The Book Of Short Stories

Abandoned

ABANDONED
My feet hit the ground harder with every step, I push myself to keep running faster, faster, I dodge the low hanging branches and leap over the fallen trees as my heart races, aching for a break. Further and further I run away from the small town I used to call home.

Through the forest, adventuring further than ever, I try and escape the heartbreak, the pain in my chest I blame on the speed, the tears on my cheeks I blame on the cold.
The wind blows a gentle breeze against my body, the leaves rustle in harmony and the birds chirp in the moments peace. I take a deep breath and the scent of the wet air as the storm approaches envelopes me like a comforting hug.

As I begin to look around me I realize I have no idea where I am. Walking around a nearby tree I  find the  Moss. That's the direction I walk, North. Moss always grows on the North side of the tree you see, because its shadier, moister.

I follow the moss, my sense of reality and direction coming back to me. As I walk, the sky opens up around me, the rain falls haphazardly, battering my skin like needles pricking me all over, a chill of dread slithers down my spine as lighting flashes around me. I pick up my pace, moving into a jog as the wind begins to howl through the trees. Fear strikes me like a jolt of electricity coursing through my veins and my legs move back into a sprint. As the clouds cover the sky the thick foliage of the trees makes the woods look dark and shadows loom over me a mountain.

As my feet hit the ground, thunder seamed to crack the air, as if the very heavens might split apart. It rolled like ash of a volcano, becoming a rolling booming rumble. It declared to all the raw power of nature and gave fair warning of the wrath that was to come.

As small droplets of rain begin to fall on my face, I look up, closing my eyes and enjoying the coolness of the water washing away my woes for just a moment. The peace before the storm, like the eye in the tornado, is a moment of undeniable beauty you must cherish before the devastation and tragedy it's undoubtedly soon to bring.
The wind picks up and the thunder gets louder, jolting me back into reality.
I take cover in a groove of the trunk of a large tree and wait for the storm to pass, as the rain bounces of the ground, flashes of light and the growling thunder shakes the earth, the bitter wind throwing leaves, branches, whatever it could hold in its violent clutches.
In a time which seemed like hours, the storm begins to settle, the clouds part as the rain settles to a stop and the wind calms to a gentle breeze, thunder no longer shakes the earth and lighting is replaced with the bright sun leaving a warm glow on the forest. I step out from the safe hug of the tree and search around me. My eyes catch on a break in the thick foliage and curiously I wander toward the opening and almost instantly the sun shines on my skin warming me, drying the rain, my eyes wander around the sight as the song of a nightingale fills my mind with peace as my body relaxes, a smile spreads across my face as the breathe of nature whispers through the branches and the meadow of flowers and grass stretch with the wind, droplets of what once was here dripping into extinction.

My feet move voluntarily out onto the Cliffside as the flutter of beauty reach my sight, I can see miles, the fields leading towards the busy city, and that’s when the reality of my situation hit me, here I stood surrounded by the magnificent beauty of nature, peace and tranquillity are the feelings one should feel, but all I feel is the grief if those whom have abandoned me, but I was happy, finally at rest, enclosed in a sanctuary of delicacy and grace, I fall back, landing on the cushion of grass, and taking my final breathe, my eyes close as I enjoy my final moments of the loneliness of me and my shadow, before I brace for the long trek back into civilization, back into life, away from this Utopia.

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This story has taken me quite a while to write, I apologize for any mistakes I have tried my best to fix all grammar and tried to prevent the feeling of a ramble haha

Thanks for reading,
Hannah