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Far off to my right, I hear what sounds like a human voice, perhaps a child. But now silence... I stare off through the open forest struggling to see. 'Did I imagine it? No, I heard it.' The sound didn't seem to belong in this place. Then, once again… It is surely two or more children's voices. I continue to stare when suddenly I see motion. Two children with big sticks and some adults follow behind. 'What in the world are they doing down there in the forest', I wonder. They are traipsing through some rough vegetation, or so it seems. And they're getting closer too. I look at them, then down at my map. 'There it is!' I discover a second trail just at the base of the hill. The map shows it coming toward the hill then taking a sharp turn away. I watch silently as the family approaches closer yet. The lead child suddenly turns sharply to the left and marches directly away from where I stand.
My mind begins to stir. I look carefully at the map. 'If that is the big bend in the lower trail', I think to myself. 'And they are walking directly away from me, then…' Simple geometry! By imaging that the trail continued up the hill towards me and away from the family of hikers I am able to precisely locate myself on my trail. What's more, If that is where I am, then I am now closer to where I am going than those kids were to me just a moment ago.
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