On a cold winter day, my high school friends and I decided to go camping. We wanted to stay in tents for 3 days without any electronic devices and listen to the sound of birds singing without disturbing the peaceful silence of the forest. We were planning to chat in the evenings by the fire dancing on crackling wood.
As a team of 10 people, we set out early in the morning. Towards noon, we found ourselves walking among the wild trees of the forest. We had determined the area where we would set up the tents. We were divided into two groups of 5 people. The first group would set up a tent and prepare the food, while the other group would collect wood to light a fire. I belonged to the 2nd group. The sun had set, and the stars were starting to show themselves. I collected the last wood and was about to go back when I didn’t see anyone around me. I didn’t know where the tents were.
For a moment, fear gripped me, and I started to sweat coldly. Wolf howls and owl sounds gave me goosebumps. As the sun set, the cold air started to get to me. I started to shake with the panic of being lost. I had to stay calm and build a hut so I wouldn’t freeze or get attacked by any living thing like the guys did in those videos of me getting lost in the woods that I watched before. I took the wood I collected with me and arranged it next to a long-rooted tree. I had created enough space that I could fit into. I closed the gaps by placing a few branches and bushes around it. When I entered, the wind was no longer affecting me, and I started to warm up a little with the confidence of being indoors. I pulled my knees to my chest, leaned my head on my knees and waited. I was waiting with the hope that maybe they were out looking for me, but it was not possible for them to find me because I looked like a bush in the pitch darkness of the night. We didn’t even take a flashlight with us because we said we wouldn’t be out late at night. I had lost all hope now and decided to wait for the morning.
I opened my eyes to the sweet screams of the birds. I couldn’t move any part of me because I stayed in the same position until the morning. Somehow, I was able to step out of the little shack I had built. I started looking around, trying to understand where I was. Suddenly I started hearing my name scream. Someone had found me. I started running at full speed towards the direction where the sound came from. When I reached them, they immediately took me to where they lit a fire. They gave me a cover and lit the fire. I was very happy that I survived the night without encountering any danger. Even though it was scary, it was a good camp for me.