Liminal Moments

Chapter 1: The Girl

She was lying on the ground, that much she knew. Leaves crunched under her fingertips as she twitched them. Her eyes fought her as she struggled to open them.  The light blinded her momentarily and then she could see she was in a clearing.  

The wind bent the trees on the outskirts of where she lay. The sky was cloudless and the sun gave small kisses of warmth on her skin, but the wind brought the promise of colder things to come. It raked its fingers across her flesh and she shivered. She pushed her torso off of the ground, her fingers curling around the dead leaves beneath her.  

Where am I? She thought numbly as she looked around the clearing.  

Another gust of wind sent a chill through her, goosebumps running up and down her arms. 

She sat up and hugged herself, rubbing her hands up and down her upper arms for warmth. Despite the desperate attempt from the sun, she was freezing and her body ached. She did not know how long she had been there, but the way her joints seemed to creak, it had been for a while.  

Her stomach rumbled, bringing attention to the hollowness of it. Her lips were so chapped that when she moved them they split open. Her tongue was thick in her mouth.  

She ran her tongue over her split lip, attempting to stop the blood that was thick on the wound. She pushed herself to her feet and stood there a moment to gain her balance. Everything shifted unevenly and dark spots clouded her vision for a moment. She waited until she could see again and took an unsteady step forward. She stumbled but was able to keep upright. She took another step, then another, until she was at the clearing edge. She tripped over her feet and caught herself on a tree. She was breathing heavily and took this time to catch her breath. 

Game trails led in different directions from the clearing, but there was only one well-worn path. She looked down the worn path. She needed water and something to eat, and a path that seemed to be well-maintained meant that there were people. She didn't have the luxury of wondering what kind of people would be at the end. 

She stumbled her way down the path, using the trees to catch herself whenever she lost her balance. The world spun, darkness tunneling her vision. Her skin stung when the wind stabbed at it. 

I don’t want to die. She thought, and it was this thought that moved her forward.

She didn't know how long she was walking. The sun was setting and the wind was becoming harsher. Her skin had long ago become numb and she had stopped shivering. She was so tired, but she knew stopping would mean death.  

She heard something in the woods at one point. An animal, she thought, seemed to follow her at a distance. It was getting closer to her, and even though she never really saw the creature, she could hear the leaves rustling just out of sight. 

She was desperate and losing hope the further she walked. The path seemed to go on forever and she did not know how much longer she would last. Either she would fall or the animal stalking her would be her end.  

She almost started crying when she saw the shabby hunting lodge. It was hidden in the trees, dead, overgrown weeds hid its wooden steps. She stumbled her way to the door and tried the handle. The hut was unlocked and she tripped on her way through the threshold. The door slammed shut behind her and silence followed. 

She had not realized how loud it was outside until it had been shut up by the walls. There were no windows except for a small one over the door. There was barely any light in the room, the only light from the small window, and even that was leaving her quickly. There was only a latch on the door, which she slid into place. There was a wood-burning stove at one corner and wood to put into it, except there was nothing to light it with. There was a bucket in another corner that had a rancid smell coming from it. There was a closet and cupboard next to the stove. On the wall furthest from the door, there was a small cot for sleeping.  

It quickly became obvious that this shelter was only for temporary use. Just hunters who needed shelter from nature if they were on long hunting trips. This one, though, seemed to have not been used in a very long time.  

She checked the closet first, looking for something warm to wrap herself in. There was a moth-eaten blanket tucked by itself on the shelf. It felt old and dirty to the touch, but it was also thick and heavy. She was not in a position to shun warmth as she wrapped the blanket around her. She then went about looking through the cupboards for something to eat. She found some provisions that, when opened, smelled and looked like something unrecognizable.  

Her stomach growled and her hands shook. She needed something to eat. She dug at the stuff in the glass jars with her fingers, them feeling slimy as she pulled them out. She fought her gagging as she shoved the stuff into her mouth. Immediately when it hit her tongue, she felt her insides try to leave through her mouth. She ran to the putrid bucket and spat out the rotten preserves into it. She then proceeded to dry-heave mucus and bile into the bucket, nothing in her stomach that could give the vomit substance.  

When she was done, her eyes were watering and her nose leaked. She breathed heavily and she was weaker than when she had been. She was shaking uncontrollably and she couldn’t get back up onto her feet. She crawled across the floor and collapsed onto the cot. Her body gave out on her and darkness consumed her.