[Berries of love]

What I was looking at, was a small bush full of red berries. I immediately jumped over the stream and squatted down to take a better look. They looked like blueberries, only two strangely fused into one, and they were red. [Identify] refused to tell me more information as always.

Were they poisonous? Can they kill me? Why they were called [Love berries], why not call tham red berries. Double berries.

"Hmm ... I'm so hungry," I sighed, my stomach was growling nonstop now.

From an early age, they hammered in my head that in the forest I shouldn't eat anything I didn't know. Is was still there, and telling me to not eat these berries. Hmm...

Usually, when a hungry hero stumbles upon some berries in the forest, he eats them and gets poisoned. Then he acquires resistance to the poison. But I didn't want to rely on that.

"Just one, that won't hurt ..." I basically tried to convince myself.

I was really hungry and one berry couldn't hurt, right? I'll just have one and wait, I'll see what happens to me.

I ripped one off and put it in my mouth. I didn't bite it. I just left it on my tongue. But I didn't feel anything. No taste, no tongue paralyzed. That's why I bit into the berry.

"Eee…." They were so bitter and really hard for berries. Full of seeds. They were not good at all.

I left the bitter blueberry in my mouth for a while, but even now I didn't feel any effects. The system didn't respond either. It would alert me, wouldn't it? However, I couldn't take the bitterness in my mouth for very long, so in the end, I swallow it.

"That's it," I was relieved. Now I have no choice but to wait. I was determined to wait at least an hour before my stomach can be filled with more blueberries...or Berries of Love. Plus, this wasn't a bad place to rest. I could use a nap.

I know an hour's walk is not much and for a person with an at lease little fitness no problem. It wasn't a problem for me either, but my feet hurt. Walking barefoot was one of the new trends, but if I had a choice, I would choose shoes. It hurt a lot.

Miraculously, however, my feet did not suffer any injuries. No abrasion or cuts. Probably the same thing that cured me in the morning was to blame.

"But what ..." I won't complain. I shrugged.

I sat down on the shore, rolled up the pants to my knees, and dipped my feet into a cold stream.

"Tsss…." I couldn't help hissing. Like I said, the water was icy. I immediately began to feel a sharp sting in my feet, which gradually turned into a dull pain. It only took a few minutes before my feet had to be pull out of the water. They were red, and as a feeling return to them, I felt a pulsation of my blood in them.

It was good for my health. Alease that was what I read and heard.

I repeated the soaking of my feet twice more before my internal clock told me it was time for more blueberries. About an hour passed and I felt nothing on me. I don't know what the most common symptoms of poisoning are, but I didn't feel like vomiting, my head wasn't spinning, I didn't have cold sweat, my hands weren't shaking. I didn't notice anything abnormal on my body at all.

That's why I moved again to the bush with [Berries of Love]. There was no point in eating them one by one, so I pick a handful of them and then stuffed them into my mouth. As soon as I started chewing the hard berries, a bitter taste spread in my mouth.

But the hunger was stronger, and in the end, I swallowed my first bite.

Within minutes, all the berries on the bush were in my stomach. It wasn't enough to satisfy me, but it was enough to quench my hunger. Temporarily. I drank my snack with a few more sips of water and set off again.

This time along the stream.

I was determined to go along with it. Move only as far away from it, so that I can at least hear the running water of the stream. As I said, I was sure that if I followed the rivers and streams, I would eventually come across a settlement, village, or town.

If I'm wrong, it will be the ocean.

The thought of wandering for weeks, maybe months, and not finding anything made me want to cry. It almost brought tears to my eyes, but the big girls don't cry.

"You have to look at it from the other side Kirra," I said aloud. But from what another side? Oh, I got it. At least I'll see the sea. I haven't swam in the sea in years. Last time as a little girl. When I was growing up, a holiday by the sea never appealed to me anymore.

I can swim, but I don't like it. So swimming in the sea doesn't have much appeal for me. Apart from the waves, I enjoyed them as a child. Lying on the beach and sunbathing is so boring. I prefer an active holiday. Go hiking, ride around. See staff. Hmm…

"What I wouldn't give for sunbathing on the beach now," I growled.

I winced and stopped. I realized that my mind began to dream of unrealistic things, and I stopped paying attention to my surroundings. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be anything dangerous around me. Nothing growled at me or was running to attack me.

Time was running slowly. The forest wasn't changing much. Only the suns lazily began to approach the horizon, and I began to look around for a place where I could spend the night. Best in a cave, but my chances of finding one were slim. As I followed the stream, I was descending further below the mountains, so there were not many rocks and slopes in my area where the cave could be hidden. Of course, I could have encountered a chasm in the ground, but as I said, my chances were slim. Even smaller, that the place will not have its tenant.

