Day 52

So, lesson one of driving a car backward for more than a mile, it fucking sucks, holy shit, I thought it would be easy, I got to sit down in an actually comfortable chair, with cushions and stuff, but that lost its appeal the moment I realized I was going to be holding myself looking back, my neck craned and my shoulder turned in the most uncomfortable position ever. I tried using my mirrors and that ended up with me immediately scratching everything on the left as I miscalculated one thing or another. So I was stuck in that position for about five hours going between 20 and 30 miles an hour, putting my sprinting speed to shame.

I took a break at the five-hour point, in a rather larger space, not near any of the turns or forks. I had passed the fork but had been unable to turn around there, but I was bound and determined to get the damn car out facing forward, and had a plan for the crossroads area. I stretched my legs on my break doing a little jog, and let Lupe out to do his thing, running around and doing his thing. I had turned the car off and inspected the damage I had caused, the left light cracked a little, but besides that, just cosmetics, paint missing, but no structural damage. I popped the trunk and had a bit of a laydown, finding the back to be surprisingly comfortable, in comparison to the hard rock I had been sleeping on, but honestly not as nice as the bed I had made at my campsite. Geeze, I was actually missing the campsite now, and with thoughts like that, I passed out.

I woke up after a while, Lupe having hopped up beside me, as I had left the trunk open, a smell of putridity entering my nose, coming from behind us, from where we had come from. I hopped out, and listened, hearing a faint squelching sound, the smell growing stronger, reminding me of the scent of a sewage treatment plant. I closed the trunk, pulling Lupe out, and threw us in the front, slamming the door and placing the tired Lupe in the seat next to me. I started the car with ease and cranked my head back and went to 30ish miles an hour, holding Lupe so he didn't go flying.

I quickly made it to the crossroads and I slowed down, and started to turn the car around one corner of the magma tubes, and fully entered it after a couple more scrapes. I then pulled out, and slowly eased my way up the hill, its steep angle worrying me for a second but the car quickly found purchase and started me up the hill forward and much more comfortably, I leaned back in my chair now, following the gently winding path, the headlights lighting up my clear passage ahead.

I soon enough made my way to the top, reaching the small clearing I had made before leaving towards the outside. I got out and stretched, I grabbed my things and locked the car up once more, I wouldn't be able to drive the car in two-three feet of snow. It was a good car and all, but not even it could handle thickly packed mountain snow, and I also didn't have a garage to store it in. this was the closest I could keep the car without exposing it to the elements, but I did grab a bunch of paper from school assignments, as I was almost out of paper in this journal and I wanted to continue writing my diary.

I walked out of the cave, the sun setting, and turned back around, I would once more be sleeping in the car, maybe this time in the backseat, curled up as much as possible, it ought to be much more comfortable than the hard plastic back, right? Wrong, sleeping in a car is terrible, and you should only do it if you have a large trunk or a van, but laying on hard plastic is terrible, not as bad as cave floors but still, it shouldn't be nearly that uncomfortable. I quickly pulled the seats back down, and climbed into the trunk, finding an unexpected treat.

I found a single unopened granola bar, crispy, and oh fuck the most amazing thing I had seen in a month. “WOOOOH!” I shouted with joy, my voice echoing down the cave, and across the snowy plains. I had grains, and sugars, and so much more, god was I thankful for food other than meat and meat byproducts. I didn't eat it right away, I carefully tucked it into my bag, saving it for when I returned to my hut, and as I laid back, growing used to the uncomfortable plastic I entered into meditation, and soon after fell asleep.