The Lost Land, tome I: The Awakening

Suzie Pelletier

Description

Nadine loves the hectic lifestyle she’s living in Montreal. She has finally retired, which allows her time to create and explore the world.
With her husband Alex, trekking has become a mutual passion that provides her with a change of scenery as well as a sense of wonder that fascinates her. Her artistic side enjoys it as well because she loves to paint, read, write and learn…
One morning in April, Nadine awakens in an unknown place, alone with her orange tent and her hiking backpack as sole luggage. Who has pulled the prank on her? Where is she? How will she survive with only five days of provisions?
While discovering the Lost Land, the hiker, whom the reader accompanies as a witness of her quest, shares her thoughts with us but also teaches us to reconcile with our humanity.
Nadine tries to understand at first, but in survival mode, she must focus on her safety, eating and trying to find other people with whom she can share.
Will this Lost Land allow her to find herself? When will her loved ones come to her rescue?
The Awakening is the first of six volumes in the lost land collection.

Sujets

• Navigation
• Trekking
• Fantasy literature
• Lost lands

Informations

• Publié par: Éditions Véritas
• Date de parution: 18 février 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9782895711599
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Lost Land
SUZIE PELLETIER
Tome 1
The Awakening
Translated from
Le Pays de la Terre perdue
Tome 1 Le réveil
To my parents, Claire and Robert, who taught me that life is all about living your dreams .
Cataloging-in-publication data with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and Library and Archives Canada
Pelletier, Suzie, 1954
The Lost Land
The entire collection includes 6 volumes
Summary : 1.The Awakening
ISBN 978-2-89571-158-2 (v.1)
I. Title. II. Title : The Awakening.
PS8631.E466P39 2013C843’.6 C2012-942845-0
PS963.1E466P39 2013
Translation :
Guylaine Gervais

(GG Translation & Professional Services)
Editing :
Ana Maria Heskin-Zuniga

(AZ World Translation & Interpretation Inc.)
Infographics for cover : Monique Moisan
Photographer : Sylvie Poirier
Editor :
Les Éditions Véritas Québec

2555, avenue Havre-des-Îles, bureau 715

Laval, (QC) H7W 4R4

450-687-3826

www.leseditionsveritasquebec.com
Copyright © 2015 by Suzie Pelletier
Library and Archives Canada Cataloging in Publication
ISBN
978-2-89571-158-2 printed edition

