HELP ME

SHE'S HANGING

When Charlotte fell, she hit her head on a branch that was lying on the ground. She couldn't feel the pain because she was not conscious. Had she been conscious at that point, she would have been in great pain.

“Wake up Charlotte,” a voice called her. She was still down.

After the voice persisted, Charlotte flinched into consciousness quickly. She panted persistently as she looked around swiftly with her eyes.

“Calm down. It's me,” George said calmly.

Charlotte looked up. It was morning. The sun was out shining over them while the birds were chirping in the big green trees. The air blew calmly. The flowers were blooming, bees hovered over the beautiful flowers of different colours. Red, Blue, White and Yellow. The view of the forest was spectacular.

“Did you find Kimberley?” George inquired with a frown face.

“No,” Charlotte replied while massaging her head. She was still in pain.

“What about Joshua?” George continued.

“I did not find anyone. Do you know why?” Charlotte asked bitterly.

“No,” he responded.

“It's because I collapsed last night,” she said in a shameful tone.

“Tell me, Do you think they are still alive?” George asked.

“I don't know about Joshua. But, Kimberley is still alive? “she assured.

“What do you mean?” George asked in surprise.

“I saw her in my dream. Just like the one I had when Raymond was missing. She’s in this forest. We must hurry and find her because tonight she might be....” Charlotte then paused.

George was confused. He asked curiously, “Where exactly is she?”

“I don't know. But I'm sure she's deep in the forest,” Charlotte answered.

George helped Charlotte up. The both of them walked back to the car and collected some of the important things. They got a bag, bottle water and some snacks.

George complained, “I told you that this car is too old. But you wouldn't listen to me. Now we are stuck here. We don't even know where we are, or where we are going. It's either we will die with hunger, because these snacks will finish some or, that beast will kill us!”

Charlotte began to make fun of George. She said, “George, aren't you the one who said, ‘Charlotte, there are two men here. Don't worry, if at all we are attacked, us men will protect you,’ tell me, what happened those men?”

George was full of guilt. He looked into Charlotte’s eyes timidly and responded, “As you can see, Charlotte. I'm here. I have no idea where the other man is. Besides, that was a beast, a creature for crying out loud. I couldn't possibly fight it.” He continued, “You should be glad that I'm here. Not condemn me.”

Charlotte replied, “I'm not condemning you. I'm only repeating what you said the previous night.” Charlotte laughed.

The both of them branched into the forest. They were walking in the east direction where Kimberley ran the previous night.

The forest was thick. Different kinds of tree species. The tall ones and the short ones. The light from the sun penetrated the tall trees, and because of that, they were able to see. But, in some other parts of the forest, the light wasn't as powerful because the trees were to close to each other and the leaves were to big. In those areas, they struggled to find there way.

They walked for hours and hours but did not find any signs that would lead them to Kimberley. They were getting tired of walking. Their legs were hurting, sharp pains in the stomach and painful cramps in the joints. Time was running out. They hoped to find Kimberley before night fell upon them but they could hardly walk. They decided that they take a quick rest under the tree so that they could build up some energy to continue looking for Kimberley.

“The rest should not take more than 30 minutes,” declared Charlotte.

They sat down under a very tall tree. Charlotte unzipped her bag and pulled out bottled water. They drunk the water like thirsty animals. Drinking and gulping.

George asked Charlotte while he was lying down, “Let's say we find Kimberley. How do we go back to the road?”

“We go back the same way we came,” she replied.

“But the forest is thick. And it's getting thicker. I can hardly see what is five meters away from me,” he claimed.

“We'll worry about that later. First we find Kimberley, then we'll know what's next.”

After 30 minutes, they stood up and continued looking for Kimberley. The forest was getting thicker and thicker. It was evening and they could hardly see where they were going.

“What do you think is the time?” George asked.

“I can't tell,” she replied. It was getting darker and darker after every step that they took. And soon, it was dark.

Charlotte reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight. She switched it on. The flashlight made a big difference.

They searched for Kimberley for hours but didn't find her. George began to have doubts, whether Kimberley was still alive. There were no signs, big or small that would give them faith to continue looking. He was worried. He did not tell Charlotte because she would have scolded him. He kept it to himself.

Again, they decided to take a quick rest under another tree because they had been walking for four hours without rest.

Charlotte was so tired that she fell asleep under the tree. The air blew calmly. Cricket chirped and owls hooted. Some animals such as wolves were howling. Again, it sounded as if a human was howling. It was creepy and scary.

As Charlotte was sleeping, she had a dream. In her dream, she saw Kimberley hanging from a tall tree. She was badly bruised. She couldn't move or talk. She then saw the creature from afar walking towards Kimberley, ready to take her life.

Charlotte woke up quickly from her dream. She woke George and said announced, “Kimberley was on top of us! She's hanging from a tree! We have to hurry. The creature will attack her!”

They started running back to the tree were they had stopped earlier. Charlotte was in front with the flashlight, George was behind her with the bag. They ran as fast as they could.

Because they were running, it took them less than three hours to reach the tree.

When Charlotte pointed the flashlight up to the branches; she saw Kimberley unconscious while hanging from the branch upside down.

Charlotte gasped. George quickly began to climb the tree. He pulled Kimberley and put her on his back and he climbed down the tree.

Charlotte felt sorry for her. Kimberley had scars all over her face. She reached into her bag and got a blanket and covered Kimberley.