[ RF ] The willow tree looked lonely with the lake drained to mud .

She struggles towards it. Mud cacked up her legs, shoes slipping underneath her cracked shoes. Bleeding cracks crowded the space between her toes and her head felt light for the heat. 
 
 The radio crackled on her back. 
 
 She toggled it to a clear channel. It was nothing but dead air. 
 
 Scrambling up the back took too much time. Her palms were skinned by the loose willow bark. It peeled away in slivers of sliver and bleed tacky red. 
 
 `` Can you hear me?'' called the radio. 
 
 She wiped her hands on her shirt. `` Roger. Over.'' 
 
 `` Are you alright?'' Not even amateurs, just a voice from the void. `` Do you need help?'' 
 
 She paused, poised on the firm ground, dark water dripping from her heavy clothes. 
 
 `` Do you need help?'' 
 
 There was something behind the trees. 
 
 `` No,'' she said. `` No, I do n't.''
