Until this moment I had not taken stock of the sky. Consciousness was struggling to catch pace with alertness, and I could feel panic not far off -

Then blackness, suddenly, as the light around me winked out like a candle. The moon was hung low in the sky, just as far-off clouds drew together, thick weightless curtains to shut me out in the already dark world below.

My numb left arm began to scream with pain as sensation bombarded the comfort of my prior ignorance of its condition.

I reached for a close tree, and blessed it for supporting my weight. My sight began to return to base usefulness; the clouds thinned only slightly.

Again my arm. What happened? My head! Ah! Oh!

The pain of trying to remember was worse than before. And now with my arm coming to excruciating life, it was too much. PANIC is here! I fell against the tree with all my weight. I clawed at the tree with the knife as I collapsed, my exhausted body sliding down the rough tree into the soft mud.

Again I look up … and then the trees.