“I don’t understand, why-”

“In due time Thom. Do you see those mountains?” she said, pointing away from the sun. “There is a grotto that fills with water. There is a red mud near the water’s edge. It is your only source of water. You must prove that you made it by returning with some of that red mud. You must return here by sunset.You can use any item within your cell. Project Broom Hilda begins now.”

And something happened. He was ON, like a dog after a ball. His desire to survive and thrive became instinct. He returned to his cell and scattered things about, he knew what he wanted. He needed a beacon. He called the woman back in.

“Can you help me?” She entered his cell and he grabbed her swiftly, snatching the silver recorder.

“Leave him be” she ordered the guards as Thom placed the silver object on the window’s ledge and ran off in a puff of dust. “The sun will be at his back when he returns. My recorder, which he obtained in the cell, will catch the setting sun’s reflection. He’s off to a good start.”