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“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

I need help!my brain screams.I found a girl. In a hole. In the woods.

“Hello? May I help you? Are you there?”

Just send someone. She’s a mess.

“Are you hurt? If you’re there, please try to speak. I’m right here to help you, but I need to know where you are.”

“Try to speak,” she says. I almost laugh. I can’t even remember the last time words came out of my mouth. And now that I have to, I can’t seem to get the words to come down from my head and past my lips.

The girl with the tangled wild hair and her little dog continue to stare at me as I swallow hard and force my brain and mouth to get their shit together.

It’s like riding a bike, Ty. You don’t forget how to talk.

“A girl… in the woods,” I rasp. “A hole.” My voice is strained and unnatural, too loud or maybe too soft, much like the dog’s strangled bark.

“There’s a girl in the woods? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

“Is she hurt?”

“Maybe.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Are you with her?”

“Yes.”

“Are you in the hole with her?”

“No.”

“Do you know her name?”

“No.” I cough into the phone. My throat is dry and raw, and I’m already exhausted from this interrogation. How hard is it to just get help?

“What is your name, sir?”

“I’m going to get her.”

“Can you tell me your location?”

My throat catches again with the struggle to make more words. “Five miles off Rock Road. Old hiking trail. On the left. Not far from the river.”

Ending the call, I peer back down into the hole. It’s about four feet in diameter and maybe ten feet deep. I reach behind me and grab the eight-foot dog leash that’s hanging off my belt, wrap some of it around my wrist, and toss the other end into the hole.

I nod at her, hoping she’ll understand my plan, but she gives me a leery glare and moves backward like the leash is going to bite her.

Talk to her.“Grab it. I’ll pull you out.”

Her mouth parts slightly, and she pulls the dog closer, protectively, against her chest, and I realize she’s afraid I expect her to leave the dog down there.

“Hold the dog. Grab the leash. I’ll pull you both out.”