When I awoke the sun was still high in the sky. I looked at my watch. I had been asleep for just over forty-five minutes. I saw Richard out of the corner of my eye. He was awake and was sitting upright looking through the backpack I hade brought with me. Without saying anything to me he looked over to me and pulled my hunting knife out of my bag. After a few seconds, I nodded in recognition, and he took it out of its sheath. The knife glimmered in the light. The perfectly polished blade reflected the suns rays like a freshly cut diamond. He sat there looking at it for a while, holding it in one hand. He flicked the knife up in the air and caught it again with the other hand. I laughed at him and shook my head. As I rolled over to go back to sleep I muttered to myself,' Little amuses the simple.' I lay down with my back to him and went back to sleep.
I was awoken by a deep, pained, shrill scream. Quickly I jumped to my feet not expecting what to see. I turned and looked to Rickey, he lay beside he clutching his bleeding hand, fists clenched tight and held close to his torso. He rocked back and forwards, whimpering. The knife was nowhere to be seen. I sat down beside him and told him to let me see his hand. After a minute he held out his bleeding hand and turned his head away from me. I slowly pried open his fingers to get a better look at the wound. As I eased his fingers open the blood spilled off his palm and onto the ground. Using his t-shirt I cleaned away the blood and looked at the wound. It was clean and, fortunately not very deep, but no doubt it was excruciatingly painful. I reached into my bag and pulled out some large square plasters. He squirmed vigorously as I put the plaster on his hand. I told him that he was going to have to stay still of he was just going to hurt himself even more. He grinded his teeth together, and let out a tortured, low pitch growl, as I cleaned the wound for a second time before applying the plaster. His white t-shirt was now heavily soaked in red, sticky blood.
After only ten minutes, he was eager to get back to the car, he stood shakily before me and begged me to go back with him. Having no choice I agreed. I started to pack all the stuff back into my bag that he had pulled out when going through it, when I came across the empty sheath. I scanned the ground for my knife. When I couldn't find it I became enraged and searched frantically through the bag, and the area around there he was sitting. Furious I turned to him and demanded that he tell me where my knife was. Slowly and sheepishly he raised his hand and pointed towards the edge of the cliff like drop snarled at him and walked to the edge of the drop. To my surprise I could see the knife, and it wasn't very far down. The knife had become lodges upon one of the many tree roots that protruded through the face of the drop. I sighed with relief suddenly felt a lot calmer. I smiled at Rickey and told his that it was ok, and that I could probably reach it with his help. He was eager to help; he just wanted to get back to the car. It was getting darker and it wasn't as warm now.
Slowly I lay down on my stomach and reached for the knife, it was further down than I had first thought. I called over Rickey and told him to take a hold of my ankles so I could lean over farther. He gripped my right ankle but said that his left hand was too sore to grab my other ankle. In a sympathetic and soothing voice I told him to just hold on as best he could, he smiled and agreed. I slowly lowered myself over the edge. I used my hands to grip at the soil, however it was very loose. Suddenly and without warning the soil beneath me give way, I was sent hurtling down the face of the drop. I flew head over heels, my whole world spinning around me. My right hand collided with something solid. Instinctively I grabbed it and with all my strength held on for dear life! My shoulder ached and throbbed with pain. Blood flowed from a wide gash on my forehead. The blood ran into my eyes, forcing them to blink uncontrollably.
I looked up and searched for Rickey, but could not see him. I reached up with my left hand and took a hold of the root. I slowly lowered my head and rested it on the loose, dry soil. I took a deep breath and tried to kick my feet into the soil to relieve the strain on my hands. My forearms throbbed with pain and fatigue. I tried to scream to Rickey but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. My body shivered all over, I was scared of dying and felt like I was all-alone. Suddenly I heard a scratching above my head. I looked up, to see Richard standing at the top of the drop holding a large branch and screaming for me to grab it. Deep inside I smiled and felt like I was safe again, but I was far from it. I reached up and took hold of the branch. Large splinters slowly pierced my skin as my hands slid down the branch. I screamed at him to pull me up. Without hesitation he pulled with all his might. I kicked at the soil with my feet and tried to help, but the soil just gave way from beneath my feet. All of a sudden I was showered with a mixture of soil and stones. I closed my mouth but the soil had already got in. I tried to swallow but my mouth was full of soil. I turned my head to the side, to protect my eyes and face. Suddenly I realised that I was falling again. I was sliding slowly down the sloped on my stomach. I looked all about me for something to grab, to my right I saw a large root. I reached out and took a hold of it. Before I knew what was happening, I felt a tugging at my ankles. Ricky had fallen and had sent soil hurtling down before him. He had grabbed my ankles on order to break his fall and was not clinging onto me. He was yelling at me to help him. My shoulders were really sore and my hands were bleeding. My t-shirt was torn and covered in blood from the gashes on my stomach that I had received while sliding down the slope. I reached up and took a good hold of the root with one hand and with the other I grabbed Richard's hand and pulled him up to my level. He also took a hold of the root, and tried to steady himself.
We were both short of breath and starting to panic. I put my head down and took a few deep breaths. Suddenly something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. The root I was holding onto was the same root that my knife had become lodged to! I quickly took a hold of it with my right hand and with a stabbing action lodged it into the ground. It held! I sighed and smiled at Richard. Using the knife, I pulled myself up the face of the drop. As I neared the top I was starting to get tired. I stabbed the knife into she soil; I hit a stone and the knife slammed to an unsuspected halt. My hand slid down the knife handle and onto the blade. The pain rushed through my body but I did not let go of the knife. I screamed in pain and felt my eyes starting to well up. I knew that if I let go I might never get up. I ignored the pain in my hand and continued on as best I could. I stopped every time I got to a new root that was strong enough to support my weight, and helped Richard up. After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the top. Careful not to fall back down I helped Ricky over the edge and lay on the clearing gasping for air. We were both soaked in blood and were covered in soil, but we were just thankful to be alive!
