Breathless

Gasping for breath, I run full speed ahead. These damn trees provide no protection from my pursuers.  Wait, who am I running from?  I don’t dare stop, whoever it is I know they’re going to kill me if they catch me.  My lungs are throbbing begging me to stop, but there is no way I’m stopping now.  I dig my bare feet in a little deeper as I hold my pace.

And then it hits me like a freight train.  That bastard drugged me!  The flashbacks are just bursts of light and my muscles are screaming in protest as I whip and dodge around the trees.  What is the last thing I remember?   It’s all a blur, blood is pounding in my eardrums and throughout every aching vein in my body.  I can hear sticks breaking and leaves crunching, they’re getting closer!

I can barely feel my feet as I push forward and look wildly around for somewhere to hide.  Up ahead, what is that?  It might be nothing, I can’t see from here, but I race toward it nonetheless.  When I reach the spot I don’t see anything and tears start welling in my eyes.  I get on the ground and start moving the leaves and vines, I’m feeling the trees, grasping at the trunks, my hands are screaming at me as the bark rips my skin open.  Finally, my fingers grapple with an opening that seems impossibly small, but as I get closer the opening gets bigger.  I must be hallucinating and I don’t even care at this point, my body can’t go any further and they are seconds from catching up.

I climb in the opening under the tree feet first.  I try to calm my heart and listen closely, I can tell they’re close but not from which direction they’re coming or how many there are for sure.  I look around one last time and then duck my head under the ground.  The opening I climbed through only seconds ago closes itself completely like a zipper zipping shut, and I am consumed by darkness.

To Be Continued…

 

NanoPoblano2015 | NaBloPoMo15
Day 29

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