I don't remember very well how it all started, I cannot describe it exactly either, but it all started like this!
I try to open my eyes, but I can't. The eyelids are so heavy that they seem to be fused together. Desperate for darkness and powerlessness, I try to remember something, but in my mind, there is an endless void. My whole body is numb, all I feel is my heart beating, and that is what comforts me, what lets me know that I am alive. I realize that I am mind, heart, and nothing else, but it beats slowly, well below normal. I don't know the time, the day, or the place where I am, but that doesn't matter now, I need to find out what happened. A tingling in my eyelids gives me hope. I can open my eyes right away and catch a glimpse of a faint, diffuse light. I am definitely alive, or dead, and that is how souls awaken in purgatory.
It is late afternoon, my heart seems to beat at a normal pace now, and my eyes are wide open scrolling at a frenetic rhythm around the place. I am lying on the right side of my body and my right eye has its vision obstructed by the peat floor. With the left, I can see the woods around a clearing and me just ahead that allows me to see the sun setting. It will be night soon, and I don't feel I will recover my movements until then. My heart tightens as; the hours seem to run faster on the way to the night. My left hand begins to move in spasms, the pain in the finger joints is stinging. I am exhausted; the effort to recover movements has drained all my energy. The night passes slowly as I try to stimulate paralyzed parts of my body by moving them, but it is useless, it seems to recover in a rhythm of its own. Even against my will I can no longer, stay awake, deep fatigue overcomes me and I fall asleep once again.
I wake up some time later with my body movements fully recovered. I feel that sleep did me good. A strong wind blows a handful of icy leaves over me, feeling them on my skin and realizing that I am naked. Feeling my strength returning, I slowly stand up, trying to move around to stimulate the paralyzed circulation. I feel a deep cold that goes down to my bones. I hadn't realized it until then, but the place where I am is very cold and a thin layer of ice covers the surrounding bushes. Trembling, I search for my clothes, but with no success. They are gone, or were never there.
I walk through the forest covering my private parts with the hands. Although afflicted I don't fail to realize that it is strangely quiet, beautiful and mysterious. Suddenly, as if touched by an invisible finger in the middle of my spine, a strong feeling of being followed invades me. I search around me, for anything, but I can't find it.
"Naked, not remembering anything, disoriented and now this unbearable feeling, I think I'm going to go crazy!" I think.
After a while, I can't control myself, and instinct speaks louder. I forget my modesty and release my arms to run as fast as possible. Further, I find a small watercourse, and with a torturous thirst, I plunge my face into the very cold water and drink heavily. I get up quickly and move on; looking back, I can't discern anything. The night is cloudy and only small cracks in the clouds allow me a little light, coming from the moon that is with me.
I have walked for a long time and the feeling of being chased is still with me. Further, I locate a sort of trail or road and, full of hope, I hurry my steps. After a short run, overcome by fatigue I sit down under a large nearby tree to catch my breath. Only at that moment, I clearly hear the sound of approaching footsteps in the darkness. They are heavy steps and their owner is clearly not worried about going unnoticed. I hold my breath as long as I can, but I almost can't, because my heart is in my mouth, ready to come out. The closer footsteps make me discover the direction from which they come. About thirty steps ahead of me on the roadside, I see the huge figure.
Whatever it is, it seems to be hunting. It sniffs the air furiously emitting short, low growls. If the prey is me, somehow the thing had lost my trail. I owe this to the root cover I am in and the wind direction. In the darkness, I study it in a mixture of curiosity and fear. I don't know what it is, but it is definitely not human. The body resembles of a tall man, with long arms and strong legs. However, the head takes away its humanity; it is large and misshapen with wild, red eyes that even at that distance transmitted a primal rage that froze me. I abandoned observation of the creature fearing being tracked, and with an instinctive, terrified reaction, I shrank even further into the bottom of the root, which gave way. A hole opened up in the floor beneath me causing my legs to collapse. With only the upper half of my body exposed and no alternatives, I decide to dig myself into the hole for good.
It was a narrow opening full of hard, sharp roots. With the help of my arms, I slowly submerged myself into the darkness, struggling not to make the slightest noise. My body seemed to be whipped by razors as I crawled to the bottom. I fell about two meters onto a fluffy, damp dirt ground and into it crawled the nocturnal inhabitants of the root hollow. They were in full activity now. I pushed away whatever it was with my hands and quickly explored the place. The hole was quite deep, forming a sort of cave under the tree. I dragged myself desperately as far away from the opening as I could. A short time later, I heard the arrival of the creature. It was close to the tree just above me. I must have made some noise, the thing heard me.
