The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

5

It was dark.

Light slept in the farthest corners of my mind. I hadn’t seen it in so long, that I had almost forgotten it. How long? I couldn’t remember. Days, maybe weeks, had been spent in this cave, surviving off of water that had dripped from the cave ceiling and shriveled up fungi that had somehow managed to grow here. Occasionally, I would remember what light was like. I would think about it, remembering the warmth to the point where I could almost feel it…

It was so cold.

I shivered, walking forward into the darkness. The only reason I stayed here was the need to stay hidden from the Man’s sharp vision. His enhanced senses usually would’ve found me by now, but I had been extra careful. Thinking of that, I remembered to check myself. I sniffed, and upon scenting my signature sunlight-and-smoke smell, I threw myself to the ground and rolled around in the dirty, shriveled up fungus that covered it. I sniffed again. Much better.

I shivered when I stood. As I walked on, I counted steps. It helped me keep my mind off other things, such as the horrors of my past. Most of those being thoughts of the Man, and all he was affiliated with.

Slowly, however, my mind began to deteriorate. As dehydration and hunger began to overtake me, the monsters of my past rose up. Hallucinations sprung up in my path. Voices taunted me in the night. No matter what I did, I was always chased by the horrible things that had followed me, and brought me to the point where I had reached.

I had been running for months by then, and as I stalked through the dark realm of the cave, I contemplated the use of my own life.

Just as I fell to my knees, finally letting malnutrition overtake me, a roar sounded nearby. Rushing…my head popped up as I identified the sound. Only one thing that it could have been.

A river.

I ran, and nearly took a dive in the water. Filling my hands, I slurped it, guzzling until there was no more room in my stomach. Then, I took a bath, cleaning the disgusting dirt accumulated from the long months I had spent in the wilderness. I cleaned out the anxiety and terror in my heart, and welcomed the rush of joy that came with the water. I washed my jacket, and then ripped off the ends of my jeans to soak with water. Enough had soaked in that I was able to suck water from it to quench my thirst. I then looked for an exit, now filled with hope.

Time ticked by, and I was nearly out of water when I found it. A tiny flower, blooming weakly amongst the mushrooms.

I wandered past it, and found an exit, brimming with warm, beautiful light. Stepping into the edge of it, I sucked the last of the water from my jacket. When I felt ready, I stepped out.

The man clenched me in his arms. My breath had left, now squeezed out of me. All of the fight I had regained within me, all of the hope that had filled my soul, it had all gone to waste.

I was about to die.