Chapter 3

When I woke I saw the fire had nearly gone out. There were only a few embers left. I added some small pieces of wood, and the fire gradually came back to life. I added a couple of thicker pieces to keep it going a few hours.

I heard baby goat Wayne baying for his mother. I turned around and saw her eating some vines. SHE WAS CHEWING UP MY PURSE! Dang it!

Now I’d have to waste half the morning making a new one!

Wait? I had gone to sleep in the desert area.

How did we get to the forest? There was no way Holly could climb a sheer cliff with a bad foot, and the baby was far too small. There was no way I climbed a cliff in my sleep. Right? I began to doubt my sanity.

I walked back to the spot where lightning had made a breach in the clifftop the day before, but somehow I couldn’t see a breach anymore. I didn’t see any way I could get back to the desert.

I walked to a corner at the base of a cliff and emptied my bladder. It had been quite a while since I’d been with a woman, or relieved my tension. There were no other people around and the goats wouldn’t care, so I leaned against the rock wall and took care of that too, thinking about my ex-girlfriend Manuela.

I washed up in the downstream area of my little creek. Near the base of a cliff, the water poured into a hole in the ground about twice the size of my hand. The sound of the water gurgling as it drained was relaxing. It would have been convenient to shower under the small waterfall that supplied it on the other side of the area, but I didn’t want to pollute my drinking water.

Breakfast was avocado and fire-roasted carrots. Oh joy! But at least I had food. I washed down my banquet with another half bottle of goat milk and some water.

I was finishing my third carrot, when I heard a sound from the far end of the area. I figured it was probably the goats, but no, they were on the other side of me. I walked over to check it out. I thought I faintly heard a female say “low”. I yelled with gusto, “Hello! Can you hear me?”

Faintly, I heard; “Yes! I’m so happy somebody is finally there! I’m Anna, what’s your name?”

“I’m Pedro. It would be great to meet you! Do you see any way you can get past the cliff? I’m stuck here.”

“I tried, but I can’t make it to the top. I keep falling.”

“Me too. I have some food. Avocados and carrots. Would you like me to throw you some?”

“That would be great! I have strawberries and coconuts. I can throw you berries, but I don’t think I can get a coconut over.”

I ran and grabbed a few avocados and carrots.