stream, the trees... "Help!"
I jumped
at a sensation brushing against my shins and glanced down to see what the water
hid. Miniature elephants traced their stubby trunks up and down my legs, and
like fingers of a jellyfish, they gave light zaps. Their plump bodies were
bright white, contrasting with the fluorescent blue of their home.
"You've
got to be shitting me." The need to kick them warred with the urge to pet
them. Probably better to do neither.
I went
to the bank, dodging the rest of the weird crap swimming in the river. Climbing
through all that damn nature wasn't easy, especially without shoes and a
sweatshirt heavy with water. After I managed to slip into the copse of trees, I
pulled off my sweatshirt, hanging it on a tree branch.
Soaking
hair and drenched clothes should've left me shivering, but the dense humidity
covering the terrain was miserable in a more sticky, August heat way. I wrung
out the bottom of my T-shirt, my mind racing.
This…place,
so freaking unbelievable. The tree trunks were the same hue as dark chocolate,
and the leaves were a green like those dumb posters of Irish fields tacked on Mrs.
Terra's classroom walls.
Ah,
now I got it… My mind
finally broke.
I
twisted the skin on my forearm, flinching from the pain, and touched the moss
to my face, inhaling its earthy scent.
Sonofabitch…
Everything
felt real, smelled real...my fear was real. All this real crap had a
panic bubble building in my gut.
I
scanned the horizon, hoping to gauge the time. But the sky didn't help. It was
just a solid sheet of deep purple. Hmm, that explained why everything had a
violet tint.
Whatever.
I needed to get the hell out of here. All those survival shows said to follow
the river when searching for a way out of the woods. Sounded good enough to me.
The
calmness of the water, regardless of the waterfall dumping quiet gallons every
second, had the hairs on my neck standing at attention. But I erased any
radical thoughts–or overly rational ones–and picked through the trees.
Odd,
fur-covered fish scampered out of my way. Orange snake-like creatures walking
on four legs kept pace before getting bored and leaving. None of them tried to bite
or anything. So after they scared the piss out of me, I kept going, ignoring
them.
The
forest didn't change at all, a kind of unnatural symmetry dominating. Once I
figured out the pattern, I had no trouble evading scratching limbs and prickly
bushes. I yelled every so often, at first to relieve the panic then because I
had nothing better to do.
The more
I walked, the more I liked the peace, the vivid colors, even the strange
creatures brave enough to confront me. This place was kind of awesome, actually.
Bright, oversized flowers bloomed in the pockets between the symmetric trees
and bushes. The scent…I wished I could bottle it. It was so clean, like flowers
mingling with the gritty soil. The heat began to feel nice, too. Maybe I wouldn't
have to leave.
After
that thought, things changed.
The sky
grew darker, dimming all the crazy colors. It didn't set off any alarms at
first. Everything grew darker at night, right? I kept walking, paying no
attention to the sudden quiet. I even decided to set up some sort of camp, the
place way better than the dank trailer park.
Gushing
water changed my mind.
After an
hour of calm, the noise had my danger sensors finally working. The tranquil
river transformed into an entity not even safe for extreme whitewater rafting.
It roared in my ears like a pride of lions in an echo chamber. I did a
one-eighty and picked up my speed, heading back to my sweatshirt.
Where
else did I have to go?
I kept
an eye on the river and hoped the water wouldn't overtake its banks. The heat grew
unbearable, my mouth drying up so much my tongue swelled. That scent I wanted
to take home with me switched to the smell of a beach when dead fish washed
ashore.
I raced
through options, everything sounding stupid, as a sharp squeal came from the
tops of
I jumped
at a sensation brushing against my shins and glanced down to see what the water
hid. Miniature elephants traced their stubby trunks up and down my legs, and
like fingers of a jellyfish, they gave light zaps. Their plump bodies were
bright white, contrasting with the fluorescent blue of their home.
"You've
got to be shitting me." The need to kick them warred with the urge to pet
them. Probably better to do neither.
I went
to the bank, dodging the rest of the weird crap swimming in the river. Climbing
through all that damn nature wasn't easy, especially without shoes and a
sweatshirt heavy with water. After I managed to slip into the copse of trees, I
pulled off my sweatshirt, hanging it on a tree branch.
Soaking
hair and drenched clothes should've left me shivering, but the dense humidity
covering the terrain was miserable in a more sticky, August heat way. I wrung
out the bottom of my T-shirt, my mind racing.
This…place,
so freaking unbelievable. The tree trunks were the same hue as dark chocolate,
and the leaves were a green like those dumb posters of Irish fields tacked on Mrs.
Terra's classroom walls.
Ah,
now I got it… My mind
finally broke.
I
twisted the skin on my forearm, flinching from the pain, and touched the moss
to my face, inhaling its earthy scent.
Sonofabitch…
Everything
felt real, smelled real...my fear was real. All this real crap had a
panic bubble building in my gut.
I
scanned the horizon, hoping to gauge the time. But the sky didn't help. It was
just a solid sheet of deep purple. Hmm, that explained why everything had a
violet tint.
Whatever.
I needed to get the hell out of here. All those survival shows said to follow
the river when searching for a way out of the woods. Sounded good enough to me.
The
calmness of the water, regardless of the waterfall dumping quiet gallons every
second, had the hairs on my neck standing at attention. But I erased any
radical thoughts–or overly rational ones–and picked through the trees.
Odd,
fur-covered fish scampered out of my way. Orange snake-like creatures walking
on four legs kept pace before getting bored and leaving. None of them tried to bite
or anything. So after they scared the piss out of me, I kept going, ignoring
them.
The
forest didn't change at all, a kind of unnatural symmetry dominating. Once I
figured out the pattern, I had no trouble evading scratching limbs and prickly
bushes. I yelled every so often, at first to relieve the panic then because I
had nothing better to do.
The more
I walked, the more I liked the peace, the vivid colors, even the strange
creatures brave enough to confront me. This place was kind of awesome, actually.
Bright, oversized flowers bloomed in the pockets between the symmetric trees
and bushes. The scent…I wished I could bottle it. It was so clean, like flowers
mingling with the gritty soil. The heat began to feel nice, too. Maybe I wouldn't
have to leave.
After
that thought, things changed.
The sky
grew darker, dimming all the crazy colors. It didn't set off any alarms at
first. Everything grew darker at night, right? I kept walking, paying no
attention to the sudden quiet. I even decided to set up some sort of camp, the
place way better than the dank trailer park.
Gushing
water changed my mind.
After an
hour of calm, the noise had my danger sensors finally working. The tranquil
river transformed into an entity not even safe for extreme whitewater rafting.
It roared in my ears like a pride of lions in an echo chamber. I did a
one-eighty and picked up my speed, heading back to my sweatshirt.
Where
else did I have to go?
I kept
an eye on the river and hoped the water wouldn't overtake its banks. The heat grew
unbearable, my mouth drying up so much my tongue swelled. That scent I wanted
to take home with me switched to the smell of a beach when dead fish washed
ashore.
I raced
through options, everything sounding stupid, as a sharp squeal came from the
tops of
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