Lost in wilderness from "summary" of Wild by Cheryl Strayed
As I found myself standing on the edge of the vast wilderness, I could feel the weight of the unknown pressing down on me. The trees towered above, their branches reaching out like fingers beckoning me into their embrace. The air was thick with the scent of pine and earth, a tangible reminder of just how far away from civilization I truly was.
I took a deep breath and plunged forward, my pack heavy on my back, my boots sinking into the soft earth with each step. The trail was rough and uneven, winding its way through the dense undergrowth like a serpent slithering through the grass. I had a map in my hand, but its lines and symbols were meaningless to me now, lost in the vast expanse of trees and mountains that surrounded me.
Hours turned into days as I trudged on, the landscape shifting around me like a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. I felt small and insignificant in the face of such grandeur, a tiny speck in a world that cared nothing for my presence. I was alone, truly and utterly alone, with nothing but my own thoughts and fears for company.
As night fell, I made camp beneath the stars, the crackling fire casting long shadows around me. The sounds of the night were alien and strange, a symphony of chirps and rustles that seemed to mock my solitude. I lay awake for hours, staring up at the black sky, feeling as though I had been swallowed whole by the wilderness that surrounded me.
Days turned into weeks, and still I pressed on, my body weary and my spirit flagging. I stumbled and fell, picked myself up and stumbled again, each step a battle against the forces of nature that sought to consume me. I felt myself slipping away, losing touch with the person I had once been, becoming something wild and feral in the face of such overwhelming vastness.
And yet, as I stood on the edge of that wilderness, battered and bruised but still standing, I knew that I had found something within myself that I had never known was there. A strength and resilience that had been forged in the crucible of solitude and struggle, a fire that burned bright even in the darkest of nights. I was lost, yes, but I was also found, in a way that I could never have imagined.
