Lost in Plain Sight

There’s no going back.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels

The shivers set in about ten minutes from the trail. But still I walked through the snow, my footfalls heavy as I watched the sun begin to set through the trees.

I didn’t hear a thing, not even birds or squirrels scrambling for warmth and shelter. It was like being in another reality, so far from civilization. Every step took effort. My eyes kept trying to close, longing for sleep that hadn’t graced me in what felt like days.

I looked up to see the shrouded sky through the gaps in the branches. My coat felt like a second skin, but I couldn’t find the zipper with how my hands shook. If only the car hadn’t run out of gas — if only my cell phone hadn’t drained down to threads of battery life — if only I had put the emergency kit in the trunk like my parents always told me —

If only was a refrain like a song I couldn’t get out of my head.

I kept walking, hoping for a spark of fire or a smoke signal or even just a cabin in the woods. There had to be something. No one truly lived off the grid anymore, did they? In the world I came from, they didn’t. Everyone was connected through the web of social media, and one quake would cause an avalanche.

Soon I didn’t even register where I was. The cold didn’t even feel cold anymore. My limbs burned as if I’d…