Friday, July 25, 2008

Winter Wonderland Chapter 3: Holding on to nothing

I grunted and laid back onto the smooth gravel, trying to list the positives. Number One… um, I’m alive? Does that even count? Okay, I’ll be my pessimistic self and count all the negatives.
Number one, I’m under a log.
Number two, I’m in the water.
Number three, its winter.
Number four, its night.
Number five, I could get hypothermia.
Number six, I’m in a lost forest.
Number seven, no one knows I’m in a forest.
Number eight, I’m an orphan.
That paints a pretty picture, doesn’t it?

I sighed and opened my eyes. A branch was scratching my face while also irritating me, so I turned my head. I saw my Swiss Army knife a few inches away from me. It must have fallen out of pocket due to the terms of events. I could have jumped for joy if it weren’t for that stupid tree.

I reached over and grabbed it. I took out the knife and stared at it, thinking. Why am I doing this? I thought, is there even a point? What would be waiting for me if I do make it through the night? A pile of ashes? An orphanage? A hospital? This is hopeless! The reality, cruel and unhelpful, seeped into my thoughts. I shook them from my head. I didn’t really want to think about any of that. My mom always used to say to her suicidal patients, there is always a chance if you are still alive.

I kept her reassuring voice in my head as I cut off some of the smaller branches, freeing most of my hair and some of my jacket. That was simple, cutting off the bigger branches that held my arms and upper torso would be the challenge. I started sawing off the branch that held my left arm. Luckily for me, the water had weakened the branches that held me prisoner. When that was done I moved on to my right arm. On and on it went, until I was finally able to move freely
without being scratched to death.

I lay back down and crossed my arms, exhausted. I started to realize exactly how cold and wet I was. My clothes and hair felt like heavy sand bags. Bitter wind whipped my face making my teeth chattered. My legs were numb with cold and pain. I was dangerously freezing. My breath came as short, hollow shutters.

Now I really started feeling tired. My eyes drooped with weariness. Sleep would feel so good right now, I thought, my eyes starting to close as I mind began to fade into darkness… I snapped my eyes open. What am I thinking? Sleep is only good if you wake up! I clenched my teeth as I sat up. The cold enveloped me, with no help from my stupid jacket. I looked at my feet. They were horrible. They were red on the verge of turning black. My toes were bleeding and they were dirtier than hell.

“Oh my god” I said covering my mouth. I wondered where my shoes were for a second, trying to take my mind of that horrid image of my feet. I concluded that they were lost in the river. Note to self: Don’t wear slip ons when crossing a rushing river on a soaked, old, fungi infested tree. Especially with no socks on.

I tried to push the log off but it didn’t budge. I tried again. This time it moved but it hurt like hell. I grinded my teeth as I tried not to scream in pain, it would only be a waste of energy if I did.

I lay back down in defeat, breathing heavily. The darkness came back, trying to get me to be overwhelmed with it. It blurred my vision. There were black holes in my sight, as if they were to rip a movie screen. I blinked, trying to regain full consciousness. I didn’t really work for the most part. I groaned inwardly, I had no effort to do it out loud.

In the distance I heard a faint growl, then a few paw steps. How in god’s name am I able to hear paw steps? I thought pensively. It wasn’t normal. I was interrupted by another growl, louder this time, to loud for my liking. Slowly, I propped myself up and twisted my body around to see the source of the noise. I was staring at a muzzle, complete with a wet nose, gray fur, and very pointy, barred teeth. I looked up at the creature’s eyes; the black pits seemed angry and agitated. It didn’t seem all that happy to see me.
“Crud” I said under my breath.

I tried to inch away from it as much as I could, regretting not taking gymnastics or something to be flexible. My hand hit something. I looked down without moving my head. It was long branch. I gripped it tight. The wolf growled again, this time it was louder than before. I flinched at how loud it sounded in my ears. It moved closer, I moved farther away. It took another step forward and I moved back, tightening my grip even more on the branch. My heartbeat sped up with fear, but I kept a straight face. I wanted to scream, yell for help, but I was too exhausted to do so, plus I didn’t want to startle the wolf. It growled again and barked. The noise hurt my ears.

It got into crouch, but it was more protective than threatening. I stared at it in wonder. What would it need to protect from me? After a few seconds, I realized it wasn’t facing me. Then I heard another growl, more distant than before. It didn’t come from the one in front of me, I grasped. I blinked and looked in the direction of the noise. In the dark shadows of the trees I could only make out a faint outline of another wolf and a pair of piercing amber eyes. I looked back to the one in front of me. It snarled at the other as they spoke non-understanding words.

The other wolf backed away a few steps, but then it ran and leaped onto the one in front of me. The gray wolf dodged skillfully as the other landed on nothing but hard earth. It had dark brown fur that I had mistaken for black for a few seconds. It got up and faced the gray wolf and snarled back, tail lashing from side to side furiously. The gray wolf jumped onto the brown wolfs back, biting feverishly. The brown wolf wasn’t as quick as the gray wolf as it tried, too late, to dodge the attack. The gray wolf bit the scruff of his neck. The brown one rolled over on its back, crushing the gray wolf.

The gray wolf pushed the brown one off of it. Soon they just looked like big gray and brown blur. My arms gave under me as I began to slump down on the ground. Everything was getting darker by the second. The stars dimmed as my eyes started to drift close. The moment before I left consciousness, a triumph howl sang through the night.

(A/N: Okay I want another name for this chapter, if you have any suggestion feel free to tell me...pretty please.....)

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