Chapter 2 - The First Night
I refused to panic in front of Noah.
That became my first rule.
Inside, I was terrified.
We had left camp carrying only his small backpack, two half-empty water bottles, a granola bar, my phone, and the clothes we were wearing.
I climbed higher ground repeatedly searching for reception.
Nothing.
The sun was already moving behind the mountains.
Temperatures would fall fast.
“We’re walking out,” I said.
Noah nodded.
We followed the dirt road.
Two hours later, I realized how badly I had misjudged our location.
Troy had driven the final stretch the previous afternoon.
I had followed his SUV through turns without paying attention.
There were several logging roads.
No signs.
No landmarks I recognized.
Going blindly farther could make things worse.
We returned toward the clearing.
By sunset, Noah was shivering.
I gave him my green jacket.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I run hot.”
He knew I was lying.
But he accepted it.
I built the best shelter I could from pine branches and fallen timber.
Then Noah asked the question I had been avoiding.
“Why did Grandma leave us?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did we do something?”
“No.”
“Did I?”
I turned immediately.
“Absolutely not.”
His chin trembled.
“Then why?”
I pulled him close.
“I don’t know yet.”
That night, temperatures plunged.
Noah slept against me.
I barely slept at all.
Around midnight, I heard something.
An engine.
Far away.
I stood.
Headlights appeared briefly between the trees.
“HELP!”
I ran toward the road.
“WE’RE HERE!”
The lights stopped.
For perhaps five seconds.
Then they disappeared.
Not continued.
Disappeared.
As though someone had switched them off.
I stood in darkness.
Listening.
Noah called from behind me.
“Dad?”
Then I heard an engine start again.
Driving away.
May you like
Someone had been close enough to hear me.
And they had deliberately left.
