My Fail-Safe Plan

I racked my brain for what to do. I had to survive. No, I need to survive. It is the only available option and the only thing I should be thinking about.

Thoughts like being forgotten or cursed by nature would get me nowhere except wasting the limited time I have at my disposal.

My only option is to make plans of my own to strive out of my supposedly hopeless situation.

While still seated, I took another glance at my surroundings, this time taking my time to see if there was anything I could use to turn the situation around.

My eyes had gotten used to the dark so I was able to navigate my way through without much stress done on my path.

My eyes wandered back to where it began and I... I felt how dim of a chance my attempt to fight back was.

What was I thinking? Expecting a weapon to just stay lying around waiting to be picked by me?!

I sighed, silently. Nonetheless, I had no plan to give up just yet.

What is chasing after me is a probable ten-foot beast with ferocious fangs longer than the tusk of an elephant, a head closer to a bat and a body similar to that of a hyena.

A culmination of heaven knows what, and is surprisingly fast on its feet for someone its size.

You can see why I had a hard time believing the situation I have come to find myself in?...

I had never seen such a monster before or even heard tales of it recorded down.

I could have at least tried to make sense of it if it was a familiar animal or beast. But no, it isn't.

Leaves, leaves, a short branch, leaves again, leaves.

"Damn it!!!".

I groaned after reaching a consensus about what I kept finding on the ground.

Not a single object that can be used as a weapon is spotted in sight.

I crawled back to the tree bark and rested my back on it as I attempted to calm down before I continued my search.

Again, I turned my head upward and searched the surrounding tree barks for anything. I was desperate.

My eyes caught sight of the branches tightly attached to the trees with leaves growing on them.

How should I put this? The branches below started small, and as they got closer to the top of the trees, they got bigger and more difficult to pull out.

An idea surged up in my head.

I enthusiastically got up and moved to the tree closest to me, which was opposite the tree I rested on.

As I thought.

The first branch of the tree I was staring at was something I could pull out with enough force. Or better still, I could break its connection from the tree bark.

There is only one problem with my idea! The distance.

Though the branch is not that high up the tree, it is not at a distance that I could reach with ease.

Remember, I am a twelve-year-old well in my growth age with many more feet to be added in the future.

For now, though, I am not getting anywhere near the branch. Not even if I decided to jump on my two feet.

There is only one option to go for.

I could try climbing on the tree like I am walking on it. I suppose that should give me enough push to get to the first branch.

I think!!!

I took five steps backwards and prepared my body for an intense acceleration.

Once my foot was fixed tightly to the ground, I took off at an amazing pace.

One! Two! Three!

That was how many steps my leg could walk on the tree before I got sent back to the ground.

I looked at the marks my leg had made and with it, I measured the amount of steps it would take for me to get to the first branch.

"A lot!!". I thought.

I needed about five more steps added to the three steps if I wanted to get closer to the branch and hold onto it.

That! Is impossible.

Walking three steps on the tree bark already took me everything I had. Even if I were to move further to the back and propel myself forward, the most I would be able to attain is one more step added to the mix.

I turned my body in search of any other tree branch close to my height.

The result?! I found none.

This tree branch is the closest one to me, and I had the feeling that going deeper through the trees would not help my search.

I had to be careful in whatever I did.

Not knowing where I am is one thing. Another is not knowing when that beast would come back for me.

I can't risk wandering around only to come across another deformed beast with an even more ominous appearance.

If only I had an idea of my location or of how many of those things are running rampant in here.

That could help narrow things down and make it easier for me.

The beast might no longer be here does not guarantee that it won't come back, or that another will not take its place.

I also do not know for how long I will be here, so staying idle is not an option.

I had to get my body moving and make sure I had something to fall back on if by chance the worst came to be.

Hence my desperate attempt to fall a tree branch from the tree bark.

My intention is not to use the branch as a weapon. That is part of it but not the full scale of what I have panned out.

By collecting as many tree branches as possible, I will be able to set it off. My fail-safe plan for when the worst befalls me in this horrendous world I have been thrust into.

Without further ado, I continued my climb up the tree.