Another competition story. The following is the author’s story. Spelling and some stylistics have been edited in places by me.
Hello, I want to tell you my story of the unusual adventures of a digger.
One day, my friend asked me to take him to a corporate sports competition, where several enterprises from different regions participated, about 650 people in total, and these competitions lasted three days. There were many different fun competitions, egg throwing, war with water pistols and water balloons, a lot of delicious food, drinks, etc., etc. And my friend there was one of the administrators of this action. And he tells me: “Let’s go, relax, have fun, meet new people.” Well, of course, I agreed, especially since it was in the forest at a rented recreation center and for me it was also an opportunity to realize my interests, walk through the forest with my ICQ 250.
So I put my digging supplies in the trunk, picked up a friend, and we drove to a place about 400 km from home. We arrived at lunchtime, the place was a tent city in the middle of the forest, tent camps were located around several one-story houses, mainly in the areas from which the participants came. We found our friends there, they settled us in, and since it was very hot and we were just coming back from the road, after having a little snack, we decided to go for a swim. The lake was located somewhere 700-800 m from the camp. A small path led to it, winding in one direction and then in the other. The lake itself was quite wide and stretched out, on our side there was one small beach among the reeds, on the other side almost everything was also in the reeds, there was also a beach and somewhere in the distance a settlement could be seen.
After swimming to our heart’s content, we came back and decided that we would spend the rest of the time following our own interests. I took ICQ and a bag with the necessary things and went into the forest, while my friend stayed at the base. The forest turned out to be quite dense — there was a lot of high and low vegetation, so it was a bit dark in places during the day.
Despite the fact that it seemed unexplored, in some places traces of our colleagues in the craft and garbage were visible in the form of corks, various foils, and there were also plenty of beer cans.
My first even slightly worthwhile find was about an hour and a half later and was 3 kopecks from the Soviet period in 1924. Inspired and having dug up a few more useless finds, I was lucky again and dug up a Polish silver coin half eaten by time.
A little later I found 2 kopecks from 1797, then a button of a Soviet soldier from 1967, went out into some clearing and there gradually found all the other finds of that day: two coins of one kopeck of Paul I, 1797 and 1798 years, some other button and finally some money from 1853.
Since it was already evening and the sun was slowly setting and the sky was frowning, I, tired, but pleased with myself, went to the camp, despite the dense forest. It was not difficult, since someone was constantly shouting something there and it was not difficult to follow the sound. Came — I found a friend and showed him the findings. He joked, saying – and it was worth digging in the ground for five hours for this, it would be better if he hung out with us. I philosophized something there, and he took me to the dining room on the outskirts of the camp and I had the last dinner of all.
After the first day of the competition, everyone began to prepare for the evening Sabantui, and since I was up to my ears in dirt and dust, I decided to get myself in order before this important event. The sun had almost set, but I still decided to quickly run to the lake, while I was going there a light rain began to slowly drip, quickly taking a dip and changing into clean clothes, I did not take into account one moment, that if there was still a little overhead — It’s a little light, but it’s already dark in the forest for a long time. Having entered it, I fully realized my mistake, and since I thought it would be quick, I did not take anything with me except a towel and a bag for dirty clothes.
Having walked a few meters along the path with difficulty, I suddenly realized that I was in… And besides, the rain also gradually became heavier. My attempts to move towards the sound were negated by the drops knocking on the leaves, and people most likely dispersed from the street to their tents. After groping about another fifty meters, at dusk, since the sky was more open there, I saw that the path immediately divided into three parts.
In the daytime, when we were walking with a friend, I didn’t notice it, because he knew the way and I didn’t care, and in the evening, when I went to the lake, I didn’t notice it either, because I thought that since I had already I walked here, I’ll definitely find a way back. And now I am faced with a choice, and my choice is driven by the ever-increasing rain. Having turned on my internal compass and remembering Russian fairy tales, I chose the path in the middle.
After walking for quite a long time, I realized that I was completely lost. I don’t know how long I wandered, but it seemed to me that for a very long time, as always in such cases, all the horror films, all the scary stories that you have ever heard, come into your head at once, and your brain adds its own interpretations to all this. And although I am a healthy guy, 190 cm and 130 kg in weight, I was really scared, but of course, you are all brave people, you wouldn’t be scared 😉, but I was.
After several, as it seemed to me, hours of such wandering in the barely visible darkness, I suddenly saw the outlines of the very dining room in which I had dinner a few hours ago. According to the principle “I see the goal – I see no obstacles,” I rushed towards it. When there were ten meters left before it, the ground suddenly disappeared from under my feet, and I fell into a stinking hole, where, as it turned out later, more than one generation of athletes had dumped food waste. All this plus the falling rain made my «bath» very difficult to leave!
Climbing and floundering, I felt some roots and climbed along them to solid ground. The bag with my dirty clothes, as well as everything so-called clean, was completely destroyed by food debris and dirt. I had an unenviable choice: go to sleep as I am or go to the lake again. Swearing to myself, already walking between sleeping people in tents, I somehow found my car, took a flashlight from there and, just in case, my phone, wrapped it in a bag, took a second set of clothes and again wandered to the lake.
Walking along the slippery ground, I memorized every turn and every tree I encountered along the way. Horror films, too, by the way, have not gone away. And to those films that were about the forest, those about water were added. Having plunged and wiped myself with some kind of sand and clay from sticky fat, I plunged as best I could and changed into the third and last set of my clothes. Having reached the camp, I fell into a deep sleep without legs or arms, which lasted exactly until the athletes began to get up, wanting to recover from the hangover from yesterday.
I didn’t manage to get any more sleep that day, but everyone laughed for a long time when I told them about my nightly adventures. And for a while I became their local celebrity.
Since my clothes were hopelessly ruined, I didn’t go digging anymore that time. I spent the entire third day competing either in tennis or volleyball, joining one of the teams.
This funny incident happened to me a couple of years ago. Friends, take into account my mistakes! Always take a phone and a flashlight with you, or better yet two. Happy coping everyone. Sincerely, Sergey.
P.S. You understand, I didn’t take photos in those conditions, so the photos are after the fact.
Sent a story from Sergey S. from Sevastopol.
Photos of found coins:
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