No Matter What

Chapter IV

         There was a lot of scarce land before there were trees. These trees were different. They were not red, like the trees at my village turned this time of year. Instead they were brown. A yellow brown, like their trunks. I had never seen brown leaves before, only the dead ones that would fall before winter. But these leaves looked very much alive. Their yellow shone through when the sun peaked out of the horizon.

As I kept walking, the trees around me changed. They started to become more voluminous, taller, and darker in color. Though it was the middle of the morning, only a few sunrays managed to penetrate the thick layer of leaves. Black leaves. I checked my map. I was in the Haunted Forest.

There were no animals in the forest. I was not sure whether to feel relieved or even more disturbed. It felt like I was walking in circles. Nothing changed. Though, it could have been an illusion of the darkness.

I accelerated my pace and was stopped by a tree. Now on the ground, I rubbed my forehead. I felt blood trickle down from my nose. I took a piece of clothing out of my bag and held it on as I waited for the bleeding to stop. The ground was wet and had a soft consistency.

What terrible luck I had. I had not even gone through the day and had already hurt myself. I drank some water, nose still bleeding. The bottle disappeared in my bag. To think of it, I was a little tired. Maybe the tree wanted to tell me to stop and rest. My bleeding had stopped, I placed down the cloth. It was still soaked in bright red blood.

No. I could not stop. I was just bringing myself back to a stand when the ground moved. At first I thought it was an earthquake. That was before I heard the blood-curdling screech. I was sitting on the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.

It was a giant leech. A thirsty, dark red leech that had smelled my blood and craved its sweetness. As it woke up from its deep sleep, I froze. I let out a scream no person should ever feel the need to use. The leech's body slithered, looking for its prey until it realized I was right on top of its body.

Its neckless head swung backwards and I was thrown right off its back. Disorientedly, it tried attacking from different directions. Finally, it got my direction right. I ran away desperately, but I tripped on a tree's root and was forced to roll as fast as I could manage. The creature whiffed the air and I realized—it was blind. All I had to do was distract it and run far enough so it would not be able to pick up my scent. Where was that cloth?

I saw it. I grabbed the dress and waved it around. It caught the leech's attention. I took a rock from the ground and wrapped the dress around it. Then, I threw it as far as my arm could project it. Faster than sound, the leech turned. It followed the scent of the bloody dress I had thrown as I ran in the opposite direction. My legs moved so fast I thought they moved on their own.

Out of breath, I stopped, hands on my knees. I put my bag down and looked around. I had no idea where I was. I was completely lost. It was no use panicking now, I would waste precious time, and though I was standing up, my mind was fast asleep.

I proceeded to set up a make-chief bed. My head barely touched the ground and I was deep in my dreams. But dream is not the right word. I am not even sure "nightmare" is strong enough.

I was back in my village, walking to the town well for water. It was before I had the slightest clue my mother was sick. I saw the mockingbird, like before, but the fruit did not kill him. I came back home and there, waiting for me, was my mother and my father. We were a happy family again. We were eating the midday meal. I went to sip on my milk, but it was sour. No, it was vomit. I spit it out and tried not to produce some myself. I took a big bite out of my meat to drain out the horrible taste that remained, but it was covered in black lumps, like my mother's arms.