Chapter 71. We’re Done

It’s been around eleven days since I left the valley, and I can honestly say it’s finally getting easier in some ways, but not all. I was a fool to believe it wouldn’t be hard on so many levels, and I still can’t get my head around my naïvety. Knowing then what I do now, I don’t think I would have left at all.

It’s not just the survival factor that gets to you; it’s the isolation, the loneliness, the living on constant high alert as you have to be aware of all that is around you, and the gnawing fear that sits in your gut hour after hour. I’m on edge, hyper-aware at all times, and mentally exhausted with it. I cannot stop watching my back and surroundings, always listening to make sure I’m safe and afraid of even the tiniest noises or movements near me. There are so many enemies in nature that I was oblivious to when living in the mountain bubble.

I rarely sleep, so tuned into the noises of the forests, the gullies, and caverns I have walked through in recent days. Alway