I just needed to get over… almost there! My fingers brushed against the black nylon straps, the texture making me cringe.
I was reaching for the bag I had put a branch over, and I was really uncomfortable right now: my ribs were pressed against the tree in an awkward position, and my leg was wrapped around a branch in weird way. But I was almost there, and then I could move back to a more comfortable position.
Then a boy walked into the clearing.
I didn't move a muscle. He walked over the span, until he was right below me, head swiveling around.
Please don't look up! I prayed. Please!
He coughed, and sat down. Right at the base of the tree I was hiding in.
No, please, please, no. I couldn't stay like this forever. It was so unnatural. It was so awkward. It was so painful.
Then he pulled out a bag. Reaching in, he removed a piece of fruit and bit in.
He was going to stay. Shit.
I closed my eyes; my face was probably turning red from the stress of lying still in this position for so long. And it had only been, like, three minutes! I struggled to keep my breath from rasping. This was really taxing…. I don't know how much longer I could hold it.
Twenty minutes later I was still holding it. I couldn't breathe at all, and I was sweating. I really needed him to leave. I was going to have to move. It was my best option, if not I would fall all at once and I would be discovered in a second.
I slowly shifted my leg first, moving as slow as I could… just one more shift…
Ahh… there. Now I just had to shift my torso… slowly… slowly…
A branch snapped. The boy looked up. I gasped. He grinned. And stood up, brushing off his clothes. He reached into his pocket, and I saw the glint of a knife. He pulled it out, and stared at it. He looked up at me, and pulled back his hand. I clenched my teeth and braced myself.
His eyes looked fierce, but he was chewing his lower lip.
Then he put the knife away. He winked at me.
And walked away, into the trees.
I was frozen. Should I leave? Would he come back? Was it a trap? What if-
And then I heard the scream. I stiffened, even more so than before. What was that?
The boy ran back into the clearing. Another boy tore out of the brush behind him, bow and arrow raised.
No. I couldn't watch this… he had let me go. Saved me. And now I had to save him. I don't know why this urge came over me, but it did.
And so I dropped out of the tree.
I landed on my feet, and stood up. I would die strong.
The boy was almost to me, his eyes begging me to do something. I did. As he reached me, I stepped around him, straight into the path of the other boy.
And an arrow buried itself into my skull.
Luckily for me, my death was instantaneous.
Luckily for me, the boy got away.
Luckily for me, I died for a cause.