One hour. I've been running through a thick forest for one hour. My energy was low and my entire body weak, but a rush of adrenaline was enough to keep me moving.
To run for your life definitely had some perks.
When you run like that, you think of nothing but the run itself. Neither place nor the surrounding, not even your body condition matters.
Your brain stops working, letting everything you ever knew about yourself and about your human abilities melt away. You realize that your potential is unlimited. All you think of is how your legs shift. The oxygen you inhale burns your lungs like seawater, but the rhythm goes steadily: One, two, three, four, five – breath in. Five, four, three, two, one – breath out.
Ahead of me laid blackness. The sky above me was a thick dark blue color.
Mentally, I started counting down to the moment when the light will start pushing the darkness away. Though the darkness around bothered me only a little. My eyes long ago adjusted to the natural moonlight that gave creepy shadows to the trees, and my feet got used to a green ground that greeted my soles softly at each step I took.
Through the swish and rustle in the distance, I recognized a howl of the wolves. A piercing sound has sent unwanted shivers down my body, and despite my obvious exhaustion, I've forced my legs to move faster.
In another ten minutes, the howl turned into an echo, and I understood that I've averted another danger. My pace slowed, and for the next half an hour I continued in semi-jog.
When I got to a clearing, a melody of bubbling water delighted my ears. My curiosity pulled me closer to the sound, and I found myself standing on the top of a small hill where underneath ran a medium sized stream that sparkled silver in the night air. Using my stick, I helped myself down to a foot of the heel and passed to the water.
As I stepped closer, my knees gave out. I fell onto a hard surface sprawling flat on my stomach.
Unable to make another move, my fingers slid by a covered in moss stone down, and I sensed iced cold liquid on my skin. My palm automatically collected some water, and I drew my hand to my mouth losing half of the content in the process.
The first drop on my tongue awoke burning thirst. Driven by a burning need for my body, I pulled myself to the edge of the stone and greedily started filling my mouth.
My empty stomach welcomed stream water with glee. In a moment I felt cooling sensation inside of me and sat on my heels restarting my breath.
My body temperature was significantly higher than normal. I noticed how steam was evaporating from the area where my skin was exposed. My drenched in sweat and dirt clothes were also releasing some warmth into the air. A stink of my own body surrounded me.
I wrinkled my nose wishing to jump into the water to get rid of it, but instead I lifted my chin high drawing some fresh air with my nose.
The night breeze tasted like honey. I licked my cracked lips, wishing to catch some sweetness, but my lips were salty. I removed with my tongue salty residue and spat the collected flavor on the ground.
When I restored enough energy, I bent down and reached for water. I splash my face several times, scrubbing the dirt off, and then rolled onto my back stretching flat on the moss.
Only now, being motionless gazing up into the sky that started finally graying out, I realize that I was on the ultimate sources of my consciousness. Every inch of my skin hurt. Every muscle felt sore. My body was on fire, burning with fever and I was so hungry, I would eat raw flesh if I would find any.
YOU ARE READING
A VERY DARK tale (#Wattys2016)
Paranormal"I closed my eyes listening again. To my left, I heard another several crunches, and without hesitation sprinted through the trees, keeping several paces away from the deer route. In this state of being I knew full well that right this moment I rese...
