A Survivor's Guide to Eternity(4)

How can that have taken so long? he pondered, as he got to the water’s edge in mystical twilight. He took some slurps from what he dearly hoped was a fresh water stream before resting beside its gently comforting rumble.

I’m so tired, but I don’t really want to sleep out here in the open, he thought, as he mustered one more burst of energy to pull himself over towards the longer clumps of grass to his left. Once again he struggled with his heavy arms and legs to slink in behind some dense bushes and rest his weary body for the night. He was beginning to doubt if he would ever get out of this mysterious situation in one piece.

Hopefully I’ll at least get some rest and get rid of this ache, pulsing away at the inside of my skull, he thought to himself, as he rested his head on a small grassy lump and started to nod off.

***

He slept like a log, straight through in a deep, motionless coma. This was eventually interrupted by a violent streak of early morning sun penetrating through the stalks of grass and onto his inadequate eyelids. Consciousness began to arouse him as he cautiously opened his eyes, soon realising that the pains of the day before, had demised. He was clear, headache and hangover free. He started to consider the rest of his body. Seemingly no nausea, stomach cramps, physical pains or anything else that indicated he would either feel as bad as the previous day or else that he had been poisoned by the flowers or water.

Did I really eat flowers? he thought, as he became more lucid, almost resigned to the fact he was in the wild and not a bedroom. He tried to stand but his legs felt too heavy and awkward. His vision continued to be restricted, regardless of how much he tried to angle his head around.

Then, as he started to become aware of the chirpings, squeaks, squalls and murmurings of his surroundings, he noticed something far more sinister. It was a low-pitched, growling, snarling, dog-like sound that slowly got louder and louder, closer and closer. It started to rumble his eardrums and suddenly he felt an instinctive whole body nervous spasm of panic and in a flash he was back in the protective enclosure where he’d woken the previous morning.

What the hell! This is some mad stuff right here! This is one indelible dream. How did I get back in here? he wondered.

He thought back on the previous afternoon where he had flinched from the large coke can and ended back in the hut. As mysterious as that was, he thought that he’d moved on but here it was again, haunting his perceptions of any reasonable reality. He looked through the opening he was getting to know so well. In the short time it had taken him to wake, the day had started to take hold and the dawn was rapidly being erased by a scorching sun, full of intent to burn and bake.

He then noticed something even more menacing. Jets of steam started to gust past and into the opening, a musty, breathy steam, accompanied by low toned breaths that resounded in metronomic time with the exhalations. It was most certainly the breathing of some terrifyingly massive animal. It shook and resonated through his whole body as it rushed in past his head in short bursts.

That’s it, this will be the end, thought Ed. He strangely hoped he would be a satisfying meal for the unknown beast, not just a mere hors d’oeuvre or snack. He retreated back into his protective cell as much as possible, feeling very restricted and tight for space.

This is tiny, he thought as he realised his back and sides were tight against the walls of the small claustrophobic space. Nervously, he peered through the opening in front of him and caught first sight of the fearsome animal. Light brown hairs started to appear, erect stalks, more like small ropes. Then a gigantic, wet, black-button nose, with two massive steaming nostrils with lizard like scaly texture. The odour of the steamy exhalations was strong and ominously dog-like, overpowering his senses as it filled the enclosure with a fearful presence.

He heard the animal pause before its large nose edged slightly into the opening. The nostrils were large, wide open, cavernous tunnels. He could see right down into them like looking into some sort of strange drainage pipe. Larger whiskers also became visible as the animal reached in further. Then the inevitable sniff, an inhalation that pulled the air away from the inside of the enclosure, pulling at Ed’s face and making it hard to breathe for a millisecond. The protruding snout then retreated and there was a momentary lull in proceedings.

Maybe he didn’t see me? Maybe if I keep still and quiet he’ll go away. I mustn’t move; I must keep dead still!

These thoughts of invisibility were short-lived as he peered out at the black button as it approached once more. Then in an instant, his world was turned upside down. The animal pushed its nose into the opening and with what felt like the force of a bulldozer, shifted him backwards, lifting his whole protective shelter back on itself and sideways. He spun like a teddy bear in a washing machine, over and over, completely losing orientation, perspective and direction. He could see the world whizzing by outside through the opening. It was if he was on a fast train hurtling through the countryside, spinning in a circle. As it slowed he could see he was upside down, although still inside the protective hut.