In the Darkness
Jack opened his eyes.
He didn’t know how long he’d been out, only that his headache threatened to tear his skull apart. He closed his eyes, willing the pain away, and watched phantom lights dance against his eyelids. He remembered running–no, fleeing– from something huge, fast and hairy; he remembered tripping on something in the dark and then… nothing.
He reached out with one hand, feeling fresh soil and tree roots–some sort of natural depression in the forest floor. His blind fingers touched upon something else, something large and warm, with thick, coarse hairs.
In the darkness, something growled.
That hairy beastie from The Chase and The Flight sure has been busy! I’ve spent plenty of time backpacking alone in wilderness areas and these are exactly the thoughts that dart through your mind when you hear some unidentifiable noise late at night and you wonder what possessed you to backpack alone in the wilderness in the first place!
Comment by Jerry Scarbrough — December 14, 2009 @ 7:37 am
I’m glad you’re enjoying these tales of the Black Beast, Jerry.
‘In the Darkness’ was actually the first story I wrote (I only started taking my writing seriously in January), but I thought I’d ask Nathan to repost it, since ‘The Chase’ and ‘The Flight’ seemed to go down so well.
Comment by Kevin G. Bufton — December 15, 2009 @ 8:05 pm