Mountain Flight

It was so terribly cold.  Snow was falling, and it was almost dark.  The cave which she hid in was small and cramped, not much more than a fissure that cut deep into the side of the mountain.  The walls were uneven and sharp, cutting into her back as she pressed up against it.  The opening was like an angry snarl, narrow and crooked.  The waning light of dusk barely penetrated the opening, yet nearly ten meters deep she still felt horribly exposed.

Earlier, while she had been climbing the mountain, the wind ravaged her mind and body.  The incessant scream cut into her brain, while its icy bite gnawed at her bones.  Nearly an hour later her fingers still throbbed from the cold.  Her toes had no feeling at all.

Outside, the snow swirled like angry bees as the wind continued to assault the mountain.  A shiver passed through her as she remembered the climb she was forced to make.   

Anna hadn’t started out alone.  There were at least ten others that ran towards the mountain when the attack happened.   Probably several times more.  Her memory about those first initial moments was incomplete, overshadowed by the intense fear she felt, and the primal imperative to RUN!  What she could remember were snapshots of horror: 

 A boy her age, blonde hair matted down as blood poured from a scalp wound, his eyes huge white orbs rolling in their sockets as he tried looking everywhere at once. 

 A young mother clutching a child to her tightly, struggling up the steep incline.  The baby wailed in her arms, vocalizing its mother’s terror and desperation.

A large man, older than her father, tripping on a loose rock and falling backward, his surprised cry cut short by a sickening thud.

After a while it was just her, and the howling wind.  Her frantic climb turned to a desperate crawl as the dropping temperature and heavy snowfall made the rocks slick.  She almost missed the opening, hidden behind the scraggly limbs of an old bush.  Anna dragged herself into the fissure, arms trembling from exertion.  When she reached the back, she collapsed, her energy spent.  Within moments she was out cold, her body succumbing to exhaustion.

She awoke a short time later to intense pain, the muscles in her limbs cramping from the extreme cold and prolonged climb up the side of the mountain.  Screams of pain pressed hard against her lips, but she was afraid to let them free.  Anything could be lurking outside the opening.  Waiting.  Listening.  After several long moments the cramps faded away, the muscles jumping from intermittent spasms.  With great care she rolled over into a sitting position, her legs splayed out in front of her.  Her hair hung in frozen clumps around her face, obscuring her field of vision.  Anna drew her legs up to her chest, hugging them tightly in an effort to keep warm.

She sat that way for what felt  like several hours.  Her phone was still in her back pocket,  she could feel it pressing against her right butt cheek.  The need to take it out and turn it on was overwhelming,  but her fear was stronger.  The fear of what could be lurking out there.  The fear of it finding her.  The fear of what would happen if it did find her.

Anna thought of her parents.  They would probably just be sitting down to dinner, most likely meatloaf.  With mashed potatoes and peas.  They would be home, safe.  Maybe wondering what their little girl was up to, if she was enjoying her European hiking trip.  She felt herself begin to cry, the hot tears warming her frozen cheeks.  The reality of her situation squeezed her heart, and the tears flowed even faster.  She didn’t want to die on the side of a mountain, half a world away from her family.  The need to call them was overwhelming;  to tell them how much she loved them; to apologize for the loss they were about to experience because of her.  To hear their voices one last time.  Without even realizing it the phone was in her hand, her thumb hovering over the power button. 

The soft clatter of stone on stone froze her.  It was subtle, nearly hidden by the howling wind.  She held her breath.  Several seconds passed.  Maybe the wind had knocked a stone loose.  Or a small animal tried to burrow into a shelter.  Slowly Anna let her breath out.  She was on edge, her nerves frayed from the constant cold.  Her muscles were threatening to cramp again, she had to readjust.   Slowly, she shifted positions. 

Immediately  the small patch of gray sky was blocked from her view as a giant mass lowered itself in front of the opening, much larger than any human.  Fear froze her in place, her discomfort suddenly forgotten.   A deep grunt came from the opening.  Judging from what was visible, the creature was huge, at least ten feet tall.   The silhouette swayed back and forth, making a snuffling sound.  Looking for her.

Her heartbeat was hard and fast, the sound of it loud in her ears.  Despite the freezing cold, she could feel tiny beads of sweat break out over her body.  She sat that way for several excruciating minutes, silently urging it to go away.

Then her hand vibrated.  She jerked in shock, a small scream escaping her tightly pressed lips.  The phone clattered to the ground, lighting up as the ring tone began blaring in the confined space.  The response from the cave opening was immediate.  The creature spun, slamming its body into the opening, knocking a small cascade of rocks free.

The body shifted,  lowered, until its head rested on the ground.  A large eye peered inside, its black pupil a narrow vertical slit.  Dark spikes of hair surrounded the eye, shielding it from the swirling snow.  A low rumbling, like the sound of an idling car, filled the small cave.  It shifted again as it began to push its head through the opening.  Its head was large, yet compact,  tapering down towards a beaked snout.  It wiggled forward,  working a shoulder through,  then a limb.  

Anna pushed herself backwards as far as she could,  which wasn't very much.  She began screaming as it inched forward,  flattening its body to fit through the opening.  Reaching forward,  it pulled itself closer, claws digging into the stone floor.  Its gaze towards Anna never wavered.  

The creature stretched forward again, knocking into the phone.  It skittered across the floor towards Anna.  She grabbed at it as survival mode kicked in.  Her thumb swiped at the screen, scrolling through the apps until she found the flashlight icon and turned it on.  Immediately the cave filled with blinding light.  Without hesitation she held her arm forward, directing the beam right in the creature's eye.

It reared backwards,  shrieking in shocked pain as its head slammed into the ceiling.  Shaking its head violently, its head bounced off the sides of the confined space.  The creature clawed at its face in an attempt to get the light out of its eyes.

Emboldened,  Anna inched forward, the flashlight still directed at its eye.  Desperate to escape the brightness it wriggled backwards, its head continuing to strike the walls and ceiling.  With one final effort it pulled free of the opening, falling backwards down the mountain. 

Anna stopped at the mouth of the cave.  What was she going to do now?  Stay here and hope it doesn't come back, or risk it and head back down the mountain?  Neither option felt safe, but there were more opportunities in town, more resources.  Frightened yet determined,  she crawled out of the cave. She looked around but didn't see anything.  Taking a deep breath, she started her descent.

She went slow at first.  The ground was slick with iced-over snow.  The wind was still blowing,  but not as strong as before.  It was still cold out, though.  Within minutes her toes were numb; her face and fingers aching from the icy wind.  Her breath came out in ragged clouds. 

After several minutes she thought she could make out some lights down below, pale beacons of safety.   Fighting through the pain, she forced her legs to go faster.   She was nearing the bottom, the grade of the slope leveling out.  Anna began to feel hope as she started planning her next moves.  Then her foot slipped from under her, twisting painfully.  She fell to the side, rolling and sliding down the hill several meters before coming to a stop near a tree. 

 Anna lay there in pain, struggling to breathe.  After several seconds she pushed herself up into a sitting position.  That's when she saw the creature.  It let out a snarling hiss.  At least two others answered it as they came into view.  They advanced towards her, the snow crunching under their clawed feet.

As they loomed over her, mouths opened, Anna realized two things.  The first was that she had lost her phone, her only means of defense, when she fell down the slope.  Covering her eyes, she thought about the second realization:  it had stopped snowing.