Living With Reality

Chapter 6

*****

Running through the woods was hard. Thorns cut my ankles while tree branches whipped my face–leaving cuts and wounds as I ran. Something was chasing me. Something or someone I couldn't quite focus on. 

I was walking through the woods with someone I don't remember. We were walking towards a bob wire fence when something cracked. Something behind us. The person I was with looked behind me and screamed. I didn't look behind me. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. 

I jumped the fence and never stopped running. I didn't focus on the person I was out here with. I didn't care. Every woman for herself. 

I could hear something behind me, but I didn't care to turn around. Whatever it was that was behind me had to be bad. 

I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore. As I was coming to a stop, I looked behind me and saw that nothing was there. Looking around, I found a tree. It looked like I could sit on a branch without falling. I climbed right up and sat there–looking for whatever that person could have screamed over. 

"Fajerayonis!" I yell. I didn't know who I was yelling for, but as soon as I yelled, the same girl who was beside me walked slowly by the tree.

"Lanaeyah?" she looked around.

"Psst! I'm up here." I whisper loudly.

She looked up and her eyes widened. "Oh my God! I thought he got you!"

"Who?" I asked confused.

"That guy."

"What are you talking about?"

"When I screamed? Duh."

"Oh, I thought it was some type of animal."

"No." she reached up for the branch closest to the ground and climbed up so she was with me.

"Did he have a knife or something?" I resumed our conversation.

"I'll go with the 'or something'." she said.

"What do you mean," I asked. "You're freaking me out here."

"He was a tall, skinny man." she began. "He was grinning at the both of us with some odd-looking thing in his hand. I couldn't see what it looked like, but I knew it was something bad. All I could think to do was scream." 

"What did he look like?" I ask.

"He had curly, brown hair. It was all over the place. His face had blood all over it. He didn't have a shirt on and it was resting across one shoulder. It looked like he was going to get you. Not me."

This was crazy.

"When he looked at me, I knew he was bad. I knew he was going to do bad things to us." she said.

"It's okay." I pat her back. "We're safe now."

"I hope so–" she said. 

"It's all going to be oka–" I stop when I hear her gasp.

"Here he comes! Don't move!" she whispers. 

I pulled my knees to my chest and leaned back on the branch behind me. I was wearing a dark green outfit, so I was at least seventy-five percent camouflaged. On the other hand, the girl beside me was wearing a neon outfit with a pair of red converses.