Night was falling fast. Zoë’s progress had been slow going. Every few steps she had to stop because the pain was so intense that she felt like she would black out if she continued. This was not going to work. “Popkin!” she called out.
“What is it, Zo?” her feathered friend answered.
“I can’t go on. It hurts too much!” She reached out for a nearby tree to steady herself. Her knees felt weak, like she was going to collapse. Slowly, moving too fast made her even dizzier, she lowered herself to the ground. Fortunately, there was a mossy patch that was a little softer than the surrounding area.
“”What are we going to do then?” Popkin asked.
Zoë took a deep breath to relax and exhaled slowly, trying to expel the pain as she did the air in her lungs. “Well, it’s getting dark. We might as well camp here for the night. In the morning, you’ll have to go on without me to get help.”
Popkin‘s brow furrowed, “I can’t leave you all alone Zo!”
“And I can’t go with you…so there we are. Either you go by yourself and bring back help or we’ll never get home!”
Popkin lowered his head, “Okay Zo…” He knew she was right. “I’m going to go look for something to eat, okay?”
But Zoë was already unconscious.