It's cold.... so cold. I can't feel my legs; it's so chilling. My eyes snap open, and I realize where I am. A forest surrounded by snow. I sat up quickly in a panic and was immediately struck by pain in my head. I let out a loud cry. The sharpness of the pain eventually eases and dissipates after a minute, but my head is still throbbing. I tried standing up, but another sharp pain radiated through my right leg, and I fell right back down. I look at my leg and see that my right knee is as big as a watermelon, straining against the denim of my skinny jeans.
I am stuck in a wintertime forest without help and can't walk! Lucky for me, it's daytime, so I can still see......somewhat. Trying to get up again, I used my left leg as the primary support and got up to my feet. I hop from tree to tree, hoping to find someone to help me or some shelter. Nothing about this situation is good, and I know I can't stay in one spot or I am going to freeze to death. That was out of the question. The snow is so white and beautiful, falling from the sky and drifting gently to the ground like feathers. The trees are dark brown and very tall. Even though I was in pain and completely lost, I felt like I was walking around in a beautiful painting. My red and black striped sweater and my dark blue jeans probably mess up the beauty of the painting, though, or maybe my being here is what has made the painting art. Who knows? In any case, I'm thrilled I have winter boots for this. My regular sneakers wouldn't cut it.
A loud howl in the distance snaps me out of my thoughts and back to reality. Looking around me, I realize it's later in the day than I had thought, and it's getting dark. And on top of that, I've yet to make progress.
I remind myself to find shelter or someone to help me. I can't stay in the cold all night. The howls sounded a little closer than before; my loud yelp of pain must have alerted a pack of wolves that I was there. My panic starts to rise, which triggers me to hop faster, but of course, my luck being what it is, I trip over a tree root and twist my ankle. The unexpected pain shoots through me, and I scream loudly, trying to cover my mouth to mute the sound. The wolves must be closer by now. Slowly, I crawl to a nearby tree and lean against it. Tears spill from my eyes, falling down my face to the cold snow. I sob and wrap my arms tightly around me. I'm tired, hungry, cold, and not to mention in terrible pain from head to toe. I've never been much of a prayer, but something was telling me to pray. What option did I have? God was the only one I could ask for help now. So that is what I did.
Closing my eyes, I started to pray, asking God to help me through this pain and out of this cold forest. Slowly, I opened my eyes and watched the snow continue to fall from the cloudy sky, admiring its beauty. But my peaceful moment ended abruptly when I heard a low growl. My heart dropped, and I tried to get up to run away, but I fell right back down. The sharp pain in my head was back, and I couldn't hold back my scream. When the throbbing in my head subsided, I saw six big, black wolves before me. They were more of a monster than a wolf. The biggest one stood in their line, eyeing me as prey. My heart sank, and tears began to fall again. With trees behind me and a line of wolves in front of me, my odds of survival were poor. All I could do was move slowly, not prompting them to attack me. The wolves were still sizing me up. I looked at the space between us and noted that they were a reasonable distance away from me. I might be able to take advantage of that and find a place to hide or climb that they couldn't reach.... maybe. But before I could act on my poorly laid plans, another sharp pain seared through my head.
I screamed again, which signaled the wolves to attack. They were running full speed towards me. I tried to crawl away, but it was hopeless; my body was exhausted and freezing. I couldn't even feel my hands from crawling on the snow. In defeat, I decided to turn around and accept my fate. I covered my face with both arms and prepared myself for the worst. Still, nothing happened. Instead of snarling wolves on top of me, I heard what sounded like one of the wolves being hit by something. Uncovering my face, I saw a tall man fighting the wolves with a torch. The man wore all black. His face was hidden by the growing darkness and the hood he wore. He hurt at least two of the wolves and ran to me.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"No, I can't walk, and I'm exhausted," I told him.
He quickly picked me up bridal style and ran in the opposite direction of the wolves. I could hear the wolves chasing us with loud growls and barks, but this man was running like a track star. He was weaving in and out the trees as if he knew the forest like the back of his hand. The trees began to clear, and it looked like we were headed toward a cliff. No, that couldn't be right. But as we left the tree line, I saw that we were headed directly for a cliff.
I panicked and gripped the man tighter. "There is a cliff up ahead!" I yelled at him.
He remained silent as if I hadn't said anything. I yelled again, but still nothing from the man. We were getting closer to the cliff, and I could still hear the wolves behind us. There is no way he's going to jump.... right? I thought to myself. He wouldn't. I was wrong. He tightened his hold on me without slowing and jumped off the cliff. The wolves howled at the cliff's edge, and the wind whipped loudly in my ears as we fell. Looking down, I saw nothing but a white, foggy abyss below. That's when everything went black.
YOU ARE READING
The Trip
AdventureA young woman becomes injured and disoriented in a foreign world. While traveling through the winter woods, she has no recollection of her identity. However, she is not alone in the forest. Wolves howling can be heard not far from where she stands.
