Chapter 03 - I Couldn't Have Asked for More

Story Arc 1: The Complications of Riding a Bus
Chapter 03 - I Couldn't Have Asked for More

“Of course there would be a problem for me to get back!” I shout in the pouring rain.

It's nighttime. I am standing under a shelter at a place named Aido Station. The station appears to be defunct and is surrounded by forests, a path that leads into the forests, and a road that leads to who knows where. Without a doubt, I am far away from Ikisakata City, and maybe even further away from the rural community where I now reside.

“Think, Gino. How did I get here?” I said to myself, recalling the events that lead up to my current predicament.

After I left the office in Ikisakata City late in the afternoon, I walked to the bus station, where I input the directions to my apartment, and got onto the correct bus as noted in the instructions given on my GPS app. From there, I followed the route that the bus was taking on the app. The bus deviated from the route that it was supposed to take, so much so that I decided to disembark after a few stops. From there, I decided to walk to another bus stop that could take me to the rural community and wait for that bus.

As per my GPS information, the bus that I boarded was the last bus of the day en route to the rural community. Otherwise, I had no other way back to my apartment, and I am a two-hour walk from the city to stay at a hotel for the night.

After boarding the last bus of the day, the bus followed the route as detailed on the GPS app. No deviation, no delays. Everything seemed to have gone well. I couldn’t have disembarked at the wrong stop because it WAS the last stop on the route, as depicted on the GPS app. I was the last person onboard the bus as well. Is it possible that the GPS app has been faulty the entire time? No way that the world’s most trusted GPS app, Guuggle Atlas, is faulty with its directions, right? Right?!

“Heh, there’s only one logical conclusion to all of this,” I presently chuckled in a calm yet cool manner. “Guugle Atlas…is a piece of crap! Accurate my ass! This app is ass! Poo! It’s what’s made in a digestive system before it even comes out as nature intends!”

Lightning flashed in the sky after my outburst, followed by a loud, lengthy thunder.

“Alright, Gino. Outbursts such as these aren’t going to get us back to the apartment. And no way am I going to spend the night in this creepy, cobwebbed, spider-infested, things go bump in the night, dilapidated station. Times like this call for desperate measures.”

The expression of rough contemplation masks my face. My mind is made up.

“Aaaaaand off we go to the wonderful woods ♪ The wonderful, scary woods we go ♪” I sing cheerfully with a bright smile, skipping along the path into the dark, unknown forest in the pouring rain.

I know what you’re probably thinking. Why go into the dark, unknown forest in the pouring rain? It’s easy to say what you would do if you were in my situation, but when you’re actually in the situation, would you really take the action that you told yourself you would do?

Many people don’t think logically in times of desperation, and I’m one of those people. All that is on my mind is the desire to get back to my apartment, a place where I know I am safe and at least have some familiarity. I was going to make it happen, no matter what.

If I were to go into the forest and walk along the path, maybe it’d take me to the rural area, or at least to a place where I can be safe until the morning. I wasn’t going to stick around that rundown station where anything could happen.

I am barely thinking that anything could happen to me while in the forest. No bugs because of the pouring rain. No presence of dangerous animals because they are taking shelter from the pouring rain. No poisonous plants along the path except maybe a few tree branches and roots. I just want to get to safety. That’s all.

After some time, I stopped skipping and began to walk along the forest path. Sometimes the path seem to go up a hill, sometimes it’d go down. There were times when it'd curve left, and times when it'd curve to the right. Because of the darkness, I couldn’t tell what was on the left or right of me, if it were trees, a river, a cliff, or a chasm, and I had no intentions of finding out.

A few minutes grew to longer minutes, and longer minutes soon began to feel like hours. The further I progress on my trek, I begin to come to my senses, that maybe it was unwise to have gone into the forest. Maybe I should have stayed at that station. It’s not too late to turn back, but it will be a long time until I return. I am tired. Weary. My phone is on its last battery power, even in power-saving mode. I am beginning to feel helpless, yet despite my outbursts and unsophisticated responses, and how I am able to turn any unlucky moments and situations into humor, I always have hope that things will work out for the best. I want to play the Pokemon Black/White series again.

Thunk!

A hollow sound is heard. I pause, unsure of what I heard. I take another step forward.

Thunk!

The sound and the feeling beneath my feet are familiar. I take another step, suddenly falling forward. I catch hold of myself before I was to fall flat on my stomach, placing a hand on the ground to regain my balance. Except, it wasn’t exactly the ground. It felt like hollow wood! I exert my weight downward to stand upright. Once on my feet, I carefully place one foot forward, this time slightly upward from where I stand. There was some trouble at first, but my footing made contact with what was preventing me from walking forward with ease. It was a step! I’m standing on wooden stairs!

With one slow step forward, I gradually begin to pick up the pace as I excitedly yet carefully begin my ascension. Where are the steps taking me? What’s waiting atop the stairs? Excited to solve the mystery, I increasingly pick up the pace. After who knows how many steps upward, I place a foot forward, almost falling over again. I catch myself again by placing a hand on the ground, my chin resting against my chest.

I arrived at the top of the stairs in this forest! I lift my head to see a moss-patched cabin with yellow light from a lantern, barely illuminating the porch on the outside but brilliant from the inside. Behind and around the cabin, the forest continued. I don't think it is peculiar or out of the ordinary to come across this cabin in the middle of the forest. Actually, I am relieved to have found it. Once more, I push myself to stand upright. Without hesitation, I proceed toward the cabin.