Off into the distance, Lara spotted what she had hoped was some kind of shack, cabin or house she could use as a temporary shelter.
As the day turned into late afternoon, she knew she had only three or four hours left to find something. And not having anything with her, no supplies and still completely nude and barefoot, it would be a very uncomfortable night without shelter.
Ivy had covered over much of what appeared to be a brick structure. A rusted corrugated tin roof supported by some eroded wooden beams served to keep some of the rain out. The door way was half-way sunken into a pile of trees leaves. Overall, it didn't look very inviting, but on the other hand, Lara wasn't sure if she could find another structure elsewhere in what remained of the day. She could either spend the next few hours cleaning this out, or try her luck elsewhere.
She opted to make a go at cleaning it out.
Starting with the entrance, she leaned over and dug her hands into the pile of leaves and pushed them out, leaving a layer of moist, earthy, mulch all over her hands and wrists. There were bugs and other larvae that crawled out, making her reconsider her efforts. But she couldn't risk spending anymore time looking for alternatives.
Entering into the structure, she found more leaves and debris, to which she spent the next hour cleaning out until she reached a concrete floor beneath. The floor was damp from the layer of leaves, and there were more bugs and creepy-crawlies. Did she really want to sleep here?
It was rather dark inside, considering being located under a canopy of tree covering along with its rusted corrugated roof. So, it was already difficult to see what else was crawling around. Nonetheless, she managed to kill or brush aside anything that moved.
Lara next broke off dozens of leafy tree branches and drug them into them structure and laid several of them down on the floor to keep herself relatively dry, clean and padded. Several more of the branches would serve to cover her nude body to keep her somewhat warm at night, even though the night hadn't been all that chilly lately.
By the time she felt satisfied she had a fairly comfortable bed to sleep in, she thought about food. But at this time, she had only an hour of daylight left, or even less. She walked around and looked for something that could be edible based on what she learned as a kid at the nudist camp. But, she didn't find anything. She'd have to go hungry over the night.
Lara opted instead to rush back to the lake to clean herself off, and try to get back to the structure before it got too dark to see. She managed to do so, and in returning to the structure there was only shades of dark gray to be seen.
As night blanketed the forest, her vision turned to pitch black. She remained laying down on her bedding of leaves, listening to sounds of bugs chirping and clacking along with the rustling of leaves under the hooves of mule deer.
Lara felt truly alone, deep inside the wild, amidst the wildlife, naked and hungry, and left to her own defenses and devices. It couldn't get much more primitive than this for a young 18 year old girl determined to live the way nature had intended.
In moments of loneliness like this, she turned to touching herself. She found a more comfortable position to lay in, turning her hips and torso to the right so that her right arm could more easily reach her escape. Her mind sank into memories and conjured up new fantasies.
Morning came and rushed in a more sweeter tune of song birds. A single beam of sunlight had managed to find its way into the entrance of temporary abode and shine a small circle on the wall. Lara pushed aside a few branches of leaves and raised her head. She managed to stay fairly warm, and somehow none of the bugs and worms bothered her.
Feeling a little bit sticky from the broken leaves and branches, Lara found her way out of the woods and back towards the lake shore for another dip into the water. Washing off the stickiness, she felt much more refreshed and ready to take on the day. The morning air was cool, and felt even more chilly after she walked back on to shore. She continued following the water's edge, seeing no one around for miles.
Walking on to a boat ramp, she spotted a picnic ground close by. There were a few trash cans there placed by the National Forest Service. She opened up each one hoping to find some kind of food. One of the cans was almost empty, but another one had plenty of trash in it. Lara began digging through and eventually found a half-eaten bag of tortilla chips which she breakfasted on. The chips were stale and nearly chewy. To wash it down, there was a water faucet sticking up from the ground. She bent over, turned her head sideways, and opened the faucet for a drink.
Lara looked in one more trash can but found no food. However, she did find a paperback novel that had gotten wet. She picked it up and carried it with her.
Continuing down the shore, she hadn't walked very far until she spotted a white structure through several trees. She stopped to get a better look and it appeared to an RV. Lara carefully stepped towards it and hid behind some other trees. She finally spotted a second RV further away. She realized she had encountered a campground.
Campgrounds meant trash cans. And maybe there might be plenty of food and other supplies she could use to live on. If so, she wondered if she should spend more time living in that old brick structure she slept in last night. Lara wandered back into the woods, but maintained a perimeter around the campground, keeping an eye out for more trash cans until she spotted a large dumpster.
The dumpster had a special kind of latch to keep bears from getting in. It couldn't, however, keep out a hungry eighteen year old girl. Lara opened up the dumpster and crawled in. She found a buffet of uneaten food and unopened bottles of water. There were other reading materials, as well as a blanket that had been torn and muddied, which she kept.
Lara placed all the food and water bottles into the blanket, and wrapped it together, and hurried back to the brick structure where she had slept in last night.
