A deafening rumble. That was the first thing I noticed when I came to.
I widened my eyes. The world seemed to end around me. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunderbolts cracked right over my head. And it rained! It was as if all the floodgates in heaven had opened. I was already completely soaked. I had no idea how long I had actually been here. Where was _here_ anyway? And what happened to me?
I shivered and tried to orient myself. The last thing I remembered was the crystal in the cave. And this tingling, the electric shock that ran through me. Then I must have passed out.
But how did I get here? And where were the others? Didn't they look for me?
I smelled the scent of wet forest floor and felt damp earth under my fingers. The next flash illuminated tall, slender tree trunks around me, climbing up a mountainside. So I must still be in the Black Mountains.
I struggled to my knees and felt a weight on my back. The backpack! I remembered that I had packed a rain cape in the morning because my weather app had announced thunderstorms for today. And then I remembered that I had dropped my phone in the cave. That too! I hoped someone had found it and left it at the entrance.
With shaky hands, I unzipped it and looked for the waxy material. After pulling the rain cape over my head, I took a deep breath. At least it gave me some relief from the almost painful patter of the raindrops.
Another clap of thunder cracked right above me. I screamed, but then the scream choked in my throat. Because further up the slope I had heard a noise that seemed to come from the bushes there. Between the rush of rain and the rumble of thunder, there had been a distinct crack, like someone stepping on a fallen twig. My heart beat faster. A search party? Did you get me out of here?
Then came a low, throaty growl that sent chills down my spine. I stared hard into the bushes, but I couldn't see anything in the darkness and the pouring rain. But that hadn't sounded like a human...
Images of bears and other large predators immediately arose in my mind. I thought of Stephen King's The Girl, which I had read several times. In it, a little girl got lost in one of the vast forests of the United States and was pursued by a huge monster bear.
Enough with the head cinema! Hardly a bear would show up in this tourist area these days. Still, I was shaking all over and wasn't sure if it was from fear or from the after-effects of the electrocution I received in the cave.
Another hum—more like a growl, then another crack in the undergrowth.
I tried to get to my feet. Should I scream for help? Or would I do that to draw the attention of whatever it was to me?
At the next flash I jumped as if it had hit me. In the second of light I saw the outline of a massive figure emerge from the bushes that lay on the slope just a few meters above me. The figure had clearly had a large furry head and a fearsome snout. And now it was dark again and I couldn't see her anymore.
I fled in panic. With my backpack on my back, I ran down the slope in giant leaps. Thorn bushes scratched my bare legs, small branches slapped my face, but I hardly noticed it. My own heavy breathing frightened me because the panting sounded almost like the bear was already on my heels. But I didn't take time to turn around. As if in a hurry, I sprinted on, half jumping, half sliding across the damp needle soil.
Then it happened, faster than I could even react. My right foot skidded a meter down the sloping mountainside, hit something hard, jammed... and the next moment I was on my face on the ground, a sharp pain ripping through my ankle. I cried out and lay there, unable to move. My face was pressed to the damp forest floor, I smelled the earth, the moldy pine needles from last year, felt the cold wetness on my cheek. I narrowed my eyes tightly. Now would the bear come and kill me?
For an infinitely long time nothing happened. All I could hear was the trickle of rain, which seemed to be easing, and the rumble of thunder receding. Slowly and very carefully, I drew my right leg up and cupped my aching ankle in my hands. Tears welled up in my eyes, it hurt so much. Wasn't it broken?
I tried to get up again. The bear didn't seem to be there. Either he hadn't followed me or I had actually left him behind. As I looked in the direction I had come from, the blow nearly hit me again. Not two arm's lengths away from me, a tall, black figure had loomed, I could only make out an outline of it in the darkness. But it was clearly not a quadruped. This realization made my initial shock subside. A human! Someone who would save me.
"Hello," I called out to her.
There was no answer.
I narrowed my eyes. The lightning bolts danced further away on the horizon now, but even now their glow lit up the area. And in that glow I saw that the stranger - a man - was wearing no clothes. Except for some sort of cloth over his crotch, he was...naked!
I backed away in horror and slid my butt across the forest floor. The man stood like a living statue, but somehow I had the vague feeling that his eyes were staring me down, that they could see me even in the dark intervals between flashes.
"Hello," I repeated, a little more sheepishly. Then, remembering that he probably didn't speak German, I tried English. "I am Marie and I lost my way," I said. It sounded absolutely pathetic.
He still didn't answer. In one fluid motion, he turned his back on me and at the same time pulled a knife from his belt.
"The bear," I couldn't help but call out. It was the only explanation for the man's sudden reaction, although I couldn't see anything yet. Had the stranger heard anything? He had a knife, but that didn't make me feel safer either. Man I didn't think I could take a full-grown bear with a knife, and I didn't like seeing a naked man with a knife alone in the woods at night, and my heart was pounding so loud I was only muffled by the crackling and rustling in the undergrowth.
But the stranger had clearly heard it too. He turned back to me, crossing the distance between us with one long stride. I couldn't react as fast as he grabbed me under the knees and shoulders and lifted me up. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out of my throat.