Just like the last cave.

I did not dare to sleep in the branches of the trees. I know about myself that I move a lot in my sleep and sleeping high above the ground only on the branches seemed suicidal to me. So I was looking for something else. All I would need was a sloping overhang, a fallen tree, a hollow tree. Something where I could hide.

I really needed to hide under something, because just a little later, black clouds appeared behind the mountain tops. A storm was coming.

I accelerated my pace. I needed to find shelter. Hide from the rain. But it was harder than it might seem at first glance. Instead of shelter, I managed to find two more bushes. [Berries of love]. I eat them in record time and filled my stomach

.

They tasted as bad as the previous ones.

So that was one problem temporarily solved. Food and water. Now the shelter. You can do that, Kirra. You can find it.

Luck didn't seem to be on my side. I couldn't find any place to hide from the rain. I didn't find a cave, or an overhang or a fallen tree. Nothing that would protect me from the rain for a long time. I heard thunder behind me as the storm approached, pushing me forward.

But it was not enough.

A few minutes later was a sky filled with black clouds and it started to rain. The treetops held it back for a little while, but in the end, the rain fell on me. My pajamas may have been of legendary quality, they could withstand the claws and fangs of a bear, but they couldn't handle the rain. Within minutes, the pajama set was soaked and much heavier than before.

Right now, I was glad to be here alone. Because when I looked down at my body, almost everything could be seen. I could be naked right now and nothing would change. In addition, it was not a warm summer rain and a cold wind blew from the mountains. I was all wet and very cold. It was also visible on the condition of my nipples, I was grateful that my pajama shirt was pierce resistant. Hahaha… .It's not funny, I know.

As the storm moved on, it covered both suns and it got dark much faster than I had originally expected.

It made my already hopeless search for shelter quite difficult. It was also quite depressing and the forest now seemed much more dangerous. Why did I have to be here? How did I get here? How did I deserve this? My mind was full of black thoughts.

Why did this happen to me? Why couldn't I show up at the palace? Somewhere among the people?

"Why" I shouted into the dark forest. But no one answered me. Why would they? Who would be now in the rain in the middle of a forest full of monsters? Why? Why? Why did I want to pee?

I know at least the answer to this, I drank a lot of water and, as far as I know, I haven't been to the bathroom since this morning.

"What would I give for my tiny bathroom now. Modern toilet, hot shower" I sighed. I tried not to think about it, instead tried to ignore it, but it couldn't be delayed indefinitely. The will of my bladder was stronger than my mind.

Unfortunately, I didn't see a white porcelain bowl anywhere in the woods, and there was nothing left to do, but to squat in the bushes. It's been a few years since I last peed in the wilderness. However, it was definitely not in such a dark forest in the middle of a storm. It was after I graduated from college. On a trip with my friends. Then I became a corporate slave. Work from morning to evening. Dozens of hours of overtime and no rewards for it, just more work. When I finally got a day off, I was glad to be able to stay at home and relax. My work sucked all the energy out of me, my optimism, my dreams.

I came back from work almost every day and wished it was over. Why don't you just quit Kirra? I asked myself. But could I do that with the situation in the world as it is right now? 2020 was not such a great year.

"Maybe this is better," I said. Maybe it'll be better if I just disappear here.

But these are very black thoughts and it will be better not to go in that direction. Not yet.

I finished my need and now wished to have toilet paper. But there were only wet leaves all around me.

What would I give for toilet paper...." I sighted.

An ordinary, single-layer toilet paper would be enough for me. Why couldn't it show up with me, like the toothbrush. Would it also be of legendary quality? How would it feel? Legendarily soft. Hahaha…

"I can be glad I didn't show up in front of the bear when I was sitting on the toilet" I smiled.

However, it would be nice if it had happened, if it had to happen when I was ready to go to work. Fully dressed with my purse. I would have my mobile phone and I would have a snack in my purse. Handkerchiefs too, I could use them now, you now.

All I had here were wet leaves around me. Hmm… I'm so wet from rain that even the leaves aren't necessary. I didn't care. I stood up, pulled on my soaked pants, and set out to continue my hopeless search for shelter.

I found a few places I thought could fit before it started to rain. In this heavy rain, however, they were no drier than a place under an ordinary branch.

It was slowly getting darker and darker. Probably as the suns above the clouds began to set and the day began to draw to an end. After all, this planet seemed to have a night. With coming night I began to feel tired, but suddenly night turned into day. There was a deafening bang.

"Aaaaaaaa." I was sure I was screaming, but I didn't hear anything. My ears were ringing. My eyes ached and it took me a while to be able to focus and find out what had happened.

