Mortalized

Safety (6)

     My mind eased into consciousness with no threat nor reason at my heels. My mind stayed mostly thoughtless, doing nothing but using my senses strongest to weakest; feeling the strong waves of light radiating onto my back. My head felt heavy and my eyes sunken in. My limbs told me they were now crusty mud, and my back being once again fried by the sun.

     A long whine made me open my eyes.

     That whine sounded just like the dog from earlier. He whined once again, something between his teeth, sounding as if his mouth were cracked open. I groaned, lazily attempting to lift my head. My cheek stuck to the stone under me, however, and I had to pull harder, peeling noises coming from my cheek as it was pryed apart from the stone. I then looked up and over my right shoulder. The mutt sat there, waiting for me, a beheaded snake in his chomps. Spotting my attention to him, he dropped the snake, dry flaky blood bouncing off the worm-like corpse and onto the hard rocks. I raised an eyebrow at the creature, my mouth dropping half open by loss of control over several basic functions; weakening with every moment I existed. The dog just panted, looking at me as if I should know what the dead snake was there for. I looked between the dog and the dead snake on the floor a few times, before my clouded mind finally picked up on what he was trying to communicate.

     "Ohhh... no. I don't need food. Just..." I looked out, behind the dog, catching a view of the treacherous horizon which held little hope of survival, then back at the dog, who licked his lips with anticipation. After a little bit, the dog tilted his head, and bent down to eat the snake himself.

     A wave of discomfort mixed with nausea washed over me, and I shook my head this way and that to attempt to clear it. I really needed water. That must be why I feel so helpless. Deciding to stand up, I moved my arm over and placed it on the ground. Instantly, a stinging satin rose through my fingers from the sun baked stone, forcing a grunt out of my lungs as I hurried up. I swayed once on my feet, dizziness taking my sense off direction.

     The dog whined once again, coming up and licking my okay hand. I pulled it away quickly, but that just made me fall off balance, collapsing onto the fire hot stones. My injured shoulder shook with pain as I used my right arm as well to catch myself. I was back up again quickly, swaying worse than before. I looked to the dry horizons, wishing I were strong enough to make it. But, alas, I was too weak, and I instead turned my sights towards the line of green in the distance.. where I had come from just yesterday. The dog panted as he lightly jogged ahead of me, noticeably using his right front paw at a minimum. His form grew blurry when I began to walk, limping worse than ever before. I knew now that my ankle was no longer just twisted, but shattered; I could feel my bones grinding with every step I took. And with every step, my eyes failed me all the more, until all I could see was the contrast of the dog's outline against the bright rocks. Eventually, I began to fear I wouldn't be able to make it. I might just have to stoop down to such a level: asking for help. A thought that grinder painfully in my slowly turning gears.

     "Dhh.. d.. Dog.." I spoke out. The blurry form turned towards me, hearing my voice as something but a treacherous shout for the first time. The creature warily stepped closer, limping lightly with each step. When close enough, I knelt down on my left knee and slowly stuck my hand out towards his blurry head. I knew talking would be just as useful as speaking in a foreign language, so I hoped he would be able to understand what I needed right away. I wished he would be able to understand what I needed right away. I looked upon the dog with half open eyes, waiting for some kind of response from the dog. He simply watched my hand, until it eventually sank so low it looked more like I was pleading for cash. Looking down at my hand, the dog placed his own injured paw on top of my open palm. The paw shook a tiny bit; I could feel a little dry blood crusting on the tips of his fur. I sighed, lowering my head all the way down onto my wrist. My head spun and twisted about in all-which ways. If cooperating with this domesticated wolf was my only chance for survival, then so be it.