a tartare meal.
He was at the edge of a small clearing and the carnivores’ dinner party was on the
opposite side. He couldn’t exactly see what the main course was but the wolves, now
disturbed, were looking at him. He froze. The suddenness of the event stopping all
participants in their tracks for exactly two seconds. Then the biggest of the pack
growled and took a step towards him.
Tyler ran back to the top of the incline. His fear gave impetus to an impressive speed
for a lanky white male with minimal cardio training. A look back while crashing through
the undergrowth showed that the wolves had nearly reached the middle of the clearing.
He was barely a quarter of the distance up the incline.
“SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!”
His irrational fear overtook his mind as he watched the wolves rapidly closing the
distance.
“Go home you mangy bastards!” he shouted defiantly as he turned to look up the
incline to continue his escape. As he continued his panic-stricken run, he missed what
would have greatly surprised him. The wolves crashed into a sudden wave of force
which blew them back to the far edge of the clearing. It was as if a giant, silent, and
invisible broom swept them like dust balls, throwing them all in the air back to the other
side of the glade. Tyler, of course, missed all that and ran down the other side of the top of the incline, back towards the part of the forest where he came from.
The trek from the lake started well enough. After a laborious and slow travel through
the tangled vegetation on the forest edge by the lakeside, he found a passable gap
between the trees not blocked by the underbrush. Passing through it, he discovered it
led to a crooked trail through the trees.
Hoping it was a game trail, he followed it though he noticed that the eerie silence which
he encountered by the lake shore continued. He kept on using the openings which he
discerned through the towering trees. If he looked back, he would have noticed that
the openings were not there anymore.
After a few hours, he took a break and sat down under a tree, ate several biscuits, and
some beef jerky washed down with water. It was still daylight though he couldn’t guess
the time as the treetops blocked his view of the sky, letting through only a few
tenacious sun beams.
He thought of climbing a tree to get a bearing but the lowest branches were beyond his
reach. Also, the density of the forest clearly made it impossible for him to see the lay of the land. Even if he could climb a tree, he simply expected a field of green. Finding a
hill would be his best bet. There, viewing the landscape from the top of a sufficiently
tall tree would hopefully give him a bearing on what direction to take.
Munching through the tasteless survival biscuits, he did notice that the silence was
lessening. If he forced himself to hear, he could already make out forest sounds. Which
was a relief. For a while, he thought his hearing had been impaired. Though small
animals were still conspicuously absent. His watch showed that it was 2:30 in the
afternoon. Even so, he was not sure of its accuracy. Different world and all that.
The trail stopped at the bank of a small stream. He stayed under cover and quietly
looked around. He now could see what looked to be a couple of deer downstream,
around a hundred feet away, one taking a drink from the meandering stream. He could
see the sky. It was around noon in his estimation. In the far distance, he could observe
a few birds flying above the forest. But aside from the stream, it was
