What Happened On Lavender Ridge

Wild Wilderness

Abel still lay lifeless at the bottom of the mountain, surrounded by a puddle of blood and his face leaking from the deep jagged wounds that spread from his forehead to his cheek. He attempted to move several times crawling his weak body toward the dark forest ahead of him and getting nowhere in the process. His legs were too numb to stand and his hands had been sliced from the sharp edges of the cliffside.

The further he crawled, the longer the blood trail he left behind became until he passed out once again from exhaustion. He knew deep down if he didn't stay awake he would die before the sun peaked, with no one around to save him. Was this his end? Was this the sad conclusion of his story? Dying at fifteen, everyone he knows and loves is presumed dead, and him bleeding out at the base of a cliff after being attacked by what he could only call an undead bear? 

"No, not...today," He grunted, making another attempt at crawling for safety. He made it another five feet mere inches from the forest before his eye failed him once again. Closing before being forced open once more. It was no use, this was his end. This was where his story concluded, and this is where he prepared himself to die. He rolled himself onto his back and stared up at the sky with agony and pain written across his face. The fading stars glistened above, and with a smile, Abel allowed himself to relax and felt the cool night wrap around his skin. A soft hummed melody echoed through the trees around him filling the night air with a familiar tune.

He opened his eyes slowly as the humming continued. His ears perked at the mere sound of a melody he knew too well.

"He...hello?" He called out as the hum grew louder, "Who's there?" He called out again.

"Abe, my darling Abel, don't be afraid to rest." A voice sang. The song whispered itself directly into his ear. He knew this voice and he knew the song she was singing.

"Mom?" He called out his eye filling with tears and his face slathered in blood.

"Hello, my sweet boy," She called back, softly and sweetly.

"Am I dead?" He asked as a tear rolled down his dirt-covered cheek landing in the topsoil next to him.

"No, my sweet son, you are not dead," The voice chuckled.

"Then what are you?" He asked, staring up at the stars as they disappeared in the sunlight above him.

"I am your brain keeping you alive the best way I know how, through memories," The voice stated.

"I don't think I can do it, what do I do?" He pleaded, his body searing in pain and his eye swelling with more tears.

"I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell that you aren't done yet son, not here. Not tonight. You have so much left to give - so get up, and give it," His mother urged. He searched for any sign of his mother's figure or if it really was all in his head. He only found disappointment, nothing but darkness and tree limbs.

"You cannot see me, dear, I am merely just the memory of a soothing voice your brain has created to keep you conscious." She said, whispering again in both of his ears.

"Then how do you know it isn't my time yet?" he asked, closing his eye once more.

"Because you don't believe it is." The voice said calmly. Abel forced his eye open again looking to the sky for answers, when suddenly in the dark forest behind his head he heard rustling. He began to fear for his life once again. Did the dead bear find its way down to him? Was it another dangerous animal coming to finish the job? Sealing his eye shut, he knew that he couldn't survive another attack.

He waited in silence, anticipating the reveal of another threat to his life and preparing for the outcome. The rustling stopped behind the trees inches away from his lifeless body. He froze out of fear, his heart sinking into the dirt below him and his pants filling with the urine of someone awaiting death. Suddenly, above his head appeared the blurry silhouette of a large menacing face, accompanied by a pair of pointed ears. Wet, thick, saliva seethed through growling teeth as Abel stayed as still as possible.