Morning...
Suddenly, I'm jolted awake by a feeling that something is moving upon my chest. Instinctively brushing my hand over my chest, I sweep away whatever it is. Turning on my side to see, it’s some sort of small green lizard scurrying away through the dense cover of leaves on the ground. Pulling myself up to a sitting position on the mound, I notice that I'm feeling quite well compared to how I felt during the rainstorm. I notice I’ve picked up a few bug bites from sleeping on the mound, but otherwise I feel great.
Looking around, I seem to find myself in a warm, humid, light fog. A thought occurs to me that this must be a low-lying area. Slowly turning my head around to get my bearings, I quickly notice trees are all around me. Oh my god! Something's very odd here... I'm in a forest but it's certainly like nothing I'm familiar with! This forest looks like... I guess the word I would use would be "primeval"... ancient. The trees are very large in diameter, and also quite tall, which is a good indication of their age. This forest is dense... many varieties of ferns and mosses are growing everywhere. I continue to scan what is surrounding me… focusing my vision… first near, then far. Large and small mushrooms of many shapes and colors are growing at and around the base of the largest trees and also pushing up everywhere through the leaves of the forest floor.
The sun is low to my right. I can't see it directly through all the foliage, but its light is streaming through the trees and dancing about on the forest floor around me. While stretching every muscle to shake off the last bit of sleep, my breathing is quite effortless and really invigorating. Normally, when I wake up, I have a bit of a coughing spell and feel somewhat in a daze for a few minutes after rising. The clarity of mind I'm now experiencing has jolted me back to my immediate circumstances. Where in the hell am I? What happened? The last thing I clearly remember was that strange sphere in the lab... immediately after that, lying in mud in a rainstorm! What's going on now at the lab? How do I get back? Maybe I was struck from behind while in the lab and carried off in the trunk of a car and dumped here. No, I feel no injury. How could a car have gotten here... in the middle of nowhere with no roads around? Where is here? Why would someone do such a thing? How could they have gotten in the lab without me knowing it? Was I drugged? … nothing but questions, and no immediate answers. Standing up to assess my situation, I look my clothing over and find it quite stiff and caked with mud. Taking a look at my wristwatch... hmmm... also caked... totally soaked, and inoperative. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the removable drive. It has a clear plastic case exposing a view of the circuitry inside... cracked and submerged in water and mud. Well, that's the end of the drive... and my experiment! Rather than tote around the useless items, I toss them aside. Back in the lab, it was getting quite warm from the operation of the machinery so I took off my long-sleeved shirt and just worked in my t-shirt. I was also wearing just a pair of old jeans, so here I am. Hope it doesn't turn cold soon! My shoes are muddy inside and out. Taking the shoes off, I attempt to scrape out as much of the mud as I possibly can. They're going to take a while to dry out even so. Putting them back on, I proceed to walk in a direction that seems to have the least amount of trees in my path. I don't want to go back the way I came in because I'd probably just end up in a mud patch again. It doesn't get much worse than walking in wet, muddy shoes that squish with every step you take!
Walking along, there are so many noises and creatures moving about, that I'm constantly distracted by them. What an unusually high density of animal life forms around me! Birds are continuously darting through the trees screeching or singing, small lizards are running up and down the trees, small mammals are scurrying away from me as I walk on my way. I've been in forests a couple times before out in California, but they sure didn't have the numbers and diversity of life that I'm seeing here!
Besides the many forms of animal life, I’ve never seen such a diversity in the plant life surrounding me. From the tiniest of sprouts at my feet, there are some really huge and strange looking varieties of plants. Some are ablaze with brilliantly colored flowering of varied shapes and sizes. Oh, this is could be good! I’m noticing a number of smaller trees that have their own particular variety of nuts, just hanging there for the taking.
