She paused briefly at the lip of the hollow. Bitter memories lay down there - memories of an older brother who had met an untimely and shameful fate. Yet someone down there might need her help - help she hadn't been available to dispense a year ago.
Sucking in a deep breath, she plunged over the edge. The mouth of the hollow was so steep that she had to slide through the vines on her backside. It was a good place for snakes. All the same, she hugged the ground, knowing what lay in wait if her rapid descent got out of control. Her fingers came in contact with something strange and when she looked to see what it was, she gasped. It was a magnetic sign - probably ripped off the vehicle as it tore through the brush.
"Monroe Lumber Company," she read in an acidic tone.
For a shameful instant she was tempted to crawl back up the hill and leave the unwelcome intruder to his fate. She couldn't do that, of course - and he did try to avoid a deer.
Following the trail of battered trees and tortured vines, she found the car resting against a tree. A man with a receding hairline was slumped over the wheel, obviously unconscious...maybe worse.
Reaching the side of the vehicle, she stood and dusted her backside while she peered into the car. She tapped the window.
"Mister? Are you all right?"
The dark form didn't move. She tried the door, but the front fender was jammed back far enough to put the door in a bind. The windshield was cracked, but still intact. Working her way over the tangled brush, she finally managed to reach the far side of the car. There was no damage to that side, but the car was resting so close to the edge of the cliff that there was barely enough room for a person to squeeze by an open door. Dragging the man out that side would be impossible. Still, maybe she could help him - if she could get inside the vehicle.
She paused behind the car, staring over the edge of the cliff into the rocky ravine twenty feet below - remembering another time that a car had slid down this way. Only that time the driver wasn't lucky enough to be snagged by a tree. She held off a landslide of bitter memories with a wall of reality. There was nothing she could do about the past, but today a man was in desperate need of her help.
She carefully made her way along the side of the vehicle and tried the door. It was locked - or maybe the latch was stuck. She jerked on the door and it flew open, jerking her forward. She clung desperately to the door, her feet scrambling for a foot hold on the edge of the cliff. Dirt and rocks plunged over the cliff before she finally regained her footing and scrambled into the car. There she sat for a moment, willing her racing heart to slow. Finally she leaned over and touched the man's shoulder.