Friday came with more high blood sugar symptoms. Sam spent the morning in and out of sleep, waking up only to put another log on the fire and fall back asleep. During the afternoon he pulled himself out of his grogginess to head to the river, yet again, to drain huge heaving gulps of water, only for it to pass straight through him in minutes.
“I’ve got to do something. I can’t lay here and die,” he thought, “not when they’ll be here tomorrow.”
So in desperation, Sam decided to jog around the meadow to try to use up any sugar in his blood that he could. After jogging just a short lap, Sam sat down, exhausted, the driving thirst returning. Unable to resist the roar of the river, Sam tried to get up, but collapsed in the process.
~~~
Sam slept late into the night before waking up, still delusional. He could see the glow of the dying fire and managed to get across the meadow and into his shelter.
~~~
Saturday morning passed much the same. Sam managed to keep himself awake by whittling a stick by the fire for most of the morning. He even managed to make it to the berry bush and to the river for some nourishment in the late afternoon. He knew he had to stay awake, or he might not wake up the next time. As the evening came on, Sam laid down near the fire, willing his eyes to stay open, his mind to stay awake.
As the sun began to set, Sam heard something in the distance. It was voices. Calling his name. In desperation Sam managed to yell back, “Here!” But that was all, there was nothing else he could do. Just as he slipped out of consciousness he heard,
“Hang in there, Sam. It’s gonna be alright.”
5 comments:
Wait. That's the end? As in "The End"? I think he needs to recover to find that the rest of his troop has been in similar situations, all of them spread out just a few miles from each other. And then they should all rejoice that they are alive and have such great stories to tell. :)
well, first of all kate, I think I made it pretty clear that the whole troop died. gone. in heaven. period.
the only good thing about my ending, on the other hand, is that if that's how you wanted it to happen, then that's up to you to decide. i don't leave anything out of the question as far as what happens after he is saved.
on the flip side of where you're coming from (all those people who aren't all about sunshine, butterflies, bunnies and rainbows) hopefully this isn't so much of a boring, "happily ever after" ending.
I guess I'm one of those sunshine, butterflies, bunnies and rainbows kind of people. I can endure the pain and heartache if I can believe that there will be some good in the end. I guess I'll just have to imagine the happy ending, too.
This is well written. In the words of one of our Home Teachers, "Death sucks." To that I will add, "Diabetes sucks" and "whitewater kyaking sucks".
Ok. You're right. Totally. I just like happy endings, ok? But yes, life isn't all sunshine and bunnies because then we would all be sunburned and our gardens would be destroyed. And that would be painful and sad. And I really really liked your story. You're a way good writer because you can write realistic endings; mine just end up happy.
This is really weird. I remember writing a short story in h.s. that ended rather like this. Everyone was horrified. But I must have been in a similar frame of mind at the time and stuck to my guns. Of course my story wasn't one you would recommend or even read again, but it was realism. I'm absolutely sure it was not written as well as yours. You are a very good writer.
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