With some junk and trash strewn about the dry creek bed, Lara wondered if there was anything she could use to carry enough blackberries back to the tent for Julia. She looked around, but nothing immediately caught her attention.
The sun was just beginning to set. The late afternoon glow illuminated her lightly tanned skin and revealed tiny specs of dust and debris that clung to her body. She put her hand up to her forehead to shade her eyes and looked downstream to see if there was anything.
She started walking in that direction.
About a quarter of a mile down there were pools of water and the stream was becoming more defined. And there was more junk too. This was a place where people had abandoned things they didn't want, old televisions, chunks of drywall, and rusted appliances peppered with bullet holes.
Lara saw something yellowish several yards away and walked towards it. It was a plastic pail made for a child. It was colored red where it had lay on the ground, but a cream-yellow where it was exposed to the sun. She cleaned the inside with her hand and figured this would work well to carry several blackberries, and made her way back upstream.
When she got to the blackberry bushes the sun was just on the horizon. She knew she didn't have much daylight left. She picked several blackberries quickly and filled up the pail. Then she continued to pick more and eat them for herself until she picked off all that she could reach without getting pricked by the blackberry bush.
By the time she finished, the sun was almost below the horizon. Lara picked up the pail and looked for her way into the trees.
Meanwhile, Julia was still inside the tent, having just woke up from a short nap. It was dark inside. She unzipped the door part of the way down and looked out. There wasn't much light available, but she could still see somewhat. She had no sense of how much time had passed since Lara set off to find food, and she began to fear.
She stepped out of the tent and walked out about 30 feet and then squatted down to pee.
Seconds later, she walked back to the tent but remained standing, looking around to see what was around her. It was too dark to tell. She took in a deep breath, and got back into the tent and waited.
"Julia!"
Julia lifted her head after hearing a faint voice in the distance. She unzipped the door and stepped out.
"Lara!"
The last bits of sunlight was almost gone. The darkness of the tree canopy had nearly turned everything pitch black. Lara was having difficulty finding her way back. The tent, which was camouflage in color, was difficult to spot.
"Julia!"
Julia looked to the left and to the right, but couldn't see Lara. "Over here!" she yelled.
Lara was holding on to the pail of blackberries, treading carefully where she placed her feet and reaching her free hand in front of her to make sure she didn't bump into anything. She yelled out once more for Julia, who responded again. Lara was getting close enough to where Julia's voice was becoming more clear. It was playing a game of Marco Polo.
"Julia?"
"Over here! I'm over here!"
"Julia!"
"I'm right here!"
Lara finally found her way back to her.
"Oh my God, it's so dark under these trees!" Lara spoke with a bit of humor mixed with panic.
"Come on, let's get inside." Julia said.
"I was getting so worried! Where did you go?"
"I found a blackberry bush and brought a bunch back" Lara said, handing the pail to Julia.
It was too dark to see, however. Both girls had to use their hands to reach out to each other. Lara finally grabbed Julia's hand and gave her the pail of blackberries.
Julia took the pail and then took in a deep breath of excitement. She started eating them.
"Oh thank you, thank you!" She said in between bites.
"I had to walk downstream to find something to carry them back in, that's what took me so long." Lara responded.
