so this is my first story!! I wrote this for an English assignment the other day and I really like it tbh. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!!
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I can't breathe.
It's dark and it's cold. My heart beats in an unsteady rhythm. It's slow; calming my adrenaline and making my exhaustion seem like a faint memory. My lungs are on fire as they fail to deliver oxygen.
It's impossibly dark here and the cold seeps into my bones, spreads through my veins like frost. My body is weightless in this mass of blackness but I'm sinking. Further and further into the deep blue. Further from the air I am so desperate to breathe. Further from the warm light above the waves. Further from any hope of being saved.
I'm dying.
I know it's inevitable. No one's coming to save me. But when I compare it to how I could've gone, drowning is a luxury.
- - -
I run.
I run hard and I run fast.
I don't dare look back.
My breaths come out in pants, puffs of white clouds against the icy air. My legs ache, weighed down by the miles that I have travelled. The cold bites at me. It runs through my body with every step I take. But despite the coldness of this silent forest, my body is burning. Sweat runs down my back, leaving the hair on my body in thick clumps, slick against my back and neck. I swallow gulps of cold air and it freezes the insides of my lungs; causes my throat to go dry.
I am long since tired. Past the point of entire exhaustion and am now relying only on pure adrenaline. Every step I take is like thousands of daggers clawing up the muscles of my legs. But the pain is nothing compared to the endless fear overwhelming my thoughts.
He's gaining on me.
I can tell by the loud crunches of dead leaves and twigs under his heavy steps and the scattering of animals around him. My heart continues to slam violently against my rib cage. Every time my foot collides with the fractured earth, it sends a familiar jolt of pain through my spine; like a million razors slicing against the bone.
There is a loud noise and a flock of birds appear from the trees, frantically flying upwards and screaming bloody murder. Another gunshot is fired and one of the birds suddenly goes limp and plummets towards the ground. There is chaos in amongst the flock: some of them are screaming, some are laughing, some are crying. But it's all just white noise to me as a figure emerges through the mass of trees.
I wasn't fast enough.
He's here.
- - -
My lungs are on fire. A desire is building within me to take a gulp of the air, to allow it to fill up my lungs the same way the water is now. But when I open my mouth, all I'm rewarded with is a mouthful of the same salty water I'm drowning in. It's only been a few minutes, yet it feels like these waves have been crushing me for eternity. The unbearable burning in my chest has taken over my mind completely and I can't remember what it feels like to breathe normally. The steady rhythm of my heart starts to fade until there's only a faint beat every few seconds. This is it.
- - -
He chases me.
I pray that he gives up before I do; that fortune favours me.
But I've never been fortune's favourite.
My path ends.
Stones and dirt fall away over the cliff, along with any hope of surviving. I slam on the brakes, coming to a skidding stop on the peak of the bluff. Waves throw themselves against the jagged rocks, crushing my salvation in their wake.
"Where you going to run now, little one?" He asks me, knowing full well that I could not answer him; that his question was in vain.
His voice is cruel and sharp as a blade. Fear cuts through me, like the wind cuts through my fur and I unconsciously take a step back, feeling small stones roll off the top into the dark waters below. Terror and panic ripple through my body, my muscles shake with uncontrollable tremors.
"Come here, you little runt," he spits before aiming his rifle at my heart.
I won't go with him. I won't.
I glance down at the shameless waters below, sea spray splashing on my face and coating my tongue with salt.
I'd rather die than be used as an experiment, as some object that will abide to their every wish. I won't let him treat me as if my life doesn't matter.
I turn so I'm looking out at the endless mass of blue. It's beautiful. I stop shaking. The man yells at me; cursing and screaming threats. But I ignore them. Maybe fortune favours me after all. I smile out at the great daring ocean; all fear drains from my body and is replaced by a calming numbness.
Maybe fortune favours me after all.
And then I fall.
- - -
Colours dance across my vision; a twirling rainbow of endless reds, greens and blues. It's pretty. I can feel my heart beat in my ears, my pulse slowly depleting. It's peaceful now; quiet and still. My adrenaline dissipates, my hope along with it and I'm forced to accept the inevitable. But I'm glad. Glad that he didn't get to me. Glad that I didn't see the satisfaction on his face as he threw me into the back of his truck with all the other animals he's stolen. Glad I don't have to see the cruel dominating leer on his face as he tortures us. But an overwhelming sadness dawns on me. Sadness stemming from the fact that I'll never see my family again, that I'll never grow up, never have children. It doesn't hurt anymore. I can't feel anything now. Not the burning in my chest or the beat of my own heart. It's all just blackness and silence.
So this is what it feels like to die.
Not at all how I imagined it. There are no angels to take me. No sudden light that appears. Just darkness. And I welcome it with open arms.
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remember VOTE, COMMENT and ENJOY!!
