she opened her eyes to see clouds

grateful that she could still breathe

lifting her head to take stock

her horse lay motionless beside her

he must have broken his neck

she had landed in soft mud

she sat up and looked around

surprisingly she felt no pain

she lifted her left leg from the deep mud

bent her knee and pushed herself to stand up

as soon as she was upright

she felt a sharp pain in her right ankle

she collapsed down to the ground again

unable to support any weight on her right leg

she could feel the swelling inside her riding boot

she realized the magnitude of her problem

she lived alone and had told nobody she was riding

in a remote area of the Scottish highlands

she was miles from the nearest road

nobody would be coming to rescue her

her survival instincts kicked in

she had to find a way to get to the road

she crawled back towards the fence

hauled herself up to sit on a fallen tree

the wooden fence was dilapidated 

she pulled at the lowest piece of wood

somehow managing to break it free

miraculously it was the perfect height for a crutch

she stated to hobble along

keeping her right leg off the ground

after an hour she was exhausted

she had a feeling that somebody was close by