Inchworm

Astra was worried that she might slip and fall off the trunk, into the waters below. If she did find a slippery spot on the tree, she wanted to have as much contact with it as possible, and as little room to fall off the tree as she could manage. Astra straddled the trunk of the pine, and crouched on her knees and forearms. She then slid her arms forward, clutching the trunk, and lying nearly flat. Then she slid her knees forward, and repeated the motion. To Hesht, she looked like a huge inchworm making its way slowly across the tree.

The trunk rested at a sixty degree angle to the bank, so Astra had farther to go than if she had a bridge built straight across the river. She kept her eyes on a spot on the tree just before her. Every nub and knot on the tree was an obstacle that she had to consider. She tilted slightly to one side on some, and simply dragged her body across others. "Most beautiful woman in the world, indeed!" she thought. "I am going to bruised like an old piece of fruit by the time I get across. At least this should keep me safe from Fred, who got me into this mess by the strange magic and thoughtless wish."

Astra crept up to the split in the trunk before she stared down into the canyon. The waters did not churn here. There was no white foam. But the waters were not peaceful. Astra saw a twig battered to and fro by the turbulent currents. The little piece of wood then disappeared into the swollen creek, and did not reappear. "I do not want to go there," she thought, as she looked up.

Here was where the crossing was the most difficult. The tree was angled so that the branch to the left reached the bank more quickly, and the left branch was somewhat thicker when it crossed the bank than the right. But the left branch was littered with knots, sharp snags, and some small branches that had been left on the tree. While the right branch also had some knots and snags, it appeared to be have no more of them than the trunk she had just crawled across. Should she take the shorter and thicker left branch, or the smoother right branch? "Here I go." she thought, as she forced herself forward

1. down the left branch.
2. down the right branch.

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