I tried to breathe calmly and quietly. With my strangely sharp hearing, I could hear the snorting of the thing trying to pick up all the smells around it. It was scary to say the least; it practically sucked the air in. Nothing would escape that creature. I sharpened my vision in the darkness, searching for the opening from which it had come, there was nothing in it, and the thing had not found it. I squeezed myself to the bottom of the hiding place, shrinking into a fetal position and with that, I must have crushed some of the beetles that were keeping me company. The smell that came over me was nauseating, but it gave me an idea. I captured a few more and crushed them between my fingers, passing the fluids from their entrails through my body. From the beginning, I felt I needed to disguise my smell, and now, I had found a way. A sharp nausea made me vomit, but probably due to an empty stomach, I only had convulsions. The sniffing sound got louder as the thing found the entrance to my hiding place. It whipped the air frantically with what appeared to be a snout and an extensive tongue. Finding nothing, he introduced his arm. Again, he found nothing. Then the monster savagely attacked the opening. It roared as it destroyed much of the roots that were blocking it. The beast wanted to get in there.
An endless time passed. With furious roars and powerful blows, the creature continued in its effort to widen the entrance. However, it was in vain, the roots did not give way. Suddenly, everything ceased. The thing seemed to have gotten tired or was not sure that what it was looking for was there. He stuck his whole head through the opening and sniffed deeply once, twice, three times and then gave in and left. I heard his footsteps circling the tree for a while longer, looking uncomfortable. I couldn't believe that an animal had the intelligence to do that. Then a loud bang shook the tree and my body. After the blow, the beast emitted the most terrifying sound I ever heard. At first, it was a scream, coming from the depths of a tormented soul. Then a guttural growl fueled by a primal, guttural rage. There also seemed to be pain, a lot of pain. The growl went up in pitch, and louder and louder, it became a long, agonizing howl. It all lasted a few moments that seemed like an eternity. I confess that everything I had been through up to that moment did not even come close to the fear that invaded me. My whole body shivered. I felt in my core a deep abandonment that extinguished all hope that still existed in me, and in this abandonment, I lost my senses.
I awoke to a flash of light coming through the opening. The night of torment was over. The darkness was gone, and with it the monster that hunted me. At least I thought so. Despite everything, I was rested, refreshed even. I found it strange. A night like that would surely leave deep scars on anyone, but that didn't happen. I crawled cautiously to the exit. I looked everywhere to make sure there was nothing else or no one in the surroundings. As I sneaked through it, I could see the damage the thing had done to the thick roots that framed the opening. They were torn apart. They were thick roots, interlaced in a way that was almost impossible to get through, but strangely not touching in the area of the opening I passed through. I think the creature only didn't continue its attack because it couldn't sniff me out. I sincerely thank the fat, stinking beetles I found down there. I crawled out, carefully dodging the pointy roots. With my body almost completely out, I felt the tip of a root penetrate like a dagger into my left calf, the pain was excruciating. I shouted cursing at everything and pulled my body back carefully so that the hole would not become a tear. Finally, I stepped out into the daylight, which at that time had a milder temperature. I let go of my back, breathing deeply with relief. Lying down like that, I could enjoy the branches of my protector as they unfolded in the sky. After some time of rest and filling my lungs with forest air, I decided to get up and move on. As I stood up, I felt a strong sting in my calf and a comfortable warmth go down to my ankle. As I looked back, I was startled to see that the blood loss was not small; a puddle had begun to form on the ground. I slowly lifted my head to walk around the trunk and then saw the damage that the monster's blow had left on the poor tree. Impressive marks were forever carved into the wood. Deep cuts at first, which became shallower as they descended to the base.
"It was a destructive blow; it would have broken me in half. I have to get out of here soon and find help that blood won't stem itself!" I thought.
From that point on, daylight the forest was stunning. The ground was soft, covered with moss and leaves that made the walk easier for my bare feet. A soft mist between ancient, bearded trees made everything magical. How I would have liked to enjoy it in another situation, but the loss of blood along with hunger and thirst were killing me. I feared that I would drop dead before I reached any place that would give me shelter. My vision became blurred, my breathing became more and more difficult, I could no longer feel my feet, and finally the muscles in my legs no longer responded. Walking became a painful act that my body conducted instinctively. Amidst the daze, I began to hear not far away the sound of dry blows, strokes being applied to wood. The beast was back. As a last gesture of madness from someone who has nothing left to lose, I headed straight for the sound. On the verge of death, I would meet my tormentor, look into his eyes and send him to hell, but suddenly the ground under my feet disappeared. In the state I was in, I failed to realize that the ground in front of me ended abruptly in a steep slope. I fell down the cliff rolling uncontrollably. On the clumsy way to the bottom of the valley, my body was battered by every rock and branch I could find. In addition, in that wild descent to my end, I had a certainty and a comfort, death would be quickly.