The woods’ outline was cool and comforting against the blue skies in the scorching heat that she could feel rise to a peak level again. She moved swiftly towards it and gladly delved into the first cluster of roots and leaves that lay at the outskirts of the woods. Her skin feverishly welcomed the dew that fell off the leaves onto her arms. She stooped further as a heavy branch hid the way to the inside of the woods and crossing underneath it reached a small clearing.
The air was filled with the smell of moss growing all around under the trees. The smell of it felt like heaven to her after her time in the city. There was also a strong smell of burnt wood and she wondered where it came from. She ventured further into the woods following the smell of the burnt wood until she arrived to another clearing and found a tree that had been split into two, visibly struck by lightning, the two sides charred and fallen to the ground. The center of the tree was still fuming a bit and she could sense humming all around it.
She looked around and saw a swarm of bees all around the neighbouring trees. She wondered whether they had been in the tree before it had been burnt down. She was a little apprehensive on whether the bees would attack her as they seemed quite restless but they only circled around her and never dived upon her to sting her. The way they were hovering around, they seemed to be dancing and she found that quite odd. Suddenly they stopped their movement and after a few seconds they flew in group towards a spot at the end of the clearing.
She ran after the bees, eager to see what had drawn them there. In the distance she could see lights flickering. She wondered if there were people in the woods out here like her to escape the heat of the city. She hid behind one of the trees near the end of the clearing and watched intently as the lights drew closer. She realised that the lights were coming over a stretch of water that started at the end of the clearing. She looked further and found out that it was actually a large river. The lights came over the edge of the river and stopped on the river bank.
She came out of her hiding place behind the trees and stared curiously at the lights. There seemed to be nothing holding them up there, not even an insect. She reached out to the lights and could feel a tingling feeling at the tip of her fingers. The river bank softly gave way under her feet and she seemed to be sinking as she could no longer feel the earth underneath. At the same time, the lights seemed to move closer to her or perhaps she was moving closer to hem. She could feel their warmth as they engulfed her…
The woods were alive with unfamiliar noises and she felt movements in the shadows as she ran. Something or a group of things seemed to be closely following her. She wished she had kept the stun gun as she did not know whether she would be able to fight off whatever it was that was stalking her now.
She felt the suns going down more than she saw them as she had moved from the clearing into a thicker part of the woods. In front of her, a large tree offered a lower bough that seemed strong enough to hold her weight. She leapt and swung herself over, landing on it, holding the trunk. Slowly she made her way up to the middle of the tree were there were lots of leaves that offered some warmth against the night’s chill that had started to fall over the woods. She plucked many leaves, attempting to tuck them around her body but most fell off. She wished she had taken at least the shirt off Prime Creator when he was stunned so that she could have some protection against the cold now or at least some material to stuff the leaves into.
Underneath the tree, she saw a number of shadows moving, going around it in circular motion. They looked like beasts she had seen in a show once, not entirely crawling on four paws but rather alternately on two and on four. One of them attempted to leap at the tree and she wondered whether it would make it up the bough as she had earlier but it dropped to the ground unable to make it to the first bough. She wondered whether it or any of the other beasts would figure out how to get up the tree. Perhaps she should try to see whether there was anything out there that could be of help. Peering out of the leaves on each side she could only see other trees.
The moons slowly came out lighting the landscape and she suddenly saw a glint to the East. The shadows stopped their circling and slowly moved away from the trees towards the rising moons. They seemed to be following their rise in the skies. As the moons rose higher, she saw a river in the distance. Perhaps she ought to cross the river she thought. She did not think these things would follow her across.
She climbed down the tree and looked around. They were gone it seemed. She started making her way to the river when she heard a twig snap. One of them was there to her right, standing on two paws. It actually was not really a beast she thought as she took in the resemblance to Prime Creator. The thing’s body was covered in thick fur and its face was twisted and wolf-like despite the vague resemblance to Prime Creator. Behind it, a few similar beasts were approaching. Run she thought but she was fascinated at how all had the same features and could not move. The first one moved towards her, breaking the spell and she ran. She could hear them running behind her as she dashed between the trees heading for the river.
She could hear the sound of it and could see the intermittent glint of its waters under the moonlight as she ran. She dashed from the woods and plunged arms first into the waters. As she had expected the beasts behind her stopped. When she plunged, the ice cold of the waters left her stunned at first. Slowly recovering her senses, she emerged watching the bank closely. They were in a semi-circle now, observing her intently. It surprised her that until now they had uttered no sound. Not one sound at all. It was odd with beasts of that nature she thought and chuckled inward at the tales of wolves howling naturally at the moon but her teeth were chattering now and she could not bring even a smile to her lips. She started slowly towards the other bank but froze as she saw more beasts on the other side. How on Earth had they made it to the other side she thought.
The bridge stood in the distance almost mockingly she felt. Her brain was getting numb and she could not think of another solution to this problem. She swam back to the other bank, barely able to make it. Her limbs were feeling increasingly heavy and her body seemed to be going into hypothermia. Either way she was going to die she thought. After all she had gone through, it was going to come to that. How pointless she thought bitterly. She slowly rose out of the waters and clumsily made her way to the bank. Better a quick ending she thought to herself than freezing a slow death in the river. She dropped down exhausted and in shock at the feet of the first beast.
The beast gazed down at her then slowly inched its way towards her. She saw the large disfigured likeness of the face of Prime Creator come towards her. She could already imagine the jaws mangling her head. The beast laid its head against her cheek and then lowered its body next to hers. Another followed its example, its face lying across her bare chest and its body pressed to her other flank. A few more followed and in no time all her body was covered with fur. She felt the warmth slowly return to her limbs. Sleep slowly overtook her and she closed her eyes, feeling safe and warm. The moons glistened on the waters illuminating the figures of the beasts, huddled, down by the River.
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