visions on the way back

It was already evening, and it got dark very quickly. I finished the last of my nuts, and all my food was gone. I walked to the Partizansky shelter in almost pitch-black darkness. On the hill leading to the shelter, I thought I saw someone moving around — I could make out a shifting silhouette. A bear?! I froze in place, then started carefully backing away. Then I stopped and watched. About ten minutes passed, and that creature made its first sound. It was a horse...

I had the last 18 km left to cover. And it was here that my final, real encounter with an adult bear took place. By this time, I had already come to terms with the fact that I wouldn't be working through my fear on this hike. What's more, I was no longer ready for it — I had no drive left. The adrenaline was gone, I was devilishly tired... Even while walking along the mountain trails, my legs were tangling up to such a degree that I wasn't always sure I could make it up the next hill... As always, I started singing my favorite hiking song, "Battery," to avoid accidentally stumbling into something dangerous and big in the dark. Bears have poor eyesight, but good hearing and a keen sense of smell. For an hour, I sang the song loudly, until my vocal cords started to tire... In the end, I changed my tactics. I began shouting "1-2-3-4" loudly, followed by four loud handclaps. Then "1-2-3-4" again, then more claps. That way, a rhythm formed. And for the rest of the way, I walked to that rhythm, which kept me going, and I, in turn, kept it going. The rhythm helped me, made me more resilient. Sometimes I noticed that it was thanks to the rhythm alone that I kept walking and hadn't yet ended up horizontal — only because of it, the rhythm... The path was winding; sometimes the moonlight faded and the darkness became absolute, and other times it was light enough to make out what was ahead of you. It was terrifying to walk alone, knowing I probably wasn't the only one out here. Sometimes something chased me along the roadside. It would run and run, then suddenly stop, break off the chase, and veer into the forest. And I kept walking on with my rhythm. Sometimes I heard strange, heart-wrenching cries from the woods. They hardly sounded like birds, but I suppose they were birds. Maybe they cry differently at night.

Once I stopped to drink some water, turned around, looked up at the sky, and saw one of the stars moving strangely — fast and zigzagging across the sky, tracing random paths. What could that have been?