Chapter 8 - Only Time Will Tell

As days passed, my fear for the forest diminished. Barely.

The feeling of being watched and followed never went away, but after a few days, it became a welcomed company.

I had yet to see another living thing since the deer and I became quite lonely.

Surely I was slowly going insane at this point.

What kept my fears up was when I would sit there, against a tree, waiting out the night and the sound of crunching snow would find it's way to my ears. When I would try to find the source of the sound, there was nothing.

The sound would grow louder and louder until it felt like the source was right next to me. Then, the sound would unexplainably disappear into nothing. Only the rustling branches of the trees above could be heard, and my heart pounding, filled with anxiety.

Also, the haunting dream still persisted in my sleeps, making my sleep restless and me waking up unrested and tired.

Yet as the sky started to lighten, I would start again on my journey, following my compass for hours until night started to descend in the forest. I didn't let my tiredness keep me from attempting to get home. I was determined to return back to the person waiting for me.

I should say now, the person waiting for me is my younger sister, Connie. She's the only family I have and it's my duty to watch and take care of her. When I'm not around, everyone else keeps silent watch over her. She is old enough to be left by herself and I trusted her enough to take care of herself, but I still worry.

She was probably worried herself about me. I've never been gone more than five days, so my absence now must be consuming her. As much as I take care of her, she takes care of me just as much.

I was worried that if I never returned, sadness and depression would eat away at her soul. I was all she had. I also didn't trust anyone else to take care of her. Connie was pretty antisocial, a shy little girl who avoided most people, so it was my job as the big brother to protect her, and seeing as there was no one else, provide for her as well.

Hopefully I wouldn't be trapped in this forest for too long. The longer I was in here, the more my hope drained of ever getting out. I kept my hope up by telling myself I needed to get out. It wasn't an option to get lost in this godforsaken forest forever. I had Connie waiting for me.

Sometimes the thought that time ran differently in the forest crossed my mind, but I couldn't be sure. Not until I got back home and my sister told me how long I had been missing for.

I could only hope that time ran the same, or at least faster than outside the forest. Better if faster because that would mean that my time here was more than my time outside. Of course, how would it affect me?

If time travels faster in here, would that cause me to age at the same time rate that went by inside the forest, or would I age at the same time as those outside the forest. I'm pretty sure that the former is more likely. That would mean when I finally escaped this dreaded forest, I would be a lot older than when I originally left for the forest.

That thought didn't settle well inside me, so I tried to shake it off and hope that the time ran the same and I would have aged the appropriate amount of time for how long I was stuck in this prison of a forest corresponding to how long I was gone back at home.

As I pondered such thoughts, I kept my feet moving, head searching for any sign.

It seemed that the snow never stopped falling. There might be times that it stops periodically, but the clouds stayed dark and heavy with snow and then the snow would start falling again.

Despite all the snow that falls, the snow on the ground never seems to grow. The footprints that I make get covered up, but anything beyond that, the snow stays at a constant level.

High enough to make my life miserable, but low enough that I could keep trekking my path in hopes of returning back.

Hearing my stomach grumbling its protest at the hunger it was feeling, I decided I should soon stop and make camp for the night.

The deer meat I had procured was diminishing slowly. After I had collected the meat, I did start to ration, eating a small bit two times a day, still unsure how long I was going to be out in this forest. Good thing I did as it didn't look like I was going to be back home anytime soon.

I still had about a week's worth left, which was reassuring. Meant I had roughly a week to find another unfortunate soul that would be sacrificed for survival.

Looking around once more, I took notice of something dark hiding in the trees.

Curiosity, but uncertainty, surfaced as I started to head in the direction. What could be so dark that it contrasted the dark trees to the point it looked like a black hole?

Getting closer, I saw that it was another cave. A much smaller cave, but a cave nonetheless.

I cautiously approached the cave, looking out for any prints or any sign of another animal that could possibly live in this cave.

Seeing none, I relaxed, but only a little.

Once I reached the cave entrance, I took a peek inside. I let my eyes adjust to the lighting and took note that the cave looked pretty barren.

No animals.

I sighed a little in disappointment.

I decided to grab the branches I needed, and bark, to make my meat cooker before heading into the cave. I was glad the trees had an abundance of such materials, otherwise I'd be screwed.

Going back to the cave, I hesitated at the entrance before taking a deep breath of courage and walking in a few steps. I let my eyes readjust to the cave lighting again before going to the back of the small cave.

The cave had a diameter of ten feet, so like I said, not the biggest cave, but big enough to be a suitable shelter for the night.

Makes building a fire way easier, seeing as I didn't have to fight with the cold damp snow.

I stacked the sticks and placed the dry side of the bark underneath, got a match out and lit the bad boy up. The fire started popping, common when setting damp wood on fire.

I took out a few strips of deer meat and stabbed a stick through them as I roasted it over the fire. I shaved the rough part of the stick off, but even if I didn't, I wasn't too concerned with eating enchanted forest debris.

Being in the forest this long, I was sure I was affected by this strange forest in some unexplainable way already. What though, I could only imagine.

Once the meat was done cooking, I started carefully munching it, not wanting to burn my taste buds. Sure the meat tasted bland without salt, but tasting the meat was better than not being able to feel my tongue.

As I ate the meat, I stared at the entrance to the cave. The world outside the cave was approaching the darkest it was going to get tonight.

I also noticed the wind picking up. Flurries of unsettled snow whisking across the snowy forest floor.

Another storm was brewing, that's what it told me. Maybe I would be able to stay in this cave while the storm thrashed angrily outside. I will decide tomorrow.

If the winds picked up more and the snow started to fall harder tomorrow morning, I would stay in the cave until the storm blew over. 

Otherwise, I plan to keep going, with the hope that when the storm comes at full force, I would have found myself another form of shelter.

Only time will tell.