The man carried me in his arms like a child and jumped down the slope in great leaps. All I could do was cling to him desperately. At that moment, I was more scared of falling off and meeting the bear again than I was of this weird guy. His rain-soaked skin felt cold and smooth under my fingers as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I shut my eyes tight and gritted my teeth to keep them from chattering as he bounced up and down.

Finally he stopped. I was breathing raggedly as if I were the one who'd run a five-hundred-meter sprint, and with a load at that. He, on the other hand, had his breathing under control, although his chest was heaving a little more than before.
He let me down. I gritted my teeth as my injured ankle complained under my weight. Still, I took a quick step back before looking around. The storm had now completely passed and the only source of light came from the moon, which was now shining down on us through the breaking cloud cover. We were by a little brook that gurgled down the mountainside in its bed of stones. On the bank of the creek stood a strange, dome-shaped construction — like an igloo, only without snow, instead it appeared to be made of branches and twigs covered with some leather blankets. On one side the ceiling was folded up, revealing an entrance of sorts.
I squinted at my... what was he, my savior? Why hadn't he made a sound yet? What did he want from me? His skin looked dark in the pale glow of the moonlight and I tried not to stare at his bare chest, the arms that had carried me. He wasn't pumped up like a bodybuilder, rather lean and muscular in a sinewy way. And he wore his jet black hair in long braids like an Indian.
Was he playing Indians? Where did I get myself into?
I tried to read his expression, but his face was shadowed and unreadable. He stretched out his arm and pointed to the opening to his branch igloo. What was that called again? tipi? No, those were the tents. Wigwam maybe? It was quite a small shelter. Maybe just three meters in diameter. I threw a look inside and saw a hearth in it, but there were only red embers in it. I wrapped my arms around my torso. I was cold. How I wish I had a campfire right now!
As if he had read my mind, the man slipped past me into his self-made cave and placed new branches on the hearth. As he fanned the embers again, he looked over at me invitingly.
I hesitantly hobbled closer. What else should I do? In the middle of the night I would never find my way out of this forest and back to the cave or any place where people lived by myself. civilized people. Nonetheless, I felt queasy. He still hadn't said a single word!
The floor in the 'igloo was softer than I had suspected, evidently covered with suede blankets. My companion was seated cross-legged in front of the fireplace, and I took the same stance towards him after removing my raincoat and rucksack. I stared into the hollow lined with stones. Smoke wafted up my nostrils and moments later a small flame flickered up, casting his face in a dancing light...almost demonic.
I shuddered. No, that was nonsense. If he wanted to do something to me, he would have done it long ago. I ventured a look at his face again. On closer inspection, it wasn't all that scary anymore, even if its expression was a little forbidding. He had a narrow, long face with high cheekbones and a full mouth. Damn, he wasn't that bad looking. His age was indefinable, but he was still young. Maybe twenty, I guessed cautiously. When he looked up and fixed me with his dark eyes, I felt myself blush and was grateful for the darkness.
He pointed to my right ankle, which I unconsciously clutched in my hands. A dull, throbbing pain still emanated from it, but it wasn't as sharp as it had been at first. But when I pulled my hands away, I clearly saw that he was a little swollen. I made a face but shook my head. It would be all right—until tomorrow, when I hope I could see a doctor.
Suddenly he reached out and touched a corner of my raincoat with his fingers. I was puzzled by the way he felt the material and frowned. As if he had never seen a rain cape before. Then his gaze wandered over my whole body, my soaked shorts and the fleece jacket that was stuck to my body. I could feel the gentle warmth of the fire, but I was still cold. Still, I would definitely not undress in front of him.
He pulled a blanket from behind him and handed it to me, looking at me invitingly. Our eyes met. His lids were half lowered, yet his eyes burned like hot coals. I hesitated, but wasn't sure why. Finally I took the blanket.
"Thank you," I mumbled.
I wrapped myself in it and the soft, leathery material immediately helped a little to banish the chill from my bones. Good thing it was summer.
A muscle at the corner of his mouth twitched as I said the two words. And finally he said something too. Anyway, he opened his mouth and a few sounds came out, but he might as well have spoken Chinese, I understood that much. It sounded something like washi-choo. His voice was pleasantly deep, but unfortunately that didn't make up for the strangeness of his words. I just stared at him and shook my head.
That too. We couldn't understand each other! How should I explain to him that I had to find my way back to the cave? Or at least Mount Rushmore. Wouldn't he know that? I would paint it for him if need be. But at the moment I didn't have the strength to do it. I got so tired all of a sudden...so tired. I could hardly keep my eyes open.
I didn't want to fall asleep. Not here, with a stranger in a tiny shelter in the woods. But maybe I would just close my eyes for a moment.
Only a moment. I dropped sideways to the floor, curled up in a fetal position, wrapped in the leather blanket. It occurred to me that I shouldn't leave my backpack unattended. I quickly tucked it under my head to use it as a pillow, and that was the last thing I did consciously.