Circling

     Cold sweat drips down my face. Hazy sunlight peeks through the trees. The long grass slides between my toes as I stumble over the uneven ground. My knees are weak from the persistent walking that has taken place for what seems like hours. No matter how tired I feel, my legs keep on going. I don’t even know why I was walking, or where. In fact, I don’t know much of anything. All I know is that my name, Walker Jones. 

     My confusion is quickly leading to dread. Confusion is a sickening feeling. Dread merging with fear. Fear then causes tears. I am truly terrified. Not having any information besides your name is sure to cause such emotions. Not being able to control thoughts running through my head. Being alone in a place I’ve never been before has just added on to the sinking feeling in my stomach. I’m entirely sure I’m truly alone. 

     Every step I take, I could  hear unintelligible voices come up from behind me. Sometimes sounding as if they were whispered into my ear. When the voices were close, I would violently flinch. As if the words were a taser. Which causes me to lose my footing, and land face first, into the damp dirt. As I lay in the dirt, with the sun shining onto my cold, wet face. I could clearly see my unsteady breath. The longer I layed there, the more I acknowledged the temperature around me. With the adrenaline coursing through me, I hadn’t noticed how cold I was. My toes, and fingers are pale. Goosebumps covering my whole body. 

     I would have laid there for the rest of my days if I could. Only if I hadn’t seen, out of the corner of my eye,  dark, dancing figures. The more they danced, the closer they got. I was filled entirely with fear. Not wanting to take my eye off of them, I turned my head to get a better look. Only, once my head all the way turned, the figures were gone. Though I could still hear them dancing around. Not wanting to let them get close, I get up and bolt. Thump, Thump, Thump like drums against the ground. My feet were taking me far at a fast pace. That rest was definitely needed. But at what cost. The dancing figures certainly did not need a break, they were moving fast now. Along with the thump of my bare feet, I could distinctly hear the drum of guise footsteps. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as the figures come up close. I stop dead in my tracks as my hand gets grasped, by a familier, warm hand. 

     Of course though, once I’m completely turned around to face my chasers. There is no one there. I could still hear thumps, but they were far in the distance. I stood there trying to catch my breath, thinking about the hand. I knew I recognized it. Where though? Wanting to get as far away from the mysterious group as possible. I turned on my heels, and bolted for it. Each step hurts as much as the last, but I needed to keep going. I would have ran for much longer, if I hadn’t been distracted by the strange event replaying in my head, and fell over a log and down a hill. Being my luck, there is a river at the bottom. 

     The water was ice cold. Making my body tense up, making it impossible for me to try and fight out of the quickly moving current. I remember my grandpa had told me about fighting a river's current. That you have to calm down enough to float at the top, so that you could see where you're at, but also to grab onto things. I would grab on, but there would need to be something to grab onto. I seemed to be the only thing in the river. Not even a floating twig in sight. I don’t even think that there were fish under me. The water was also almost completely clear. The calm light glistening off the water was trance inducing. Like little stars filling my vision. Releasing that I was no longer feeling cold. I glance away from the water to see people lining the shore.

     Though there were shadowing figures surrounding me, with no space between them, I was completely calm. The figures have no features. They’re just dark silhouettes. I’m not even sure I am seeing them. They are all slowly walking along the shore line as I float down the river on my back. My head begins feeling heavy, my vision is getting blurry. I start sinking to the floor of the river. Flowing with the undercurrent. I close my eyes, not wanting the shadows to be the last thing I see. Feeling the cold blanket of water pulling the warmth from my chest. The undercurrent pushing my body farther and farther. Every second, getting faster and faster. Until I abruptly stop. 

     My eyes flutter open. Light shining into my eyes, but not like earlier. This light was welcoming. I’m no longer in the river, or cold. The ground beneath me is soft, and warm. I just lay there enjoying the peace, not bothering to question the circumstances. As I lay, I can hear the birds sing up in the trees above where I watched from. No dark figures. No fear. Just the birds and I. I can smell the flowers surrounding me. Where I lay, is where I want to stay. Not often is my mind calm enough for me to be at peace with my surroundings. The peace was interrupted by my name being called. The voice was not loud. A soft voice of pleading. Pleading my name. I stood to look for this person, but I couldn’t see them. They sounded as if they were right next to me, but they were not. As soon as I stood, everything went dark. The voice says, “Welcome back Walker.”