The Willowbed

In the Distance

I woke up.

I thought I wouldn't. I had accepted my fate, but my fate was far from what I had expected. Fate is something I thought would eventually kill me, but there's something protecting me, I think. I just won't die. Am I a ghost? How am I still breathing? I'm so incredibly injured.. I feel nauseated.. I feel numb.. I feel lightheaded.. but I'm still alive. I still have a pulse, and my heart's still beating. 

It was difficult to get up, but I managed to do it. It looked to be very late at night. I heard the tunic melody of skittish crickets chirping in unison, and the faint gleam of the faded-violet moonlight shone against the soft forest loam. Standing up, I could feel my heart palpitate, beating faster with my staggering. My tail whisked as I, miraculously, started to limp again. I was not sure as to where I was going, but at this point, I just wanted to go forward. Trek the forest for many more acres, in search for a purpose to be here. Maybe, I could escape the forest on the other side, and find a better home.. I wasn't sure. 

But what if I wasn't going to get out?

I had no clue how far I was inside of this deep thicket, or how long it'd be before I make it out. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I'd actually make it out. I guess I've established where I'm going to go, now. Out. I'm going to go out, out of this forest, where I can be safe, safe from everything happening to me. 

But, every yard I crossed, gradually, I was getting more and more dehydrated. I found food, and I'm still starving, but the food I ate would last for a little while, but I need water. The leg I ate was dry, and rotten, with little water in it. My agonizing thirst.. needed to be clenched. I was getting antsy, my throat drying up as I inhaled and exhaled, fighting through the vertigo and pain. I started to ache, more and more. I felt the bullet lodged deep inside of me, cushioned by my internal carnage and organs. I didn't know where it was, the bullet, but I was hoping that it wouldn't cause severe damage. I'm going to die soon. My body, in this state, cannot survive for a while longer, especially when I'm this thirsty. 

Then, I started to get this deep, uneasy feeling. Not the feeling of nausea, but the feeling of uncertainty. Gingerly, I stopped to peer out into the sea of trees and moss. I spotted something, something in the distance. I had no clue what it was. My vision was still intact, for the most part, but I couldn't see that far. I cautiously walked forward, for the structure to come into view. Eventually, I could make out something slightly recognizable. A home? It didn't necessarily look too homely.. or like anybody would ever rest in it. It had stone-brick walls, with.. moss.

I got closer, to where, some hundreds of feet, it was right there. I started to spot lines of overgrown moss and streaks of long, lengthy vines stretching from the entire building. The structure, which resembled a temple, was built similar to an ancient ziggurat of some sort. But why would it be in a Japanese forest? These things I did not know.

Was this a hallucination? A delusion my brain came up with? Is this because of my terrible thirst? 

I approached the entrance to the temple-like structure. The door walls and dilapidated hall inside were encumbered entirely with vines and fungi, as well as all sorts of nasty cave insects, among other things. I stepped inside, and heard the most rejuvenating, tangible, relieving sound I could've ever heard.

The sound of dripping water, echoing throughout the mysterious tunnels of the ziggurat. My eyes gleamed with elation as I launched myself forward, bounding into the hall. I started to see a marine light. A light that seemed to be reflecting the water. There was water in here! Maybe I do have a chance!

It was a shallow, enchanted lake, the size of the square-shaped temple interior. It seemed like the floor escalated into a deep, sea cave. There was an eerie light coming from the seemingly-exposed aquifer. The floor was a ramp down into the floor, it was eroded from the water, slowly, after decades of the water sitting alone, in the darkness. Suspiciously, though, the water looked extraordinarily clean. It shone a mystical marine blue, with a sparkling, vibrant light coming from underneath the surface. It was almost mesmerizing to gaze down at the cool, shimmering lake. I dipped my paws in, and walked into the water. 

The refreshing sensation of the cold water lapping up against my legs felt incredible. Relaxed, I bent down to sip from the water, rolling my tongue with water and closing my mouth, swallowing some water. I drank some more, before I was swiftly lapping the water. 

The water started to illuminate stronger, and the sounds of crumbling and the scraping of boulders sounded from deep within the water. I backed up, bewildered. "What's going on?" I yelped as a beam of astonishing light blinded me, sending a shock flowing through the floor, like an earthquake, knocking me off my feet. "Oof!" I whimpered on the floor, as waves of disrupted water ripples through the lake. The blinding light took the shape of a strikingly clear oval-shaped figure. It looked like a void of bright, everlasting heat and light. 

Am I dying? Is this death? Was this a hallucination? It felt so surreal, but.. this isn't real.. it can't be..

Another underground wave made the floor below me shiver. "Gah!" I wept, scrambling to my paws, before I crashed into the water, faced forward. The disturbed current of the water made me rush toward the shocking beam of light. It felt like gravity shifted to be centered at whatever the beam of light was coming from, deep in the water. I was ripped from the tangible surface and pulled underwater. I gagged, shrieking as bubbles from my breath rose to the shore. The light was growing around me as I was forced underwater by a mysterious force, taking me to the area of illumination. 

Oh god, what's happening?! Was there a predator in the water?? But I don't feel something holding onto me, it's just 'a force'!  Mind racing, my eyes wide with horror. This strikingly familiar and sinister feeling of suffocation brought me back to my past. Her unnatural, wide, horrible grin as she stared maliciously into my worried eyes as my vision started to fade out. I was dangling from a cord, choking and gagging. Her laugh is a sound I'd never forget. Her laugh is one that'd stick with me for as long as I live. Her eyes twinkled with triumph and absolute elation as her stare never seemed to trail away from my eyes. 

My eyes closed, as I couldn't keep them open any longer. I was too weak for struggle. I hadn't breathed for nearly a minute, and I was in the middle of drinking, I hadn't caught my breath beforehand.. I've ran out of air. I'm going to die. I've said it a lot before, and defied the odds, but this time, there's no mistake.. I can't survive.

Then, everything blacked out. I heard ringing in my ears. It was like I was in a void. In the afterlife, but I could breathe. My eyes were open, but it seemed as though they were closed. It was pitch-black. I didn't know if I was dead or alive.