Chapter 1- beyond the trees
1111 Words
Clara woke up, as she stared at the huge trees glancing at her from the top. Nothing seemed right to her; she winged her head sideways, trying to find a clue on how she got there.
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced down her neck as she screamed heavily. Her heart skipped a beat; Clara can't recall what had happened.
“Anybody?” she screamed, letting her voice echo down the deep wood. Her hands scratched at the rough tree stem as she stood up with speed.
“Where is this place?” She kept on murmuring and stroking her body off the ground.
The enchant of the birds kept on singing. The trees moving sideways, dancing to the wind.
A little shiver pumped into her skin; her hands were wrapped together as she grinded her teeth.
After a few minutes, she got back to herself. Twisted off her hands, and walked over deep into the forest.
No name, no memories, just a face she could feel with her hands.
She moved deep inside the wood, her legs itching from the rough stick piercing her.
She kept on moving forward, not minding what awaited her. Suddenly, a drip of rain dropped.
Clara stared at the sky, wondering what rain was like. If it was a sort of miracle, she pulled her hands out while turning round and playing with the rain.
Deep in her memory, there was nothing like rain in it. She played with it for close to thirty minutes, gasping fast as she held her chest while inhaling the dust mixed with the rain.
Something suddenly pulled her down; her scream echoed as she stumbled onto the ground.
A little rabbit paused, glanced at her, before running inside the wood. Her heart skipped a beat as she held her chest while gasping for more air.
The rain kept on falling heavy, soaking her pink T-shirt as it revealed her boobs.
She folded her hands firmly, shivering and grinding her teeth from the coldness.
“What is going on with me?” she questioned herself as she sat there. Squeezing her legs while scanning how deep the forest looked.
For an hour, Clara shut her eyes and slept off. But suddenly, the brightness of the sun pierced into her innocent eyes as she slid them open.
Scanning the brightness, she hid her face with her hand, preventing it from coming further to her eyeballs. She stood up and walked out of that area, pushing her legs into a cave she had just seen now.
It was carved with a little entrance, only for one person to penetrate.
She snuggled herself inside the cave, even though it gave her a little scratch on her palms.
With no light, the sun rays gave her a good view inside. She moved inside, her hands supporting her on the wall; as the cave grew bigger and taller, the further she went.
Clara's eyes suddenly met a small light shining at the corner of the cave; she rushed toward it only to see a waterfall.
Big as it was, she didn't think twice before rushing deep inside. Water dripped all round her body as she kept on dipping in and out of the water.
A little smile pulled out, and she laughed out hard. Not like she understood what water was, but she had pleasure being inside.
Ten minutes gone, Clara walked out of the water as she went further into the cave. Her eyes lingered for any items, and her hands clutched to her belly as it made a crunchy sound.
She was definitely hungry, but she didn't know what it meant. Hungry as she was, she spied on a little rat that stood alone, eating peacefully.
Without thinking further, she rushed over to it. Her hands pinned at the rat, and didn't waste any time but tore it apart and ate the neck.
Blood oozed from it, slashed on her face. She used her left hand to wipe off the blood and kept on eating the live rat.
Satisfied by her hungry urge, she sat there licking her fingers. Imagining what her next food might be, she laid her back on the rough rock.
Night had gone, and the air slashed down her skin as she squeezed her legs and hugged herself firmly.
But just in, a few hours of sleep. Husked grew stronger and stronger; numerous men's voices sparked closer to her direction.
Clara sat down and crawled a little off the water as she spied while she held a stick.
“Sir, are you sure someone is here?” A man's voice asked another as the man walked over to his colleagues.
Their arms well loaded, they were definitely armies as they walked closer to where Clara was.
Suddenly, they all paused. Their guns were well gunned, and their eyes were fixed in one direction.
“Do you…hear that?” Johnson, the younger of them, asked. They nodded no as they kept on moving forward.
Clara mistakenly left a yawn, leaving all of them rushed deep inside the cave.
Clara couldn't understand who was coming; all she did was stare at the entrance with a broken stick as defense.
The army men finally arrived at where she was, their jaws clenched open as they stared at her with aghast faces.
“Uhhmm,” Clara muttered, standing up and pointing at them with her stick. “Don't you dare come close!” She yelled, wiping her sweating face with her dirty palms.
Her legs shivered as the fear growled down her spine. But she wasn't ready to show them that; she stood on her ground, glancing at every one of them.
They were up to ten, still fixed with their guns at them.
“What’s your name?” Victor asked their leader as he tried approaching her.
She waved him off, flipped her stick toward him. Victor moved backward, his hand wide open at the front as he tried calming her down.
“We wouldn't hurt you, trust me…” his voice below a whisper.
“Who are you all?” She snarled, her broken legs shaking as she glanced at them.
“We are here to save you. I'm…Victor, and these are my teammates.” He batted his eyes as he approached her for the second time.
“Don't you…” Clara's eyes got blurry, her voice cracking as she felt some dizziness in her head.
She fell onto the floor; she tried lifting her eyes, but it failed her.
The only thing she could see was five men staring at him from up above as they kept on mumbling some words.
- Writer
