Kesi sat in the darkening forest observing the trees and flora around her. She saw tall evergreens spiraling ever upward to the sky shielding her from the light spritz falling. Those small droplets of water that did find their way through the branches landed lightly on the ground around her and in the fire she had built causing it to sputter and flair.

As the ground grew damp a familiar scent began to fill her senses bringing back happy and unhappy memories alike. It wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on at the moment thought.

She uncovered her stash of dry wood and threw a few large pieces onto the fire building the fire until the heat warmed her face at a safe distance. Being confident that the heat would last she settled herself on the ground resting her back against a large fallen log, put her hands on her knees and closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply focusing on the scent around her.

She could smell the dampness around her. The trees that swayed around her gave off a very pleasing fragrance that reminded her of the pine candles her mum would light in the bathroom after her dad came out. Kesi smiled as she remembered her mother’s ritual of cleaning up the bathroom after her father. A clothes pin on her nose and rubber gloves up to her elbows.

She could smell the musty earth teaming with invisible life nourishing the niche she has created for herself. She thought of how she would feel if she ever got to put her hands in the earth and help a defenseless little plant grow into a giant in her garden. She wondered if she would ever see a day when all she smelled around her was nature and not the decomposition of an apocalyptic world.