You should get the tannins out before trying to eat them

It’s cold.

Maybe not enough to let it snow, but it’s still enough to bother her. She doesn’t have any more clothes. All of it she had to leave, or it was stolen or destroyed, so changing wasn’t an option. She knew it was a bad idea to try to go back to the city, but a part of her believed that maybe she could somehow find someone willing to help her. But from the start, she knew they wouldn’t. She really should stop clinging to the hope that people will see them as one of them. They might share the same skin, but that doesn’t really make anyone stop and think about that maybe this isn’t a good thing to do, like, well golly gee. Tossing coffee on someone and they should just leave her alone.

Her skin still burns. But the wet cloth sticks to her skin is cold, and the weather isn’t helping her. At least the coffee didn’t hit her face or head? She doesn’t know to be grateful for that. All she knows is that she would like it if that didn’t happen in the first place.

It really would just be better if she didn’t stick around there, not at evening at least. Light enough for people to remain out, but dark enough for the more questionable people to walk about. Dawn is somewhat similar. Although the more questionable people start going back to where they came from while people who deemed themselves above her walk out of their little apartments or houses. Not the ones who sleep in their cars, they’re cool. They get it. But they’re lucky, and at least they know it.

She’ll just have to come back when the sun is out and there isn’t a hint of dark in the sky. Unless the dark comes from stormy clouds, then she’ll just have to deal with being in the rain or hope it goes away when the library closes. At least they let her in, but they had to start closing earlier due to funding, or lack of. Wasn’t the best news, but at least they’re open long enough so she doesn’t have to spend her time just wondering around the city. It was something to do. If she wasn’t applying to jobs that never get back to her, she was simply reading. A break from the screen, a break from her staring at the “Thank you for your application” and whatever corporate response they give to match with what they do. Maybe if she’s lucky, instead of another potential job she can apply to, she might see a rejection email. She has more respect for them, at least they’ll send her something.

But at least reading gives her something to do other than just stew in her feelings about how she can’t find a job to save the world. Fiction helps. It’s a nice escape. But even with that, she always found herself leaning toward nonfiction. She just wanted to learn more than what the food safety course was teaching her. And that led her to food in general, a topic she was more familiar with. She was always in the kitchen before she was kicked out of her home. Might be hard work, but at least it would be familiar work. She was simply curious about the food borne illnesses that she was warned about. And one topic led to another, from cases where people died from it, to how people died from foraging.

It didn’t occur to her before that she could forage for her food before. But it would certainly save a lot of money if she did. Well, she didn’t even have money to begin with, but if she ever got a job, not having to spend it on money would be a lifesaver. It was just a matter of having to find something easy to identify and start from there. Maybe she can see if she can find water she can drink too? No, that feels too risky, although she can just boil it, right? Hospitals do that, and it will save her a few trips from having to go back and face the city again. Saves her time and keeps her from having to go back. If she could find what she needed outside while she was still looking for a job, at least she wouldn’t have to eat out of the trash anymore. The thought was almost enough to make her jump into this without even thinking about it. The only downside was having to work a little bit more for her food, but at least when she was in the park looking for acorns, she didn’t have to keep looking over her shoulder for the police or anyone coming by.

And luckily for her, nature provides. She may not be able to eat them right away, but she can have something to return to if they’re still there after the day. If she can find out what type of acorn it was, then it will make everything much easier.

As cold as nature can be, she can at least be grateful that it still provides enough. It’ll give her a tree to lean on if she’s tired. It’ll give her food to eat as long as she puts the work in. Giving her a small place to hide from the wind. Aloe doesn’t grow here, sadly, but she can find something to help with the burns later. She can always get something from the store, or maybe the library will be nice enough to give her something. It wouldn’t be the first time they did out of pity. But at least they show kindness to her.

Sitting down, covering herself with a blanket as she listens to the river go by. Glancing up at the net she managed to set up. She should watch for any fish. She doesn’t think she can take a life yet, even if it is for survival. She doesn’t know why. It just makes her feel guilty. But the acorns in the net will be cleared soon. The river will wash all the tannins away, and maybe then she can start looking into foraging more. For now, she can thank the trees for giving her what she needs to start, and thank the river for allowing her to wash what she finds to eat. She’ll make it out one day, but for now, she will thank nature for what she can take and use.