Into the Pines by Ryan Lill-Washington

Author:Ryan Lill-Washington [Ryan Lill-Washington]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter fourteen

Girl in The Pines

Her face hit the forest floor, her arms unable to break the fall. With the twinge vibrating through her right foot she knew she had tripped over something without even having to look. The night was black, the woods scattered in darkness, the ground cold and damp, wet with the dew that came in as fog made its way through the trees. It weaved its way around like a cloud, engulfing the bottoms of the pines and covering the ground. For just a moment, she lay there, forgetting where she was, her hands slipping under her face like a child taking a nap. The ground was safe and stable. The fog floating just above allowed her visibility of only the floor of the pines, the sky completely erased by pillows of swirling condensation. It was the first time she truly felt cold, her body out of motion, her muscles too tired to feel the pain that had spread throughout them. She lay there, not refusing to stand, but unable to. Under the cover of clouds and darkness, she rolled herself to the side until her body made contact with the base of a large tree. Her hands reached up at it, her nails digging into its bark, as she pulled herself up with the last bit of energy she had. Her side hit the trunk first, and as she rolled, she could feel the lines in the chunks of bark against her back. Sitting against it, she pulled her knees into her chest, her feet sliding across the jagged sticks and dirt that littered the forest floor. The fog would only cover her for so long, but she had to close her eyes, she had to rest.

When her eyes finally opened, the fog had grown more dense. At first, it felt like a dream, a sci-fi movie where someone is trapped in a snow globe. The thought comforted her as she breathed in the damp air around her. The long-sleeved denim shirt she was wearing was now soaking wet, drenched with the water of clouded fog. She pulled her arms in, wrapping them around herself, the sound of her teeth chattering finally audible to her. Her body felt heavy, tired, and rigid. Fear started to creep into the thoughts flowing through her, reminding her that she wasn’t safe here. The pain throughout her shoulder was back, keeping her from falling back asleep against the trunk of the large pine. She reached up towards it, finally focusing on the pain. Her shoulder was still damp, wet from the blood seeping long lines down the denim. Her fingers moved upward, feeling their way to the wound. She knew she needed to apply pressure to it to slow the bleeding. She recoiled her hand back as it grazed something sharp, her face wincing in pain. She reached back up, this time carefully examining where the sharp object had been. She used her other hand to pull the collar of the denim shirt to the side, letting the shoulder of the sleeve slip down over her arm.

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