Go outside they said, enjoy the fresh air they said, it's good for your mental health they said. What they didn't say was there was also rain, mud, confusing paths, hills, blisters and that eventually, everything would suck. Keiran had now slowly come to that realisation himself though, as he limped along half-heartedly with partially dried mud and dirt smeared down his left leg and side. Even though he had managed to fashion himself a magical ankle brace out of conveniently placed barriers, he stilled walked with a limp - doing his best to avoid putting too much weight on his injured ankle.
The day had started out nice enough. Keiran hiked back home in Australia, but as it turned out, he wasn't prepared for the Canadian wilds. Whereas the paths he normally walked were always hard, dry and sandy, and the bush was light and easy to navigate, the wilds he put himself in, were nothing of the sort. Everything would have probably been fine, apart from some damp running shoes, but for one small stumble which had almost sent him sliding down a small ravine.
If he hadn't been looking at his phone, trying to gauge some sense of location from it, Keiran might have not tripped - he also wouldn't have lost his phone in the thick forest either. He had looked for some time, but his phone had seemingly vanished from existence the moment he had tripped and slid down the small incline. At first, he had been too busy being distracted by the sharp pain in his twisted ankle to even realise he had dropped his phone, so he had no idea at what point he had let go of it...
From there, things got worse, which was almost impressive given how poorly things already were. It rained a little, and then a cool wind seemed to chase him wherever he walked, and soon enough Keiran had realised he was lost, it was getting late in the day and his ankle was starting to turn a painful purple in colour. Not wanting to be that foreigner who wandered off into the forest unprepared and died, Keiran decided to bite the bullet and take the necessary hit to his pride and seek help. When he eventually caught sight of a ranch of some sort, he started heading toward it in the vain hope someone would be around to at least point him in the direction of the closest pay phone (if they still existed) or at the very least could call him a taxi....
The day had started out nice enough. Keiran hiked back home in Australia, but as it turned out, he wasn't prepared for the Canadian wilds. Whereas the paths he normally walked were always hard, dry and sandy, and the bush was light and easy to navigate, the wilds he put himself in, were nothing of the sort. Everything would have probably been fine, apart from some damp running shoes, but for one small stumble which had almost sent him sliding down a small ravine.
If he hadn't been looking at his phone, trying to gauge some sense of location from it, Keiran might have not tripped - he also wouldn't have lost his phone in the thick forest either. He had looked for some time, but his phone had seemingly vanished from existence the moment he had tripped and slid down the small incline. At first, he had been too busy being distracted by the sharp pain in his twisted ankle to even realise he had dropped his phone, so he had no idea at what point he had let go of it...
From there, things got worse, which was almost impressive given how poorly things already were. It rained a little, and then a cool wind seemed to chase him wherever he walked, and soon enough Keiran had realised he was lost, it was getting late in the day and his ankle was starting to turn a painful purple in colour. Not wanting to be that foreigner who wandered off into the forest unprepared and died, Keiran decided to bite the bullet and take the necessary hit to his pride and seek help. When he eventually caught sight of a ranch of some sort, he started heading toward it in the vain hope someone would be around to at least point him in the direction of the closest pay phone (if they still existed) or at the very least could call him a taxi....
