Stranded

II

Sitting in the cave, my only source of light is a crack that is embedded in the roof. To mark the movement of time, I use a rock to carve a mark into the wall every time the sun rises. I am on the third day and the stench of decay envelops the cave from the uncooked animals the give me as a daily meal. I am sure they are trying to fatten me up as their next sacrifice, and as much as I would like to refuse, I need to stay in good shape if I plan on escaping. I tried multiple times to move the boulder, but it was to no avail as it is too heavy to move; when the tribe's people come to feed me, I noticed that they need multiple hands to move it.

A new stream of light penetrates the cave as the boulder is being moved.

"Hello," a flood of relief washes over me; however, it is only brief when I realize the speaker is another tribe member. The boy sticks a piece of wood into the crack and commences to pull on it. "Give me a hand."

Hesitant at first, I start to help since he is small enough for me to easily overpower and since I hear no one else. When the boulder is finally freed, the boy tossed me a spear and the bag I was captured in, "hurry let's go."

As he disappears into the dark, I decide to join in pursuit. As I power into the night air, I can feel pain evolving from where the tribe leader cut my in the leg in order to prevent me from running. Yells arise around us as the tribe starts to realize my absence. Torches light up the sky as people come in pursuit of us. Even with the new threat, my feet start to slow down until a new pain erupts on the side of my face. A spear strikes the ground in front of me, tainted with a red-tinge. The new adrenaline rush pushes me towards the forest until a stream of red covers my face. The boy grabs at the spear until he falls onto the ground. Leaning down to help him up, the boy uses his limited strength to push me back, "go, and don't make my sacrifice be useless." Taking a final look at the boy, I flee back into the bushes.

I continue to run until my feet can no longer support the weight of my body. Crashing into a tree, I tuck myself under the roots and search my bag for something to eat.