Imti

Maybe DOnt

Photo by Michael Luna

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note: yeah, this is being rewritten. oh my god, i read the second sentence and said "ew" out loud. who are these characters? what was i writing? just- just skip this. move on. don't even add it to a library. im only leaving this here to shame myself into writing something else. cant believe this was gonna be in first person. im throwing my computer out a window. ive made a decision, this is just gonna be a movie now i dont care anymore its the only thing i'll be happy to make. can you wait 3 years for the finished product? 

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At first, I thought I was still asleep. My eyes were murky and my body apathetic. I tried to pull the awkward blankets further over me, but the back of my hand just knocked a few stones off my chest.

Blooming light. My own screams. Rock scraping rock. Darkness. Nothing.

I felt a hand slap across my mouth. "Promise me: you'll do exactly as I say." I breathed heavily against algid fingers and nodded against the ground, hoping she could see my movement through the dark. Her voice was strange, lilting, like the warbling of a songbird. She was hesitant, "Alright. You'll have to stay quiet while you lift this section of the wall to get your leg out. We don't know what they'll do when they find you." I nodded again. She took her hand from my face.

I could just hardly see the smallest streams of sunlight from the collapsed ceiling where the sand must have filtered in, but I couldn't place her in the stygian chamber. "Sit up, will you? You'll have to be careful. We don't know how bad your leg is." I strained to lift my head to look down at my body. Nothing. It was too dark. I shook my head. After the stunt Timid just pulled, I'd have to rely on this disembodied voice to pull me through. At least it was only my leg.

"Come on, now. Up. Both hands out in front. There you go. Don't push straight forward, lift." The rock was way too heavy, even for the size of my frame, so I twisted my hips, my foot, anything to loosen the pressure on my shin. "Don't pull too hard, either. You don't want to dislocate your knee." I panted and paused. "Can't you h - "

"Hush! Do you want them to hear you!"

"I'm sorry, I -" Her hand clamped over my mouth. "I've just found you and I'm not going to lose this chance. Stay quiet." I breathed heat into her frore palm and nodded a final time. It'd be child's play. I could get loose on my own. "Try again."

I huffed and hauled and harried the boulder entirely off a few inches to the right, but it wasn't enough.

I heard nothing. Maybe the lady left? I started to panic. If the cops were here there was enough evidence here to put me away for life, several lives if I'd run out of luck. I never officially signed Foley's stupid guild contract. And if anyone else had survived Timid's blast, they'd be sure to finish me off, then every last one of us before offing themselves, too. I brought my hand to my face. Was it really . . . shaking?

A hollow whisper shocked the still air, "Please."

Only by some secret and inhuman ability did I find myself stumbling across broken pillars and clunking through layers of still-settling dust. Where was the wall? Or was it the wall that had fallen on me, like she said? I puffed in annoyance. It was no good getting out from under that rock if I was just going to remain trapped in the same stone box.

My knees ached. I had no idea why the lady wasn't saying anything, but I doubt she would have let me ask like I had any time soon. I found another toppled column and sat on it, grunting much louder than I meant to. I held my hand in front of my face, only to shake my head. I could see no more than a minute amount of its outline. I leaned down to massage the shin that had almost been crushed. The tomb was quiet, but I could still hear the plop ... plop ... plop of something dripping close by, wind blowing through an adjacent room, the humming of a few bugs and beetles. We had no place here, a troupe of hackers, conmen, and thieves leaving a trail of discord, war, and agitation in our wake.