To Walk

Survivor

HI PEOPLE! A FEW DISCLAIMERS!! I do not own Minecraft, Steve, Herobrine, Alex, Notch (duh) or ANY original Minecraftian characters that may be mentioned or hinted at in this book!!! 

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 Ava Woods' POV

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           "Ugh, no...okay...nope, not that either...ouch! No again..."

          I sighed as I struggled to stand. I had fallen, 'graceful' as usual, flat on my face in the green grass of a meadow near my house, and my one remaining crutch had been flung at least five blocks away. Good news, the grass was soft...sort of. Bad news, I distinctly remember that, underneath my stomach, was a dirt patch. My once-teal shirt was going to get a new pattern. I had been out gathering wood for my fire, to keep me warm. I'd dropped all the wood, and by the time I got up and started towards my house, the sun would be too low to try and find all the sticks. I would just have to bear the cold until tomorrow.

          I scowled as I tried to push myself into a sitting position, my light brown hair falling into my greenish eyes, "Ow! Owowow..." I hissed. This hadn't gotten easier the first several times it had happened. On the contrary, my lower spine was deteriorating, and every movement I made with my legs would reward me with a bolt of pain through my legs and lower back, not to mention the merciless ache that would come later that night and the knowledge that I had done even more damage to my already-numbing legs.

          I bit my lip, fighting the urge to groan, and finally pushed myself onto my rear, my nearly useless legs limp, folded over one another and my bandaged feet near my right hand. I rubbed my lower back, feeling the deep scar across my spine, preparing myself for the upcoming crawl towards my crutch. I took a deep breath and proceeded to army-crawl over to my crutch, legs scraping against rough rocks hidden in the deceptively lush grass, as my black pants were thin, and did little to protect my skin. Sweating and breathing hard, I finally made it to the wooden thing, grabbing onto it and smiling tiredly. Well, now I could go home and make myself a new one. 

          My last crutch had been lost over the falls near my sorry excuse for a house. I'd been using it as a fishing pole to save wood. I didn't make a new one and just dealt with it, thinking I could get along, as I couldn't spare the wood then. I guess I'd just have to deal with yet another missing plank until I fixed my ax somehow. I grunted as I pushed myself to my feet, shaky from the fall, the crutch balancing me. I needed to get home soon, the breeze had cooled down and the sky was a bit pink. I began to slowly and clumsily start back towards the woods I had come from, leaning heavily on my crutch. My labor, however, did not prevent me from stopping every once and a while to admire the beauty of the place in which I lived. I had managed to survive in this beautiful valley surrounded by a chain of mountains, with one narrow pass between the mountains leading out at the far side. I was too weak to go there myself, but I'd seen a slight break in the mountain chain and surmised there must be a little-used pass there. Almost no one had ever come across me, so I knew I was far out of the way of any towns or settlements. 

          The call of a bird had me alert and looking hard at the surrounding woods. Any noise had me on edge. In this horribly weak state, I'd be fair game to anyone. Slave traders, thieves, murderers, the possibilities were endless. Seeing nothing, I winced as I remembered one visit, pausing in my trek home to close my eyes and let the memory flow. 

        I had been out gathering grass. I needed the seeds, as my field wasn't big enough to support me through the winter. I'd found that out the hard way when I nearly starved to death last winter. As I hit the wild grain with my crutches and stiffly bent down to gather the precious seeds, I heard the squawking of startled birds over to my right. I stiffened, stuffing the seeds into a tiny bag on my hip. I'd learned to pay attention to the birds. They would warn me and give me enough time to hide from danger.