Outback Spirit by Nicole R. Taylor

Author:Nicole R. Taylor [Taylor, Nicole R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nicole R. Taylor

Eloise woke with a start, her head rising.

A pair of small, brown eyes peered at her and she cried out. The kangaroo simply stared at her, its whiskers twitching.

She was lying beneath the same tree she’d collapsed underneath, her entire body aching. A tuft of vicious, barbed spinifex grass was an inch from her nose. Running her tongue over her lips, she found them dry and chapped, a fine layer of grit over her front teeth.

Groaning, she pushed herself up and wiped at the dirt pressed into her cheek as the kangaroo leaned back on its rope-like tail and waited.

Had she really met Andante? Was the woman a hallucination brought about by heat stroke and dehydration? Probably.

Still, the kangaroo was rather friendly for a wild animal. This far away from civilisation, they didn’t have any tolerance for humans.

Eloise pushed to her knees, her entire body a painful mixture of aches and sunburn. The kangaroo hopped a few paces away, then paused and looked over its shoulder at her, waiting.

“You want me to follow you?” she asked, her voice cracking.

The kangaroo jumped again and looked back at her.

She had nothing to lose. The sun was going down and she was still alive, so while she had some strength left, she’d keep trying. Maybe the kangaroo had been drawn by her elemental power. Or maybe it was just another mirage born out of delirium come to haunt her last moments. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Her boots dragged in the dirt as she followed the kangaroo, but no matter how slow she went, it stopped and waited for her to catch up.

The sun began to set, the first stars shining through the light-drenched atmosphere, but she hardly saw them. Her vision was slipping, her blood whooshing in her ears like a tornado.

Coldness throbbed in her fingertips and spread through her limbs, and no matter how close she clutched her shirt, it didn’t stave off the chills that wracked her body. Her internal organs were beginning to seize, her life slipping away. Still, the kangaroo led her, waiting and lingering as she followed.

The land beat a slow rhythm as she walked, her steps the drum and the hard, unforgiving red dirt the skin. The kangaroo was her guide, silent and warm, a point of light amongst the darkness. Marlu.

Smoke rose into the sky, a thin stream of greyish-white against the midnight blue. The horizon glowed yellow and orange, the rhythm reaching a crescendo made up of a low droning that reminded her of a didgeridoo, clicks of wood against wood, and unknown animal calls…then stopped dead.

Eloise collapsed and rolled onto her back, her breath shallow. This was it, a slow, quiet end with nothing and no one to show for her troubles.

A low whine echoed in the distance, and a hand reached down towards her, a human shape silhouetted against the fading light, surrounded by stars.

“Marlu bring you,” Coen said, lifting her up. “You are on your path now.”

“Coen?” Eloise croaked, a tear slipping from her eye.

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