Alone

”I hear it ringing,” I shout downwards towards the bottom of the tree.

“Mom, I have no cell sevice, and I just climbed a tree so I could Quickly ……aaaaaaa” I feel myself falling and try to reach for the branch but the cell phone was in my hand. My feet and now hands are trying to find a branch. My head hits a big branch on the way down, and then everything went black.

My buddy grabbed me and said, “Trevor, Trevor wake up.” I can hear him but can not respond, the pain in my shoulder is excruciating, my head feels like a brick just hit it.

I hear Jon talking to himself, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. I could feel that something was heavy on me, and I could hear him struggle trying to lift me up.

“No!” I try to scream, but nothing came out of my mouth.

I hear Jon say, “It’s ok buddy, I know it hurts, I’m trying to get you on a bed of tree limbs that I made for the skiis. We will need to stay the night and wait for help, I found a big rock to make a fire in front of it to keep us warm. It is only supposed to hit -10 C tonight. Then I can make us some hot chocolate that your mom put in your pack. If help doesn’t come by tomorrow I will have to try to ski us out of here.” That is all I heard before darkness again.

I woke up and could feel the warmth of the fire, trying to sit up was impossible. I could see Jon putting another stick on the fire, without his jacket on, realizing he put it on me.

“Jon” I said, in a whisper as my head was still on fire. He turned and looked at me with wide eyes. He ran over to me, and asked if i was ok.

I whispered, “I think I have a concussion”, trying to touch my head and winced.” Jon was leaning in very close so he could hear.

“Trevor, you had a really bad fall and you certainly do have a concussion, I’m glad you are awake. I was very worried about you bud. Don’t try to use your right arm, I think your shoulder is dislocated so I used what I had to make a sling.”

“Thank you” I said, trying to sit up using my other arm. I looked around and there was a pile of sticks beside the fire, we were under a small tarp, with a few branches on top to keep us warm and a pot on the fire.

“You have been busy, how long have I been under?” I asked, looking at him.

“For about six hours, geesh we sure are lucky your mom packs extra stuff in your pack without you knowing.” He laughed, looked at me and said “for one this small pot, some hot chocolate, a thermos of soup, and a bunch of granola bars, a small hatchet, and some matches. All I packed was a fishing rod, some tackle a few sandwiches and a few extra clothes.”

“Ya” I said, “she always does that so I dont even argue anymore, i just go with it. She always said just in case something ever happened you wont get cold or hungry on my watch!” We both laughed.

“Want a sandwich and some hot chocolate?” he asked, walking towards me.

“Sure, thank you, so what is the plan for the morning? I heard you mumbling that we should start to ski back if help doesn’t come?”

He laughed, “you heard that?”

“Yup”, but to be honest I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming because I kept seeing things and hearing things just after my fall. I think skiing out is a good idea, but i wont be able to keep up with one arm, and I am way to heavy to pull on this cool bed on skiis you made. I think you should try to get some sleep, and in the morning skii out to get some help. What do you think?”

“I dont know, looking at me, so many things could go wrong if we dont stick together. However, you are probably right. If I take minimal stuff in my pack, I can skii out of here in probably seven hours. Hoping it doesn’t snow as I’m pretty sure where I’m going, but some of those forks in the trails get a little confusing on the way back!”

We went over the plan, I was feeling guilty that I was laid up but decided not to say anything it was my own insecurities that was making me feel that way. I managed to get some sleep, the pain is still excruciating in my shoulder but hopefully I can get up tomorrow to gather some branches for the fire if my concussion allows me to.

In the morning Jon was up, packed and ready to go. He had a pile of sticks by the fire and made sure the shelter was secure as it was windy which usually means that the weather will change. I felt a little uneasy to see him go, because as grateful as i was for the pile of sticks it would not last long. Getting up was very hard, the ringing in my ears was like a cooko clock ringing and never stopping. I felt week and dizzy, but would manage.

By the afternoon the snow was pretty thick and hoped that Jon would remember his way, because he only had a few things to eat and a water bottle wrapped in a sock so it wouldn’t freeze. I managed to get up a few times to get more sticks, make some hot chocolate, and put some bows on the tarp to keep it warmer. I drifted a few times in the lean- to and had some very scary dreams. One was a wolf came to the shelter when the fire went out. That was the most likely to happen because our lean-to was very sturdy for it to collapse. Every few hours I would get more firewood, but each time my shoulder would stop me in my tracks to slow down. The sling that Jon made was bulky, but productive.

I woke up late in the afternoon hearing a skidoo in the distance but it sounded like it was on a different trail not to far from here. So I decided to grab my pack and head out towards the sound of the snowmobile thinking that rescue took a wrong turn. For every step I took in the deep snow my head would pound, it was hard going because I didnt have snow shoes and as the crow flies I wasn’t to far away from where the snowmachine would be. The snow was three feet deep in some areas, and in some places it was even deeper, the bush was very thick and hard to navigate. Then I heard it, the snowmachine. I was so excited I stated to yell. Before I knew it the snowmachine was gone. I sat in the snow feeling defeated. I decided that I would turn around and go back to camp! I was now soaking wet with sweat and in the snow that is not good. I needed to get my shirt off to dry it by the fire or I would get very cold very fast.

Approaching camp I had a very errie feeling, the hair on the back of my neck tingled, reluctantly I trudged forward. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the fire bigger than when I left. The sticks beside the fire was on fire, if I didn’t do something fast the lean-to was about to go into flames. I dropped my pack and ran as fast as I could.

I started throwing snow on the lean-to, grabbed the boiling water with my mitt and threw it on the fire. The fire was now out, but my arm and hand was screaming at me. I took off my mitt and saw that I had third degree burns. I thought I was going to get sick with the pain, and Jammed my hand into the snow.

I could hear the skidoo again, but couldn’t get up. My fire was almost out but couldn’t do a thing because of the pain. I wished that I would have let the shelter go up, which would have gotten attention from the skidoo. When the noise was faint, all I could do was cry. I didn’t know what to do. My right shoulder was dislocated , my left hand had third degree burns and I was cold and wet. I climbed inside of the shelter, wrapped myself in Jon’s jacket and thought this was the end.

I could hear the skidoo’s getting closer, but I could not move, even to lift my head. I heard the commotion of the searchers, and tears streamed down my face when two men lifted me into the sleigh. I felt like I was watching from above.

When I awoke in the hospital I will never forget how my mom rushed into emergency calling my name swinging the doors open running like a raging bull towards me. We both cried, I was grateful to Jon for finding me when he did, grateful to be alive, and very happy to see my mom.