She must have fallen. Maybe she tripped, she told herself. Slowly, she tried to sit up, bracing herself for another wave of pain. When it came, she felt dizzy and nauseous. She concentrated on breathing, slowly, evenly. Count, she told herself. One breath, two breathes. In a few moments the nauseous feeling had passed.
Finally, when she felt strong enough, she eased herself slowly to her feet using a tree trunk for support. Again, the pounding in her head and another wave of dizziness took hold of her, though this time not as bad. She looked around in all directions searching for a house, a road, something…anything to indicate where she was or which way she had come.
Nothing.
Only forest for as far as she could see.
Where am I? What am I doing out here? She asked herself. She couldn’t remember how she got there. She couldn’t remember…anything. She couldn’t think clearly. How could she think with this incredible pounding in her head? But she had to think, she told herself. She couldn’t stay here. She had to find her way out of this forest, and back to…to what?
It was then that she heard a noise, like the snapping of a dead tree branch under someone’s foot. It came from behind her. She turned, and searched for the source. It was a distant sound. She couldn’t yet see who or what it was. She stood listening, completely alert, barely breathing. And then the sound of another piece of wood snapping carried to her, closer this time.
Suddenly, an instinctive but overwhelming fear took hold of her. Her heart began pounding, her mouth went dry, and her palms began to sweat. Run! Get away! Now! The words screamed though her brain. She wasn’t sure what she was afraid of or why. She didn’t stop to consider the question. She had nothing now to go on but her instincts, and she followed them, knowing only that she had to get away, and quickly, from whatever had made that noise.
She ran as fast and quietly as she could. Her pounding headache and dizziness slowed her down, and forced her to grab on to tree trunks for support. She desperately wanted to sit down, but she forced herself to keep going. The surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins gave her the reserve she needed. Keep moving! Keep moving! Her mind screamed the command over and over.
Finally, when she couldn’t go on any further, she stopped to catch her breath. Her eyes frantically searched the trees behind her. Had whatever made that noise followed her? It was hard to hear anything other than her own labored breathing, and her heart pounding in her ears.
She waited. Her breathing eventually slowed. Still, there were no sounds.
Then, from ahead of her, she heard the unmistakable sound of tires on pavement, a car driving down a highway. It had to be, she thought, from the speed in which the sound went past. She started off again toward what she hoped would be a road.
By the time she broke through the tree line, she was exhausted. Stopping to lean against a tree to rest, she raked her fingers through her long, golden brown hair, pushing it off her face. Her hand came away smeared with blood. When she saw it she froze. The fear and panic seized her with full force again. Oh, my God! What happened to me?
She felt the back of her head, locating the wound, about two inches long. She felt the sticky wetness of blood seeping down her long hair. She had to get some help, and soon.
She looked down the road, wondering which way to go. It was a two lane, blacktop highway. There was a shallow ditch between the pavement and the tree line. She looked to the right, and left. She saw no road signs or markings of any kind, just a long stretch of blacktop curving up around a bend to the right, and down a hill to the left. She chose the left. Whether it was her instincts that subconsciously told her the way, or an exhausted body that preferred a downhill walk to an uphill climb, she wasn’t sure.
She crossed the road, and began walking along the gravel shoulder. It was dusk now, and the light was fading rapidly. She hoped to reach a road sign before it became too dark to read it.
How long would it be before another car came along, she wondered. Maybe she could get a ride into