Monday, August 22, 2011

Jack (Part Three)

Scared out of his mind, the newborn watched with wide eyes as the trees below whipped past. The forest spanned farther than he could see from side to side. In front of him, growing closer and closer, was a tall and dark mountain. Maybe it was the terror already settled in his throat, maybe it was the dense fog preventing him to see just how far up the mountain went, maybe it was the lack of trees and large amounts of black rock covering the surface of the mountain. Whatever it was, the newborn began to squirm in the bird’s claws, wanting anything but to get closer to the nearing mountain. But the creature’s grip was strong, and the sharp edges of the claws dug into the newborn’s tender underbelly. There was no way out.

The comforting green seemed to vanish as they sped forward, dark angry rock glaring at the newborn. They flew higher and higher, scaling the side of the mountain too fast for the newborn to see if there was any life on the stony surface. A sudden roar filled the newborn’s ears, and his captor shrieked in shock and fear, its grip loosening on the newborn. Thanks to his earlier squirming, he slipped from the bird’s claws and fell to the mountain fast, managing to only catch a faraway glimpse of striped fur belonging to what had scared the bird.

Chirping in fear the entire fall, the newborn closed his eyes in preparation for the impact. He hit the rock hard, knocking the wind out of him. He rolled downwards for a moment before hitting a bit of rock that jutted out more. There he stayed, eyes still tightly shut, trying desperately to catch his breath. His whole body ached from the impact. Slowly, without opening his eyes, he tested his wings to make sure they weren’t hurt. They ached, but he would be fine. He wasn’t going to be eaten by that bird anymore. But.... Timidly, he opened his eyes. He was still many days away from home and Mom.

Still too frightened to move, he looked around, taking in the cold, hard surroundings. Though the majority of what he saw was black angry rock, small green life sprouted out from the cracks here and there. Each plant seemed to have two tall, thin leaves. The newborn frowned at one closer to him. Could he eat this stuff? Cautiously, he lifted his head and opened his mouth to chomp down. Suddenly the plant jumped up. A short, surprised squawk came out of the newborn’s mouth, and he skittered back. The plant wasn’t a plant, it was a creature! Those leaves weren’t leaves, they were large ears! Instead of a root, it had a long brown body with countless numbers of tiny legs. The leaf-ears cocked to one side as small beady eyes stared at the newborn. The newborn stared back. Several other plant creatures popped up around him, all staring at him in curiosity. Abruptly, as if some unspoken signal had been given, they all swarmed towards him. The newborn let out a shriek, backing up only to find more coming from behind. Terror building up in his throat again, he closed his eyes and cowered as thousands of tiny feet crawled over him.

Ooo, a cliffhanger. I love cliffhangers. Don't you? Part four will be posted tomorrow.

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