"Wow," I stared with my mouth open at the tree beside me. A tree with a trunk twice as wide as myself lay on its side and was burning. However, the heavy rain extinguished the flames quickly. The majestic tree was struck by lightning. Really strong lightning. I've never seen lightning up close, and I never want to, but it was real power. The tree broke about a meter and a half above the ground. Fortunately, he fell to the other side of me. Otherwise, I could be dead.

"Eyeee…." I winced, another bolt of lightning swept over the now-exposed sky. Lightning does not strike twice in the same place, Right?

What? I'm sitting on the ground. How did it happen? To my surprise, though, I didn't even realize I was sitting on my ass from that blow. I immediately got up and tried to clear my rear. Rather, I smeared the wet dirt even more there.

But when I saw the massive tree in front of me that had lost to the storm, I was sure I had nothing to be ashamed of. The tree was just smoldering, no flame could be seen anywhere. What I saw was a chance. The space between the lying trunk and the standing stump could have been my hiding place.

I didn't have the strength to continue. I didn't want to continue.

That's why I ran to the tree and looked at the situation. It was not an ideal place. Open on two sides, but I quickly solved it with a few branches that lay around the tree. During the lightning strike and the subsequent fall, a lot of them broke off. Eventually, I get into my shelter.

It was neither dry nor warm. The ground was soaked with water, above me was the trunk of a fallen tree, and there was a chance that it would crush me. The walls from branches and leaves were also not completely resistant to water, but at least they stop the wind.

I sat down by the stump and leaned against it. I was so tired and frozen. My body was shaking. My teeth chattered.

"Why me?" I whispered. Sure. As a child, I dreamed of gaining superpowers and becoming a bane of criminals. That was long gone. Just like my fantasy notions of journeys to other worlds, of princes on white horses in shining armor. I still read novels about them, I enjoyed them, but I grew up. At times, however, it was really difficult to handle the reality of everyday life, yet I did not think that I could ever find myself in another world.

I didn't want it.

I had a family. I don't mean husband and children. I didn't even have a boyfriend. I mean my parents, my older brother, and his family. His two adorable children. My eyes began to water at the thought that I might not see the two rascals again.

There's only a slim chance I'll see any of them again.

What about them, what will they think of me. I just disappeared. No farewell letter, just nothing. My mom will be devasted. The uncertainty of what happened to me will be terrible for her.

I had to wipe away the tears that began to flow.

Big girls don't cry Kirra. But right now, I didn't feel like one of them. I couldn't help myself. I didn't have the strength to resist, so I let my emotions flow. I wished someone would hug me and say that everything would be fine, that all this is just a nightmare. Most of all…

"I want to go home," I muttered.

I don't know when sleep came to me, but I know I cried my self to sleep.

***

In the morning I woke up frozen to the bone. My whole body was hurting, but my wish that this was just a nightmare did not come true.

"It wasn't a dream. I'm still here," I sighed.

I wish I could burrow into the warm duvets and stay in bed for as long as I wanted. Instead, I lay curled up between the roots on the wet ground. Apart from the wet leaves, there was nothing to I could cover myself with, and therefore no reason to stay lying down.

This was not a nice morning.

The suns shined in through the leaves of my shelter. A sign that the storm had passed during the night. I got up and left my shelter.

"Damn it." I cursed. When I climbed out of it through the wall of branches. One raindrop felled behind my neck. Nothing pleasant.

I stood outside and stretched. My whole body was quite stiff. But what I saw in front of me took my breath away. The morning suns shone through a hole in the treetops opened by a fallen tree. Thousands of water droplets all over the forest around me glittered like diamonds. The birds sang and the air was very fresh.

It was a beautiful morning to wake up to and a breathtaking sight.

In fact, I was glad to hear the birds singing and not hear the annoying, ringing sound I heard after the lightning strike. It meant my hearing was fine.

If only my clothes were dry. I wished it had a drying ability like Marty McFly's jacket. That would be cool and very useful.

"So what's for breakfast?" I asked myself.

Nothing. No toast, no blueberries. Just water. How long could a person survive without food? Hmm… I think it was a few weeks, but I didn't want to try it. So I had to find breakfast, however, I had other priorities to take care of right now.

First of all, I needed to squat again in the bushes.

Then I went to rinse to the stream. Just arms, legs and face. I was sure I must have swollen eyes from the cried yesterday, but the water was too wild to see my reflection in it. Twice as much water flowed in the stream after the storm. However, it was just as icy as before, so it woke me up perfectly.

However, when I returned to my shelter it was not as deserted as I had left it a few minutes ago.

An unknown creature sniffed in front of the entrance. It reminded me of a rat, but instead of fur, it had scales. No ears and it was as big as a retriever. [Identify] was helpful as always.

[Scaly Rat -?]