Walter

ROUGH AND TUMBLES

Trekking through the rows of corn was time consuming. As best as he could tell, he must have been walking for at least 20 minutes. With each new row, new stalk, new leaf resembling the one previous to it, it was hard to guess the actual passage of time.

He felt as if stuck in a loop while moving forward, reliving the same sequence of events over and over again. Was this a new stalk in front of him? Or the same one he'd passed just a second before?

The sun shone high above and came in at a slight angle. Getting a true sense of direction was also hard to tell as any light making its way down to his level was diffused and spartan at best.

High above, the sky was bright blue with clouds streaming by. Birds flew along the breeze that whisked at the tops of the stalks. He was in a jungle of bamboo, lost to the world. Had a panda strolled by him he would not have been surprised, nestled as he was under leaves of green, with a thousand deaf ears surrounding him.

Looking down at his tracks was even less helpful. Loose bits of hay, dead leaves, dry clumps of dirt and small stones made up his path and left no impression of his passage.

How many minutes had passed while he slipped into this daydream? Five, ten, perhaps thirty?

Birds flew above, chirping away and casting momentary shadows among the glimpses of light.

I wonder who you're calling for, he thought. Have you lost someone as well? Are they in here with me? I wonder.

Something had scurried by his feet as he'd stared up at the sky. He hadn't glimpsed what it was, but it was small and fast. The sound of its hurried passing was all that had been noticed.

He stood still for a while, allowing the sights, sounds and smells to fill him. Absorbing everything this new world he'd ventured into had to offer.

As time passed, events seemed to shift into one another with little effort. The wind blew, a beam of light flickered about on his face, the sound of scurrying among the debris, wings flapping, chirping from somewhere above. A cawing heard in midair above the sounds of barking in the distance, then muffled by the leaves as a breeze gusted by.

He let the light play a little longer on his face before he brushed away the twinkling that was left in his eyes and resumed his march forward. He continued until he thought he'd caught glimpse of a shadow crossing past the stalks up ahead. Moments later, another shadow followed suit.

Uncertain as to what it was, he continued along his path. He figured that it was most likely squirrels or field mice that were venturing about. They were common to see scurrying about in a farmer's field.

Again he heard shuffling going on ahead of him. He continued to walk as the sounds led away from him to the right and then returned. He could hear a low growling and the sounds of steps running along the ground. Whatever was in front of him, it remained at a safe distance as he walked. The stalks to his right sounded as if they'd been brushed against, followed by the sounds of running behind him and now circling around.

As he moved forward, more sounds of growling, running, and stalks being brushed against could be heard. It would start then stop, sometimes it was on his right, then his left, in front, then behind him. When the sounds came from both sides, he knew there was more than one. Now he felt as if he was being hunted. He could never catch sight of what was making the noises. Whatever they were, they were fast and stayed well enough away from him.

He figured his best bet would be to keep moving forward. If he didn't stop, they would probably leave him alone.

The sound of stalks being crashed into on his left made him stop. Before he could catch sight of anything, two blurred shadows rushed past him. They were closer to him now than they'd been before. Stay still, listen, what's going on around you, he told himself.