That reminds me… with all the distractions, I haven't noticed my body reminding me of its needs. I'm quite thirsty and hungry... great... no sign of a road, civilization or anything resembling a fast food chain! There’s a great deal of food around me, but is it edible? I don’t recognize anything familiar. I’d hate to eat something unknown and end up sick. I would sure appreciate a nice hamburger with fries about now! Plodding along the way, I finally realize that there really aren't any footpaths to follow. You'd think that the forest would have paths that people normally follow to bring them out to a road or something. There is no evidence anyone has ever been here. No beer cans, wrappers, signs, or any trace of junk that people always leave wherever they go. This place is spotless! Whoever dumped me here must have thrown me out of an airplane into the Amazon rainforest!
Well, since it appears that I won’t be coming across a hamburger for a while… I've noticed vines growing on the ground along my way. The vines have a variety of what appear to be different types of vegetables growing on them that perhaps are edible. Bending down, I pull one of these elongated vegetables off of a vine. Having nothing to cut it with, I just break it open. Hmm, it seems to have a pleasant smell to it so I'll give it a try. Well… here goes! Taking a small bite at first... hmm, it tastes fine, similar to a cucumber, so I sit down for a moment and consume about half of it.... not bad! At least I'm not going to starve. I see enough of these vines and nut bearing trees around to know I won't go hungry here. Carrying the rest of the vegetable with me, I eat it along the way.
After about ten more minutes of travel, I hear something in the din around me I haven't noticed before... running water! Walking on, looking around, there's a stream in front of me. Proceeding to walk to the streams edge, there are small fish swimming down the stream and some turtles resting on logs. The birds are avoiding me as I walk and they've landed about 50 yards upstream to quench their thirst and bathe. The water is like crystal… clearer than I have ever seen outdoors, the bottom of the rocky stream being quite visible. Well, I don't relish the thought of drinking from unknown streams but I can't find the usual fountains provided on forest trails, so this will have to do. As I come close to the stream, a couple of large frogs seemingly leap out of nowhere, into the water, and nearly scare me to death! After my heart stops pounding, I bend down, resting on my knees, cupping both hands and bring the water to my mouth. I drink and think I'll never stop! Well, I may end up with dysentery, but there's no other choice... and man, this is the freshest tasting water I've ever had!
I have the brilliant idea of following this stream along the way out of here. If I follow the stream, at least I won't die of thirst along the way. Walking along, I notice that the birds are constantly swooping down to drink and bathe. There are so many different species of them... they come in all colors, sizes, and various kinds of plumage. This is really odd. Again, I've never seen so much diversity of life in one place before. Usually, you will see just a few types of birds in any given location. This place is like an aviary! After about another half hour of walking, I’ve also seen numerous small herds of animals making their way through the forest… but keeping their distance from me.
Pausing at the stream, I gaze about a hundred yards ahead of me. I’ve spotted a small herd of what appear to be deer. A gentle breeze is blowing in the direction of the animals toward me so I know that they can’t get a whiff of my scent. I slowly crouch down after spotting them and continue to observe. From this distance, I'm trying to make out what type of deer they are but have no success. I can see them fairly well but the actual specie escapes me. They sort of look like deer but are somewhat different. They behave like deer, but the coloring and body structure are wrong.
Waiting until they pass, I proceed forward. Now that I'm near to where the look-alike deer were standing, I notice a few bushes at the streams' edge. The bushes have some fruit that are about the size of plums. They aren't plums and have a bright green color to them. I pull one of them off the branch and carefully look at it... hmm... it has a pleasant scent. Carefully, I take a very small bite and roll that small piece around my mouth and tongue to judge its taste. It seems to taste fine; in fact it is nice and sweet. Pulling off three more of the fruits, I put them in a pocket and proceed to eat the first. Hmm, actually quite tasty! Eating them one at a time as I walk along, I'm feeling quite proud of myself for my bravery and good fortune! After what seems to be another half hour of following the stream, I notice that the trees are becoming fewer. The sunlight is beaming through the tops of the few trees now, and the warmth of the sun sure feels great. Walking along, I notice my clothes are nearly completely dry, (albeit quite dirty). My shoes are nearly dry also. I seem to be climbing a bit in elevation while following the stream.