Ranger Pedro investigates his situation and tries to survive more challenges.
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A very loud noise woke me. I looked around and saw it was still a little before sunrise. Lightning struck the clifftop to the East, and there was a very loud ‘BANG!’ Part of the cliff tumbled down! There were several more lightning strikes, but no rain. I noticed it was much cooler, almost comfortable.
I waited until the sun started rising and filled my two bottles with water. I'd take them with me for refreshment, in between climbing attempts.
I went to my usual corner and did my restroom tasks. If I was a little more awake, I might have noticed the few lumps of coal on the ground, before I emptied my colon on top of them. If I had looked, I would have noticed the small, exposed bit of a coal seam.
I walked to the bottom of the cliff the lightning hit and looked around carefully. I didn't see any loose rocks that were likely to fall. I threw rocks upward several times trying to dislodge any, and nothing fell but the stones I had thrown. I wished for luck and climbed.
A few spots were difficult, but I made it to the top! I was ten meters or so lower than the other clifftops, but I could see an open space below about the size of the area I was trapped in. It was also surrounded by high cliffs. There were trees! And a small stream!
I carefully descended into the new area, and was happily surprised to find an avocado tree! There were two ripe avocados on the ground! Food! And there were many more on the tree! I just needed something to cut them open.
I explored a little more and saw a few odd plants. The top of their orange roots stuck out of the dirt a little. I thought I'd seen those in a garden before?
Could they be? YES! Carrots! More food! I pulled one, wiped most of the dirt off, and rinsed it in the stream. It smelled like a carrot. I took a small taste, then started munching on it. It was a little sweet. Nice! I saw hundreds more I could eat later! I wouldn't starve! I guess with all the sweet drinks and junk food I usually ate, I didn't notice the sweetness of carrots before.
I later found a torn, rusty car door. I moved a hand-sized corner of the sheet metal back and forth many times, until it broke off. Two of the three edges were jagged. I hit it with a rock a few times to bend it, so I could hold it safely.
YES! I had a half-assed knife! I rubbed one edge on a rock to sharpen it.
I ran to the avocado tree and quickly ate one. Normally I don't like avocados that much, but it was the best thing I'd eaten in days. Much better than dried snake! I'd eaten too much guacamole once and gotten a stomachache, but two or three a day should be fine.
I tasted a bit of the stream water, and it seemed to be ok. When I could I should boil it to be sure, but I drank until my thirst was satisfied.
It wasn't much of a stream, only ankle deep and half a meter across, but I was glad to have it.
I wished I still had my bottles, so I could boil water if I got a fire going. I needed both hands to climb, and with no clothes, I had no pockets.
I smelled smoke. I tried yelling again, "HELLO? ANYBODY?"
I searched for the source of the smoke and saw a small plume of white rising from a smoldering tree stump. Lightning must have struck it. FIRE! Yes!
I hurriedly gathered up some dry sticks and grass, and added them to the smoking stump. I blew and blew, encouraging the grass to catch. I saw a small flame! I added more grass and a few small sticks, then a few larger ones. The fire was burning well. GREAT!
The stump and wood I piled on it would be enough fuel for at least several hours, so I didn't have to worry about it going out. There were dozens of trees, and a lot of dead branches. As long as I kept it going, fire was no longer a worry.
What should I use it for first? Water! Safe water was very important. How could I get my bottles over here?
My grandmother taught me to weave baskets when I was a little kid. I thought I remembered how. Maybe I could make a basket with a handle, to use like a sort of backpack?
I gathered up some vines and started ripping the leaves off them. I kept an eye on the fire, to be sure it didn't go out or spread.
Within four hours, and six or seven attempts, I had a basket with a long handle on it, sort of a large purse.
A manly, macho, naked park ranger purse. I chuckled to myself.
The sun was nearly overhead, and the temperature was still only a little warmer than I'd like. Much better than the last few days! I wasn't sure why, since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I was grateful, but expected it to be much hotter at noon than in the morning.
I checked the fire once more, then took my knife and manly purse to retrieve my precious bottles. I brought a couple of carrots to snack on.
People threw out or recycled millions of bottles every day. To me, mine were very important, maybe even lifesaving. The few cents worth of scrap metal I turned into a knife was also critical to my survival. I chuckled at the irony.
When I got back to the desert puddle with my precious bottles, I saw something slowly moving around on the other side of the area. I couldn't see quite what it was, but it was exciting. I might have a companion! Or more food!
I walked over to take a look. It was a goat. I thought of "MEAT!"
When I got closer, I saw the goat had an injured foot and was limping. It would be easy to catch! Great!
I got closer and behind it I saw a baby goat, only a few hours or maybe a day old. The mother still had a bit of dried blood on a rear leg from the birth.