978-2-89571-159-9 digital edition
The Awakening
The technological security blanket that exists in today ’ s civilisation has erased, in the simple beings that we are, the landmarks which allow us to adapt to living in the wild …
How can we reconnect with our ancestors ’ genetic legacy which would allow us to go back to basics … with nothing and no one?
Chapter 1
Day 1 – July 15 th
A certain sweetness in the air, like a warm breeze, caresses her skin. Nadine moves her arm, stretches, then opens one eye, slowly waking. The sun filters through the now translucent fabric of the small tent. What? Still half asleep she springs up. Her head hits the camping light hanging from the ceiling. “Ouch!” Nadine brings her hand to her forehead where her fingers discover a painful lump, triggering once again, a yelp of pain. She falls back onto her pillow. This ultra-light lamp couldn’t possibly have caused such a lump! Seriously!
“This must be part of some sort of dream where I’m not quite awake yet. Wait for the alarm clock to ring … like every morning, then get up. Savour the peacefulness of the house, the smell of coffee…” she tells herself smiling.
She smells something odd, a summer countryside kind of smell. The birds? They are signing in all the trees, answering each other merrily. The orange rays slip through her eyelids. She opens one eye. She is cocooned in her trekking tent, the one that has only rarely been taken out of its travel bag over the past ten years. She recognizes that near suffocating morning heat from the tent having been zipped up and sealed for a while. Her small living quarters will soon feel like a greenhouse if she doesn’t let some fresh air in! Keeping an eye on the ceiling lamp so she doesn’t hit it again, Nadine gets up and crawls on all fours to get to the door.
It’s been at least ten years since she and Alex have done any camping with this tent. They carry it with them during their trekking expeditions, mostly for security reasons, without setting it up. Usually, they prefer to rest in small cottages found along the trails. These offer a certain comfort but mostly allow them to remain dry during their rest period. The tent, well tucked inside the slip cover, along with the floor mat, usually end up staying in Alex’s backpack. It’s very strange that her loyal companion is not sleeping by her side. Perhaps he is already up getting breakfast ready. What a darling!
Nadine tries to get a grasp on recent events. Last night? She looks around. She is confused. She recognizes the little candle-lamp hanging from the ceiling of the tent. She touches that bump on her head again, gently. Did she suffer a concussion? Has she lost her memory? A good blow to the temple… Mind you, Nadine has a pretty hard head! Something unusual is going on. There must be an explanation. “Wake up!” she yells, pinching herself on the arm. She shakes her head and rubs her eyes, just like she used to as a child. She is becoming more alert. Every object surrounding her brings up more questions. She needs to establish a link between what she is seeing and what she is experiencing. Nadine fell asleep in her comfortable bed, cuddled up with Alex, in their family home. She remembers the noisy, bustling mornings when their two children were being disruptive. An early riser, Nadine has always been able to steal a few moments of peace and quiet for herself before everyone else wakes up.
Nothing makes sense! She recognizes her sleeping bag, but her husband is missing. There is only one mattress, one pair of boots, one pair of socks, one set of clothes.
“Where is Alex? His things aren’t here…”
Nadine is astonished: “What am I doing here? How did I get here from Montreal? Did we plan an expedition that I’ve forgotten? Where is everybody? I must be losing my mind! That’s it!”
Everything is spinning and Nadine feels like her head is about to explode. That noise? She can hear the birds outside. There’s another animal also, bigger than a squirrel. What is it? She quickly puts on her clothes and sneaks outside quietly. Her gut feeling tells her not to make any sudden movements. Easy does it! Danger… “Wow! Incredible… Where’s my camera?” A little less than two metres away from her tent, a stunning caribou is nibbling away at the plants he has chosen for his breakfast. It turns its head, perks up its ears. Even though Nadine is completely still, her unexpected arrival surprised it and the animal takes off. “Too bad for the picture! Scaredy-cat! Now no one will believe me…”
Nadine looks at the animal perplexed. She actually did see a large male with an enormous rack weaving through the trees. That’s odd. Caribous usually lose their antlers at the beginning of winter and they grow back slowly to reach their maximum size for the rutting period in September. The animal she just observed had antlers typically seen midsummer, not the stubs seen in springtime. In April, its antlers should be much smaller. Today is April 24 th , right? Her watch would confirm this. She just has to get it from inside the tent.
Before re-entering the tent, Nadine tries to situate herself. The plants growing around her tent look familiar. She has the impression of a déjà vu. They remind her of the beautiful countryside of the Parc de la Gaspésie that she and Alex have explored so often. If she finds the cabana built by the meteorologists nearby, it would confirm she is on Mount Logan. She sees nothing in sight … despite doing a 360° turn. The little orange tent is the only familiar object around. Even the temperature is strange. It is awfully warm, and springtime in Gaspésie is never this early. This day is getting weirder by the minute!
Nadine is feeling a little confused. She must place her hand in front of her eyes as the rays of the hard beating sun are blinding her. She feels a sensation of dizziness about to overcome her … and this throbbing in her temples! She is thirsty; her throat feels like it is tightening more and more. She’s not dreaming. Does she have amnesia? Has she simply lost her mind? She screams, “HELLO”. A few birds fly off, then it is silent again. There must be some sense to this. There’s always an explanation. Remain calm. Breathe. “Gaspésie is 800 km from Montreal! How could I possibly have gotten here without being aware of it?”
Despite the ambient heat, she shivers. Even the date doesn’t make sense. Alex’s absence even less. This ill feeling is creeping up under her skin. Where could her partner be? He would never abandon her during a hike. There are no signs indicating that this time though, he actually tagged along.
Nadine is all alone in this unknown scenery. She spent the night in her orange tent in the middle of an isolated field, and has no clue how she landed here. This is pure madness! She must have simply lost her mind or something short-circuited in her brain, some kind of a painless drift. No… Nadine rubs her eyes. She starts hopping from one leg to another like a child, to see if she would bounce back. “Crap!” To reassure herself, she feels the need to hear her own voice. “You-hoo! Is there anyone out there?” Only a faint echo answers her, then heavy silence falls back onto her shoulders.
She returns to her tent wondering if, perhaps, she hit her head, suffered a concussion that would have caused her to have amnesia, or had an accident during her sleep that put her in a coma. “Perfect decor. Well chosen. I love it. There is everything here for me to feel comfortable in my own bubble, so that there is no need for me to return home” she tells herself. Although appealing, this idea doesn’t quite satisfy her. This type of perfect oasis is not what she would wish for at this time. “No way! Leave Alex? Forget about the children? Give up the people I love? Never! Why would Alex allow me to leave all by myself under these conditions?”
Trying to break the quietness of her surroundings, Nadine walks around the tent, starts running around in all directions, scans the sky, looks on the ground nearby and then in the distance. She yells, screams, tries to scare off the birds. She calls out for Alex. No one answer