1 A Dream?

Sun beaming in my face I roll in an attempt to go back into my lovely dreamy sweet sleep. I was on an exploration to find . . . something. I had gotten lost and my new goal was to just survive in the woods. I had just gone to sleep for the night. I open my eyes and look up to a canopy of trees that don't obscure the blue sky.

*Yawn* I stretch my arms up hands clasped together, pull them up over my head and then unclasp and bend further back arms in a Y shape leading my back to bend as well. ~What a good stretch~ I run my tongue over my teeth and swallow finding my mouth a tad dry. ~I'm thirsty~ I look around and see . . . absolutely no signs of water. ~How does one find water? . . . Dowsing maybe? . . I would need to find some dowsing rods. . . sticks from the trees!~ I set off looking for a pair of sticks that have a 90 degree angle or that I can break off to get it that way.

Wondering around I find one that works and then another that's seems kind of perfect, but I keep looking as the one that wasn't perfect was so small it was hard to really hold and also wasn't straight but rather curved. Continuing on I keep my eyes trained on the ground when I spot a large branch that I see some potential in. I go over and find the piece I want but it's in the middle. I see that I need to break off quite a few pieces. I go ahead and get started randomly tossing the pieces I break off afterwards just for the satisfaction of throwing stuff. I get into a rhythm of finding where I want to break a piece off and then snapping followed by me throwing the useless stick and listening to the stick land with a *thud* and so it goes *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud*~Just three more pieces~ *splash* *thud* *thud* ~ Wait a second didn't I just hear something splash As in Water!~ I get up about to go in the direction I heard the splash when I pause. ~Just in case, lets take my new dowsing rods~ I break my new dowsing rod off the branch and grab the one I found earlier and go around looking expecting to find something obvious and end up stepping in a small stream. I step back and look down to find A stream so small even a cat would have a hard time drinking from it. ~dang and I got all Excited.*Tsk* where is this water even coming from. Oh wait I can totally follow it back to where it came from and there will probably be more water there!~ I stick my hand into the water blocking the flow and it gathers around the right side of my hand.

~To the right it is then, seems like the right way~ Following the stream I pass through trees to what then becomes bushes and I start to hear a gentle running water sound. The water went from more a a trickle to a decent stream and I can see that it has split in two up ahead. The combined stream comes out of underneath a hedge that is dense on both the right and left of the stream. Directly above the stream the hedges have a vine that is growing on it's out between the hedges; enough so that the view of what's beyond is obstructed.

~Well now I feel the need to see what's Over the Hedge~ I step into the stream and dip under the vines as I attempt to lift most of them up. A few still get loose and manage to hit me in the face but I make it through. I step out of the stream and realize the water was deep enough to go over my ankle. The hem of my pants; or really just a pair of classic men's pajamas, the green and blue plaid of a soft cotton; is now dripping wet about 3 fingers up. I brush off what leaves caught on my over-sized grey T-shirt and look around.

Around me I see a large clearing. I can now see that the stream is a runoff of a pond. A pond big enough for a parking lot to be there.~ Big enough I want to call it a lake even though I know that's the wrong term; Artificial lake maybe?~ The sheer side of a cliff is facing us and extends to the left and right. Above the artificial lake a waterfall flows smoothly from the cliff into the lake. It curtains over the lake against the cliff and though you can't really see through it, the water is smooth and makes a gentle sound as it pours into the artificial lake.

I wade into the water, swimming at the deepest parts, coming to stand before the waterfall. I cup my hands into a bowl shape put them in the waterfall and drink from my hand. The water tastes clean and refreshing, better than I had hoped. Pulling my hands back the water pats for a moment the comes back to form the curtain again. I glimpsed something behind the waterfall in that moment and decide to investigate.

Walking through the waterfall I an opening in the cliff face with a circular indent in its' flooring that has two steps down filled with water with a doorway sized opening leading to the pond. I go through into it and walk up the steps, careful while I do so as the first step is in the water and the second is at the edge of the water. Past the "Entrance" I notice what seems to be a fire pit dug into the floor a step and then a cropping of stones in the center of that with ash residue on the bottom. Looking up I see a smoke stain o the ceiling but it leads back to the waterfall, it seems the ceiling is slanted so that it's higher by the water fall and lower as it goes away from the waterfall. That's all I can really see. The rest is too dark only so much light is coming through the waterfall. It seems that this was someone's home once though it seems they have long since left, leaving only the structure behind.

Leaving the cavern hide-a-way home I see that there are pathways to the left and right side of the waterfall, a dry path in though I'm already wet so I go back through the water. I come out of the and decide to comb out my hair before I get out of the water. I undo the braid in my hair releasing the ribbon I had braided in my hair and tied the end with. Wrapping the ribbon around my wrist I comb through my hair as if I'm washing it, though I have no soap. After I'm done I get out the sun high in the sky it has to be around noon. The rays from the sun keeping me warm I look around for a good spot to sunbath and dry off. Finding a large stone platform I get on and lay down putting my arm over my eyes.