I want to stay!

It was already getting dark yesterday when I arrived at this shelter in the woods. I had slightly underestimated the distance, but now I’m just glad I made it to this refuge, a bit off the trail.

I feel completely at home here among the fragrant pine trees. No one comes here because it’s not a regular route. The shelter itself is low and a bit awkward; you can’t stand up inside, but there’s a long table with benches in a clearing near a fire pit. A place to hang out.

Watching fluffballs

Lying on my lovely mat, I look through the narrow opening of the shelter. When I wake up early, it’s still chilly, but I can see the sun, which I longed for so much. For half an hour, I watch fluffballs drifting by, a little spider on the wall, and birds in the grass. When I start feeling sleepy again, I turn over, and it’s not until after ten (!) that I wake up again.

The hours slide by

I still don’t feel like getting up. And so the hours slide by, first in my sleeping bag, later outside at the table in the sun. It gets later, and the next supermarket, the ‘goal’ for today, is eighteen kilometers away.

I need water

I want to stay. But I only have one liter of water left. Is that enough? I take stock: two apples for thirst, a banana, chocolate, bread, cheese, eggs, canned tuna. I look at shorter routes, but there are none. The hours pass. I actually just want to be here.

Yesterday, I saw on the map that there should be a small stream somewhere around here, but I couldn’t find it. Probably dried up, I thought. Still, I decide to search one more time now that it’s light.

Pond hidden behind the bushes

And yes! Behind dense bushes lies a pond. Water! Water that I can purify. I’m staying!!!

A weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Although I had already taken all my things out of the shelter, I hadn’t packed them into my cart yet. What does it matter… This is now my place to be. To BE.

Number of kilometers walked: 0

Number of words written: a lot and a lot more (I’m not going to count them).