Fugitive
By wackojacko20000
- 666 reads
I creep out slowly from behind the building, a sense of fear
overwhelming my now trembling body. Slowly, I continue to creep forward
through the tall grass. I mustn't be seen. Suddenly, I hear it. The
screech which tells me danger is near. I break into a run, the
adrenaline pumping through my body, adding strength and speed to my
limbs. My heart races, pounding against my rib cage. The flashlights
start to search the tall grass and the screeching becomes louder. I
look up, dreading what I will see.
It is above me, circling, searching, hovering until... it spots me.
Another screech signals the discovery, but I cannot move. My body has
frozen, staring at it. My heart feels as if it has stopped. My legs
feel leaden.
"Run!" I tell my legs. "Move! Do something! DO ANYTHING!" My brain is
now screaming. After a long moment, my legs finally obey the command
and once again, I run.
Tripping, stumbling, falling, I tumble towards safety. I do not
recognise a single thing in this foreign land, my senses disorientated.
I run blindly through the darkness, the shriek just behind. I can hear
the snuffling, growling search dogs, all looking for me. They have
caught my scent, now. Those who I thought of as my friends, were all
searching for me. Looking to turn me in and gain their reward. The
flashlights beam across the grass again and suddenly I see it - a
familiar tree, a bush, the branch masking the doorway to my safe-haven.
With a glimmer of hope in my heart, a burst of speed comes from within
me and I rush towards the beckoning doorway.
My foot slips and I tumble forwards, hitting the hard ground with a
large thump. No! This cannot happen now! Not when I am so close to
home. I try to pick myself up and stagger towards my goal, lurching
this way and that as if I am drunk. That shriek again, the barking of
the dogs, the searching lights, muddling my senses, my body slows,
drinking in the night air, attempting to keep moving and suddenly...
SNAP! A searing pain zings through my body, as if a thousand needles
had been stuck into me, or a knife plunged through my heart. I scream
in pain and force my way through the inviting doorway, galloping down
the long, twisting corridors to the inner sanctum. I huddle in a small
ball, my body shaking all over. A snuffling noise, another shriek, this
time of defeat, overwhelm my sharp senses. The sounds eventually die
away, but I stay where I am, waiting until I know the danger has
passed.
After what seems a lifetime to wait, I slowly uncurl. The pain in my
body has now subsided to a dull throb. I decided to check myself over
and clean myself at the same time. I brush my backside, but there is
something wrong. I smell my arm. A rusty smell, a small smear of
something... a sticky fluid. Tentatively, I lick my arm, tasting blood.
Horrified and as if in slow motion, I turn around, bracing myself for
the horror of my injury.
Half my tail is gone.
- Log in to post comments