Awh crap! I couldn’t kill a mother with a baby.
The baby walked to its mother and drank some milk. Hmmm... at least I might be able to get milk, if I took care of it.
That's better than lamb chops one day, a week's worth of meat I might not be able to preserve, and a lot of guilt.
The baby looked like it was barely getting any milk and complained.
The mother goat sniffed the air and limped toward me. She was thin and I saw her mouth and eyes were dry. She was dehydrated and hungry.
"You like carrots? Come here girl, follow me!"
The mother hobbled after me as I led them to my big puddle. She drank quite a bit.
I decided to make it the goats' puddle. I had other sources, and I wasn’t going to drink something with goat spit in it.
She looked at the carrot and let out a "BAAA!"
I tossed the two carrots on the ground and she quickly started to eat.
I decided to take care of them. Milk would be good, but even I couldn't get any, at least they were companionship. I petted the baby and felt a lot happier. He called to his mother as she ate a few dead weeds.
I decided on names for them, Holly Hobbles, and Wayne Whiner.
I climbed up and down the cliffs, and gathered up as much grass and small plants as I could fit in my manly purse. I chuckled again.
I brought them two purses worth of food, and it looked like that would be enough for the day.
I climbed back to my new area again, and put a little more wood on the fire. I tied some vines to the tops of the bottles, so I'd have a way to pull them off the fire, then boiled some water.
I had a carrot and another avocado, then checked on Holly and Wayne. Both rubbed their heads on my leg happily and I managed to get half a bottle of milk!
I had to decide where I would sleep. Should I stay with the goats, or keep an eye on the fire?
I figured if the fire went out, I could find a way to make another one. If I lost my goats, I doubted I'd find any more, and I'd miss them.
I laid down ten or so meters from the puddle. Holly sat down near me, with baby Wayne between us.
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Report of Caretaker 9042
Species WDT
Subject 071 - Cycle 3
Specimen WDT071 added new fruit, vegetable, and animal product foods to diet.
Minor health increase to 23/24.
Subject displays strong dislike of compact combustibles.
Unmodified and stage 1 modified natural tool use observed.
Intermediate waste tool reclaimation observed.
Inter-species auditory communication observed.
Inter-species empathy observed.
Use of fire observed.
Stage 1 tool production observed.
No signs of progenation.
No written language.
No use of electricity.
No buoyant or powered flight observed.
No use of fission or fusion power.
No dimensional rift usage.
Results to date:
Primitive, worth further observation.
Technology level: 4/24
Resilience: 10/24
Progenation: 0/24
Recommend long distance auditory communication test.
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Supervisor 3614 notes
Move subject 071 and associated objects to habitat area x7914y8562.
Test auditory communication with subject WDT046 in habitat area x7915y8562
Close and sanitize habitat area x7913y8562.
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When I woke 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 there was no gap in the tall stone wall. 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.
"Ok, I'm throwing them over now. Watch your head."
The first carrot I threw nearly made it over, but not quite. I could only get the avocado 2/3 of the way to the top. I climbed up a little, and got two avocados and four carrots over to her.
"Thanks so much! So much! Here's some berries!"
I saw about a dozen strawberries make it to my side of the wall. "Thank you! Thanks so much!"
I could tell from her voice that Anna was an older lady. She was polite and kind. It was good to talk to another person, after so long!
The strawberries were delicious, even after being half-crushed on impact.
We yelled back and forth quite a while. She asked if I wanted her to try throwing a coconut over.
I said it wasn't worth the risk. It might fall back and hurt her, she shouldn't try it.
I had an idea! "Hey! Anna! I'm going to try making a rope from some vines! If I throw you a rope can you tie it to something, so I can climb up?"
"Sure! There's a tree close to the cliff."
"Great! I'll yell again when I have a rope ready to throw!"
"Good luck! And thanks again!"
It took a lot longer than I expected, peeling all the leaves off the vines, and braiding them together to make a rope. It was getting close to dark, and I only had a rope long enough to reach the top, maybe.
I walked back to the wall, and yelled for Anna, but she didn't answer. I yelled five or six more times, but nothing.
I worried if something bad happened to her. I hoped she was all right. It was getting too dark to do anything else, so I carefully made my way back to camp.
I had another avocado, two carrots, and some milk. My belly was full, but it still left something to be desired.
I learned my lesson about goats eating things. I coiled up the rope and slept on top of it.
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Report of Caretaker 9042
Species WDT
Subject 071 - Cycle 4
Specimen WDT071 health 23/24.
Intra-species empathy observed.
Intra-species food exchange observed.
Progenation attempted. Genetic material deposited in soil, failed to germinate.