The Nibiru Effect

Memory 70

Why is it that whenever something good happens, something even worse than whatever it is I just escaped occurs? Am I just unlucky or is someone actively trying to ruin my day? I guess it doesn't matter because no amount of pondering will save me now.

The sliding of my body along the surface of the snail's shell is slow, which somehow makes it worse. I desperately try to grab on to something, but the shell is smooth and completely free of ridges.

I slide. And slide. And slide, until I finally reach the edge. Just as gravity grabs hold of me and all hope seems lost, I see it. The edge of the snail's shell. If I can just reach it...

I fall before I can make a move. What happens next is so incredible it seems to happen in slow motion. I slide off the edge of the shell and start to fall. In a desperate attempt at survival, I twist my body and thrust out my arms. I'm not entirely sure how I manage it, but I somehow alter my course significantly enough to grab hold of the shell's lip.

I'm now dangling beneath the snail, my strength and willpower the only two things standing between me and a plummet to certain death. I want to look around for an escape route, but I know that will only make things worse.

"Help!" I yell.

"Hold on!" comes Kara's voice from beneath me. Momentarily forgetting about my fear of heights, I look around. It takes a moment, but I finally spot her sitting atop a snail. The beautiful blonde and her mount are a few metres down and to the right of me, but their proximity fills me with hope. As does the fact that Kara seems to have found a way to steer the snail—using the tentacles as reins, she's able to communicate her desired trajectory to the giant mollusk. I just need to hold on.

That's easier said than done. Not only am I weak from everything I've just been through, but my hands are bruised and sweaty. Not to mention the fact that the lip of the shell I'm hanging on to is far from an adequate handhold. It's only a matter of time before I fall. If I'm lucky, Kara will have managed to position herself to intercept me. If not... well, I prefer not to think about that eventuality.

I close my eyes and focus on my hands. My fingers ache. So do my arms. In fact, pretty much every part of me is in pain. But none of that matters as long as—

My fingers slip. I manage to halt my descent, but I'm now hanging on by the tips of my fingers. At least, that's how it feels, and I'm too afraid to look. It's thus in a state of fear and uncertainty that I wait.

I hold on for as long as Ican, but gravity eventually does what it was designed to do. With one finalgroan of despair, I lose my grip and fall.