I was running faster than I had ever run before. I could hear them behind me closing in; I knew that I wasn't going to last much longer. The natives knew these forest better than I did and they were used to playing cat and mouse. In this case of cat and mouse, the hunter almost always got their prey. I dreading knowing that I wasn't going to get out of this alive, but I wasn't going to go without a fight. These people were belligerent in their chase, they wanted me and I didn't want them.
When I first came to this island, I was in search of archaeological finds, but found a tribe of cannibals instead. I didn't realize what they were until I saw the bodies laid out, and then they turned on me. The second I realized that I was dinner, I darted into the woods. They hunted then ate, there was no plate between the living and the meal.
I was getting tired and my legs were burning from exhaustion. "This is it." I thought " This is where I die." But my legs keep going, like a machine, I had lost control of my body, panic had set in and my muscles had gone into autopilot. Up ahead I could see a bluff overhanging the sea. I had to make a decision and fast. I stopped a few feet away from the edge of the cliff, my thoughts buzzed around my mind like mad bees. I looked down and saw the swirling water below me, twisting around like a creature.
The hunting party broke through the tree line and stared at me, weapons drawn. Bare chested and wearing only a weaved skirt around his waist made from leaves and straw, one called to me in a language that I didn't recognize. By the tone of his voice and how he held himself, I deemed him the head of my hunting party.
I looked back down at the water and considered my fate. I could jump now and die from the fall, or I could surrender myself and allow myself to be made into a meal. Neither fates seemed a good choice, but I had to choose.
If I jumped, I would die by my own doing. That sounded better than being killed and eaten. I stepped closer the edge and peered down at my death, now it didn't seem so bad. I was going to hurt, but it seemed better than killed. I stepped off. For a second I thought I was flying, unfortunately my wings were broken and I fell like a stone. The seconds felt like they were moving in slow motion.
Before me I could see my life pass by me. I could see my brother and I playing on the swings at my old house. I could see my college graduation played through my mind. I saw the back the helicopter leaving me on the island, supposedly for my first dig. The water was mere inches away when I closed my eyes. I felt the impact on the water and then nothing. I guess this is death. It felt like nothing. It felt like I was in space, floating around in the cold and the void of nothing and everything at once. Everything is life and nothing is death. This is nothing.
