Dreams and reality.

After taking a breath to calm down, I focus on thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of going back on my path or moving on.

I said to myself "If I go back now, I don't know if I can bear that loneliness and unchanged environment again, I can't give a rough distance to find anything other than the wasteland, if I turn back, the bright side; I don't have to enter this forest."

There was also my second option to move forward without taking into account those instincts that warned me that something was not right with this forest.

"Looking at it sensibly in this forest, I'm more likely to find something to eat and shelter as night falls, with no apparent disadvantage, and yet I still don't want to go in."

After considering the details and with a bit of confidence given what I have on my waist, I decide to move towards the forest in search of a refuge as a short-term objective.

Being aware of my surroundings, I continue entering the forest, I am surprised how little by little the light of the evening fades with the huge trees.

I have mixed feelings, I'm happy to finally see things other than arid land, there is the sound of the small stream, all the trees, the unevenness of the ground. The most disturbing thing is the low visibility I have inside the forest, you can't see anything beyond 20 meters.

I proceed to walk in the forest, this is the opposite of the moor, it looks full of life, with trees and vegetation everywhere, the only disturbing thing is the total silence, for this reason I always stay close to the shore. Until I find a big enough tree, it's tall enough that I can't see the top, even considering it's so wide that probably even 5 men couldn't put their arms around it, it's got a hollow part to it, not caring about anything else and like my My brain shuts down, I fall exhausted inside the tree, as if it were my home for a lifetime, these are the last thoughts I had before my consciousness faded into darkness.

Darkness, total darkness, in this gloom there is no up or down, there is no you or me either, just darkness.

Luis.... Luis... Luis...!!!

I hear screams that are getting louder and louder. They make me open my eyes "where am I?" is the first question that comes to my mind, I observe my surroundings and realize that I am lying in a small single bed. The room seems to belong to a child considering the toys thrown on the floor and the movie posters on the wall, I look out the window and it seems to be dawn.

"Luis! Get up already!" Again a scream is heard, as if coming from below, drowned out by the concrete walls.

"Luis? Are you referring to me? Right, I'm Luis, this is my room."

Blaaam!

The door opens with a loud sound and as if the door were my own eyes, they open again, in this depressing sight, the same dark and silent forest.

"So I'm still here, that dream was very vivid, as if it were part of my memories" I spend a few moments reflecting on what I saw and heard in that dream.

Blaaam!

The loud noise from my dream is repeated, now coming from a remote part of the forest. This ends up taking me out of my dream state. Quickly, I get up and without thinking twice I start running towards the sound.

"Finally signs of other people!"

I leave my temporary refuge smiling and start running, while I run towards the source of the sound, I feel refreshed, the fresh air runs through my lungs, the headache that accompanied me all day yesterday has disappeared making my thoughts come up with normal. All this together with the sound that I just heard inside the forest makes me enter a euphoric state.

As I keep running, I hear the same sound again, however this time it seems to be coming from another direction.

"They're moving, I have to catch up with them"

After a few minutes of running I come to a sudden stop.

With my breath ragged, sweat dripping slowly down my forehead, and minor scratches from ignoring everything in my path in order to get there sooner, bewildered, I look down a small slope at what appear to be two large claw marks on a tree. , as well as smashing towards a specific direction which seems to be where that peculiar sound is coming from again.

"Don't tell me the sounds were coming from whatever left these marks..."

Reacting in a panic I quickly drop to the ground and look around.

"I don't know what left those marks, but I don't want to run into it." I say this a little nervously while swallowing the saliva that had gotten stuck in my throat.

I put my hand on the gun and after a few minutes in the same position, listening to how the sound gets further and further away, I decide to get up. I can't take my eyes off those markings on the trees. I start to approach them curiously.

I watch as the tree is cut cleanly and deeply. On the other hand, there are a lot of broken and scattered branches, as if something big just happened there.

"What animal are these markings from? They're as big as my head, so I'm guessing it's some kind of bear or rather large animal. It could be dangerous if I find it in this situation. I get goosebumps from just to think that it was what left this like this"

I am a bit surprised by the speed of my thoughts and the facility that I can draw conclusions.

"Was my previous headache just due to lack of sleep?"

Thinking about it, I don't even know what time it is. The lighting in the forest seems to always be the same because of the big trees, almost zero. Remembering the time, a feeling of pain and hunger runs through me. This is because I have not eaten anything for at least a day and the scratches from the branches that I had ignored due to the urgent situation. I had ignored it through all the ups and downs. So I go to find something to eat or drink.

"Right, in the complete opposite direction from where that bear went." I tell myself trying to calm the restlessness that this landscape brings me and putting my hand on the gun looking for some conformity.