How to Survive a Tree Falling on You - Track #4

When the tree hit me, I didn’t lose consciousness. In fact, I remember hitting the ground and thinking “Something must have hit me while I was trying to get away from that tree.”

After that, I was in some sort of weird “keep your shit together mode”. I remember telling myself to open my mouth and call for help. I remember asking the trail runner who found me to keep talking with me. I remember making it a point to spell out my name and every detail I could to the paramedics checking for injuries.

But one of the things I remember most was the view of the trees.

We don’t often get to lie on our backs and look up in a forest and see the trees from that perspective.

When the paramedics put me on a stretcher (with only one wheel I later found out) and hiked up the trail to get me to the ambulance, I felt helpless - there was nothing I could say or do to help. I just had to lie there, be quiet, and pray they didn’t drop me. When they started hiking, I started to close my eyes thinking that would make me feel less scared. But hearing the paramedics tell each other “slow down”, “a little higher on the left”, or “get ready” in darkness felt scarier. So, I opened my eyes and looked at the paramedics…well the only one I could actually see. I watched him breathing heavily, with his eyes wide open, saying nothing…which did not put me at ease.

So I looked up.

And watched the tops of the trees slowly pass by the empty space of a cloudless sky.

I wish I could say it comforted me but it didn’t.

But it was beautiful.

And out of all the options it seemed like the best one.

“And besides,” I remember thinking to myself “when’s the next time I’m going to get a view like this?"