Unfinished Stories and Ideas

Beachside P3

Ha, finally. Hope you enjoy!

Lynn opened her eyes to see a bird pecking at the ground a couple of meters away. She slowly lifted herself until she was sitting upright and the bird suddenly took off. Her hair had bits of leaves and dirt stuck in it, so she tried shaking it out. It didn't work very well.

Lynn shifted her weight and positioned herself in the shade so the sun would be out of her eyes. She drew up her hair and twisted it around awkwardly in a ponytail shape. She let it go and it slowly untwisted, but it stayed behind her shoulders for the most part. She stopped to think.

Figure plus black magic. That part Lynn was sure of. But she needed to focus on the present. She had no idea where she was, or if she was going in the right direction. It would probably be best to continue in the same direction and just hope to find something. If she didn't find anything soon, she'd need to start looking for food and water. Maybe even along the way. A distant but familiar sound interrupted her thoughts.

Lynn looked around to survey her surroundings in the daylight. She was still in the forest, but in the distance she could make out the ocean. She didn't want to venture too close in the dark because the coast around the town was known for cliffs.

At least, she hoped she was near the town.

She got up and made her way to the edge where the rocks dropped off, and a slim margin of craggy beach was visible below. Lynn backed away from the edge, but continued along the ocean.

Lynn had been trudging along for a couple of hours, and could make out the sun halfway to the center of the sky. Seagulls cried in the distance and a cool breeze swept past. It was serene but she couldn't relax. At this point she almost didn't care to know what happened. She just wanted to go back. To take a nap to last a century. Maybe get something to eat. The last meal she had was over 24 hours ago and her stomach was giving her grief.

Lynn paused to look up. The branches on the trees were short and not very strong, not to mention they didn't reach very low. It would be very difficult to climb one, to look far enough to see some familiar landmark. Especially if she would have to climb one every five minutes. She was still worried she was going the wrong way. She had never been good with directions. Still, she could always try.

Lynn grabbed the nearest branch, about at the height of her head. With a huge heave, she pulled herself up and braced her feet against the tree. Slowly Lynn made progress until she was standing on the branch. It threatened to give way beneath her, but held for the time being. No other branch reached close so she paused, taking a deep breath. Standing as high as she could, she looked ahead into the forest.

Lynn couldn't make out anything, so she looked inland. Nothing. She looked to the beachside, but saw only water. She looked ahead once more, squinting. The branch creaked under her as she scanned for anything. Systematically, her eyes swept the terrain.

Movement.

It was so quick she almost didn't catch it. Was it another bird? No, it was awkwardly close to the ground. An animal? It was a sandy color, with a patch of brown. Lynn scrunched up her face and watched patiently.

Movement again.

It wasn't any animal Lynn recognized... was it a person? What luck! She shifted her feet- getting ready to climb down- when the branch made a loud craaack sound and fell away. Lynn dropped to the ground with a painful thud and took a moment to collect herself. She was sore all over, but luckily missed landing on the exposed wooden splinters of the broken branch.

Standing back up, she checked herself. She had a couple of scrapes and bruises. There was a bad cut on her arm and another on her foot. She rubbed at the soreness and started towards the movement ahead, cautious but eager.