My sister and her family have been planning this camping trip for a while now with their friends. We all packed up and headed to some national park in Mississippi. It was a beautiful. The park was strung out on a humongous piece of land, about 400 acres. As we drive into the park, my twelve year old niece, Lindsey, and I notice the sign for the 15 mile bike trail. We looked at each other immediately, and planned to go on the trail the next day. The campsite was spread out evenly and it was nice not to be on top of all the other visitors.
After unpacking everything, my niece and I went exploring. My nephew, Trey, went off with his friends. We all played for a while, and after a long day, went back to the camper. I was so excited about going on the trail in the morning. With thoughts of the camp in my head, I slowly drift off to sleep.
I awoke to the smell and sound of sizzling bacon. My sister's husband, Dave, had cooked a huge breakfast for all of the friends and family. After getting our fill of bacon, beignets, and biscuits, Lindsey and I take off for the trail. It was about 12 o'clock now, and the sun was already beating down on us pretty harshly. We ride and ride and eventually reach the entrance of the fifteen mile trail. Without speaking, we ride straight into the narrow path, setting out on our journey.
After a few rounds on the road, we come to a very steep hill. I get off my bike and guide it down safely. Lindsey just continues on and shoots down the dip, fearless. We ride for what feels like forever, coming to many dips and curves, passing many trees and a few obstructs, that I take caution on, unlike Lindsey. Also, every few rounds, we came to a crossroad. Each stop, we have to make a decision between three paths. We choose different ones each time, and continue on deeper and deeper into the forest.
It has been at least four hours now, and we are both getting tired. We come to another very steep dip in the trail. Lindsey eggs me on this time, though. She dares me to ride down, without getting off the bike. Not wanting to seem cowardly, I come to the top of the hill, and make my decision. I push on the pedals and begin picking up speed. Faster and faster, so fast that I am barely in control of the old rusty bike anymore. I barely round the curve, and realize I am heading straight towards a very deep open trench in the road. I was going so fast, and I can hear my niece calling for me to stop. This is how I discover my bike is not fulling functioning and these rickety old brakes can't save me from the deep gap in the earth. I have no choice but to swerve at the last minute into a huge oak tree. I fly off the bike, landing into a budding patch of briers. My head is pounding and my niece runs to my side. I am covered in little scratches and have also earned two fresh gashes in my shins. I try to stand, but am in a lot of pain. It feels like I've twisted my ankle too, and standing is a serious challenge.
After I am finally able to contain myself and wipe away the remaining tears, we get up and walk over to the obstruction in the road. It's deeper than we thought and we can barely see the light touching the bottom. If I would have fallen in there, there's no telling how badly I could have been hurt, or how long it would have taken them to find us.
We get on our bikes again very cautiously. After an hour or two, we come to the same trench again...
Lindsey and I have just gone in a huge circle. We continue on again, and try to go straight, but eventually come back to the same hole in the earth. Both of us begin to panic. We have not seen any people since we've been on the trail, and five-six hours later, we realize our phones are not getting any service. Broken down and feeling very hopeless, Lindsey and I decide to rest for a while. We stop at a small body of water and splash ourselves with the cool liquid.
True fear is now imminent in the air. We are twelve and thirteen year old girls...lost in the middle of the woods...with no food, and now, no clean water. No phones. No help. We both begin to cry, as the sun begins to set. Will they ever find us?
We begin to wonder if we will have to spend the night here, and the terror feels fluid in my veins. Just as the light has almost completely disappeared from the sky, we hear people walking off in the distance. They have flashlights on them, and we decide to hide. Something could happen to us out here, something...bad, but I don't entertain the thought anymore. The people walk closer to us, and we are not able to make our there faces, or even bodies.
Tired, dehydrated, and beaten up, we follow the figures of light. About an hour later, we are out of the forest. Almost as soon as we are clear of the trees, the light disappears. What first was fear is now masked by happiness, and feeling so much safety, because my sister pulls up with her car right at the edge of the path. It's completely dark outside, and I honestly am not sure of everything that's happened to me today. Particularly how we just got out of the forest. Maybe it was just some other campers, or maybe it was my guardian angel. No one will ever really know or understand how we really found our way out of the woods. Lindsey and I will never forget though, and we won't be cynical. Because regardless, some force reached out to us in our time of need, and I guess the rest is just up to faith.