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Grant’s Journal

January 2

They’re searching for me!

You called. Thank you, Kim. Thank you.

I saw the lights, I heard the helicopter blades.

I scrambled out from under the rock and into the open area, my hands in the air. I must have looked like a prisoner of war. Hallelujah! Hey, hey, hey, it’s me! Grant Duffy! Hey! Hey!

They missed me.

My throat is ripped up from screaming so loud.

Never in my life have I experienced a quiet more profound than the one I felt after the helicopter disappeared. That episode used up what little energy I had.

I ate my protein bar, and wouldn’t you know I chipped my tooth from some dirt that got into it from my hands. Then I did something Hobie told me not to do: I drank from the stream. Let’s hope a deer hasn’t taken a dump in that water. I’ll probably pay for this later.

I can’t wait to be rescued in an open space, it’s too cold and windy. I get it now. I get why you hate the cold. Me, too. I’d be happy to never see snow again.

I might never see anything again.

January 3

Hobie told me to follow the water. The only way to follow the water is to walk in it. I can’t feel my feet, they’re so cold. I’ve been collecting silver stones to give to you and the girls. My pockets are full of silver stones. That’s what keeps me going.

I fell again. Trust me, you don’t want to know what it feels like to hit your hip on a boulder with a bunch of stones in your pocket.

Remember when you found my journal and I said my writing would change if I knew you were reading?

I’m lost, Kim.

I am utterly, truly lost.

How many nights have I spent up here? Two? Three? I’ve heard more helicopters but they’re gone by the time I run into the open to wave to them. I haven’t heard one in a long while.

I’m so alone. My only company is Bob Hope’s ghost.

And Nugget.

That’s the name I gave the three-legged dog who followed me around for a while. People dump dogs like garbage in the mountains. Nugget could get around pretty good on three legs. He has icy-blue eyes. He talks to me with your mother’s voice. He says keep going, you’re fine. There are plenty of people with worse problems than yours.

I thought about asking you if we could keep the dog, but I don’t even know if you want to keep me. You’re having second thoughts, you said when we came out here. Where have those second thoughts led you? Look where they led me.