The Wrong Reception.
In my English class we were given the assignment to write a naturalist story. We were supposed to do so after reading Jack London’s “To Build a Fire.” My story is told from a third persons point of view, but is actually about me. Its a story of where me and my friends go camping in the Rockies and I get lost and try to call or text my friends to come find me. I wrote it like this because Mr. Sheehy and I were talking about how we could incorporate my obsession with texting into a naturalistic story. So as I am struggling to get back to camp I try and use my cell phone to save me. I put a naturalistic twist on it by placing me in the woods where I have nothing but my cell phone. Just me and nature to go against each other to battle it out for the victory.
It was supposed to be a normal weekend trip. The group just wanted to spend a weekend camping up in the Rockies. Jerry, Billy, and Avery left town around five in the morning so they could get to the camp site early to set up. Tuesday, Erin, and Tiffany left later taking a separate car because there was no way they were going to get up that early. Once everyone met back up it started to be an awesome time. Erin and Tuesday got ready to make smores, which of course made the guys very happy. Tiffany came and joined them by the fire playing with her new cell phone. She got it specifically for this trip. It had a navigation system, weather information, and you could get reception anywhere.
Everyone loved being in the Rockies camping. They were all so far away from home, but none of it mattered up there. The sun started to go down and everyone was gathered around the fire. It was a sight that none of them had experienced before. Hanging out with amazing friends all gathered around a warm crackling fire. Tiffany took in this moment to reflect on the importance of this very moment. Everyone would soon be going off on their own separate ways to start their lives. She thought she should take a walk. Just as a spark from the fire hit her she grabbed a hoodie, and told the others she just wanted to go for a walk and she would be back soon, Erin reminded her to be back soon as it would be dark and she could get lost. Jerry said “watch out for any bears you would be like a midnight snack to them.” With a quick ha ha thanks she began to walk on the path towards the lake. The moon was starting to appear from behind the clouds. This was the perfect time for a walk. Tiffany thinking it was to quiet starting singing to herself “Breathe” by Michelle Branch. This song always made her calm down. She started to loose the sounds of her friends and the fire at the campsite but decided to keep going further anyways even though it was starting to get dark.
Snap! Tiffany turns around to see what the noise that came from behind her was. There wasn’t anything or anyone there but her. She realized she was all alone. It was defiantly time to head back to camp she could barely see in front of her and she knew the others would begin to worry. She quickly learned that getting back to camp wouldn’t be so easy. Tiffany determined that when she came to the fork in the road she had to taken a wrong turn somewhere. She quickly began to panic and her first thought was to call her friends back at camp to help come find her. She was scared.
Back at camp Tuesday mentioned that it was dark now and Tiffany was not back yet. Panic struck them. “We can’t go look for her until morning” Avery said “it’s to dark and we could get lost ourselves.” Everyone went to bed, but none of them could sleep with the thought of Tiffany all alone wondering around the woods.
Tiffany’s great phone that could get reception anywhere wasn’t working. She tried texting Erin and Jerry, but no response. She called Billy, Avery, and Tuesday, but no answer. The feeling of being all alone began to overcome her as tears streamed down her face. She pulled out her phone to check the temperature. Her phone read 25 degrees; she thought out loud since the silence was really starting to freak her out, “it doesn’t feel that cold, but maybe since i’m so tired I could be wrong.” She knew from past experience that she shouldn’t move, staying in one place would help someone find her faster. Several hours later into the night she started to drift off falling asleep. She got up and briskly began to walk around for now she was really cold. She started shivering, and at that very moment she lost all hope. She sat down and tried to sleep.
The next morning came soon, but not soon enough. Tiffany was starving her stomach growled like a grizzly bear. She couldn’t stay in one place anymore it was driving her nuts. She tried texting all of her friends again and calling them several times, she started to think of the worse and thought that they didn’t care and wouldn’t be looking for her. She searched for her way back, but only got more lost.
At camp in the early morning no one could eat their breakfast. They decided to split up, they thought it would be more effective that way. Jerry, Erin, and Tuesday went looking for Tiffany in the direction she went. Meanwhile Billy and Avery went to get help. Everyone searched everywhere with no luck. A group decision was made to go home and let the authorities handle the search. So they packed up and headed home with not a word spoken.
Weeks later Erin got a phone call from Tiffany’s mom saying her body had been found. Everyone decided to meet at Tiffany’s house to comfort her mom and hear how they found Tiffany. As it turns out when Tiffany got up wondering around in the dark she walked herself into a cave. It showed that she froze herself to death in 65 degree weather. They found her phone lying next to her. Her inbox maxed out with 100 texts in her outbox and 0 in her inbox. Texting her friends had gave her hope that they would come find her and it kept her occupied, but they did not get the messages so they did not respond. She tried calling and texting to save her life, but that was no help. Her phone also read that it was 25 degrees. As it turns out her phone was getting the weather from the highest point in the Rockies where it was much colder then she thought it was. She will never be forgotten, and her struggle to call and text her friends to save her life will be talked about forever.
