Runaway

Aside from the feeling of wanting to smack Jane for refusing to let go of the small doe, I wanted to run until my feet couldn’t carry me anymore. The beast was covered in the blood of an innocent animal, and it’s large yellow eyes were glowing under the moonlight. I was hoping that as long and Jane and I remained still and silent that something else in the forest would steal the attention away from us. Those dreams were dashed when Donald panicked with fear.

His tiny little legs started to kick roughly, and though he didn’t have antlers, he bucked hard in Jane’s arms. So hard, in fact, that he threw her body backwards when he finally broke free. Jane’s face looked almost as fear stricken as mine. The doe safely made its way through the trees, and coyote gave out a loud cry as it started moving faster towards Jane.

She seemed almost defenseless on the ground. I watched her fingers run through the leaves as she dug for anything to protect her. The rock I’d used on the squirrel would only piss this animal off. The blood covered monster let out a low, deep growl. Against the light and the glow of those ugly eyes I could see sharp, bloody teeth just dying to rip into her flesh.

Without thinking, I pulled Jane off of her feet. The animal seemed to think that I was challenging him, because his feet started thumping hard against the ground. There was only thing that my body wanted to do now, and that was survive. Even City girls have animal instincts to fight for their lives.

“Oh, shit!” I cried when he got closer with his teeth showing. “Jane, run!”

I gave her arm a light tug as my feet started to carry my body quickly. I could hear her keeping up with me, cut I could also hear the creature letting out loud growls of war. I wanted to turn my head to see Jane, but as much as I tried, my body refused to do anything but run. Without even thinking I was jumping over branched and rocks. I couldn’t even feel the cuts of the briers I raced through.

After running for what felt like hours, I finally spotted a clearing just ahead of me. The tree line stopped completely and the ground was covered in dead leaves. It seemed to go on for miles and miles, so I didn’t stop myself.

“Jane!” I cried when I ran past the last tree that blocked me from the opening. “Jane, a clearing!”

I smiled brightly as I ran for my life. I thought that a clearing mean that we were getting closer to warm homes with warm food and comfy beds. However, I didn’t expect for my foot to slip and my body to crash hard to the ground. What I had assumed to be a clearing was only a bank, and when I landed hard I lost my breath.

My body went numb with the impact of the fall. My head was spinning so much that the only thing I could really make out were the sounds of the stream flowing under my body. I let out a few soft coughs, but my God, did they hurt. My rips felt as if they had ripped through my skin.

I wanted to move out of the ice cold water, but when I tried to lift myself, I gave a scream of pain. I had no idea what was worse, the fact that I could only feel the pain in my lower body when I tried to lift it, or the pain racing through my head.

It was so dark out that when my eyes began to close, it was like they were never open at all. I was breathing heavily, and every intake of oxygen made my lungs burn. I tried to call out to Jane, but when I opened my mouth no sound would come out.

With that being said, I was comfortable when the pain started to melt away and my mind began to shut down.