Off the wagon

Falling off the wagon, Dwight hit his head with a bump. His wagon
was the last one in the train and no one noticed him missing. He just
lay there unconscious, bleeding slightly on the scrubby grass. His
family plodded on, mother next to father and little sister asleep in
the back of the wagon under the canvass and amongst the barrels,
vitals, and provisions. Ahead of them, fifteen other families winded
there way through Nevada towards California.

Dwight awoke groggily some hours later, it was late afternoon and the
sunrays were still hot on his reddened face. He sat up and looked
around. Panicking, he turned to where the wagon wheels led off to,
luckily the ground was soft enough for him to follow them. He stood up
and ran along the route. After a few minutes and two falls, he stopped.
He suddenly questioned whether he was following the trail away from his
family or towards them. He was not certain but he decided his first
instinct was correct and he continued in the direction he had started
in.

After a few hours, he was exhausted, he must of walked ten miles he
thought, and still no sign of them except for the endless trail of
wagon tracks. It was getting dark now and he found a boulder and sat
down. Soon he was asleep against the rock. At about one o'clock in the
morning he awoke with a start, he had heard something. In his mind the
tendrils of his dream state faltered through his mind. In his dream he
was asleep in his mothers arms next to a raging campfire. Then he heard
it again, it was a rattle. Dwight had seen dead rattlers before but had
never heard the rattle of a live one. He sat as still as he could, it
was close, right beside him in fact. In the pitch dark he dare not
look. Then he felt the slithering of something against his arm, he
jumped up and in that one move the snake lunged open mouthed at him. He
didn't see it coming but the snake found purchase on his arm.

The pain was intense, the snake hung off his arm for a second and then
was gone. Dwight ran as hard as he could but in the darkness he soon
realised the futility of this and stopped. He felt a wetness on his
arm, it ached and felt like it was getting swollen. He knelt down, he
felt dizzy and sick, he retched, the pain was growing as his shock
subsided. Now his mind focused on his situation, what should he do? He
started to feel weak and became aware that he would soon pass out. Then
he did.

Dwight's father found him not far from their route the next morning.
Dwight's shallow breathing was hardly discernable but there was hope,
he was still alive. Dwight senior put him on his horse and rode as
quickly as he could towards the camp. When he arrived a crowd gathered
around him. Concern was high for the boy. One of the group, lay the boy
down and immediately assessed what had happened. They positioned him
under some canvass out of the sun. His convalescence involved very
little except bathing his head with cold water and applying a mixture
of herbs to the bite.

That night his mother sat by the raging campfire with Dwight
unconscious in her arms, he looked so peaceful she thought and stroked
his head. He remained in this state for days but then on the third day
in the afternoon Dwight started muttering, Dwight's mother Gladys, who
had been by his side constantly called Dwight senior. Dwight's eyes
flickered open. Gladys could not hold back her emotion and hugged him
tenderly, sobbing. After a few more days care Dwight was on his feet
again. Then soon after the wagon train were on their way again, closer
to a dream that was California, every day. In the back of his wagon
Dwight sat and watched for snakes, a smile on his face and a persistent
ache in his arm.