Why, hello! Long time, no see. I've been very busy with degree work, and I am now the proud owner of a Bachelor of Arts Degree! :) I have one year left for my Honours and then I'll be a fully qualified musical theatre performer. However, I'm on summer holidays now so I've been able to get back into writing. I'm a little rusty, so this is just a little prologue to ease me back in. So many ideas for this story! Please read, review and enjoy.
The young boy wandered aimlessly through the forest, his lips dry and cracked from dehydration. He stumbled a little, dragging his feet along as best he could. He had never been so tired. He could not remember the last time he had been so hungry – he doubted he had ever been this famished, although since he had no memory before three days ago, he could well be wrong. He couldn't even remember his name, nor where he'd come from. All the boy knew was that he was hot, parched and starving.
His dirty tunic was saturated with dried blood, and the deep gash on his torso led him to believe that it was his own. Various other cuts and bruises decorated his olive skin, and more congealed blood from his severe head wound knotted his thick black hair. He ached everywhere, but fought off his need for rest: he was afraid that if he slept, he wouldn't wake again.
He had awoken from some kind of coma three days previously, prostrate in the bushes of a strange forest. Huge birds circled overhead, calling out to one another as they approached him. Natural survival instinct had kicked in and he had stumbled to his feet and run from their sight as quickly as his stiff limbs could carry him. He wasn't getting anywhere quickly, but he could see from the thinning trees ahead that he was reaching the edge of the forest. He squinted against the dappled light, tripping over a tree root and falling heavily onto a well concealed footpath.
He did not have the strength to rise. He stared up at the leafy canopy overhead, smiling as his weary eyes traced patterns between the leaves. This would be a pleasant end to his life, he decided: lying amongst nature, drinking in the peace and quiet with only his own troubled thoughts for company. Calmly, he closed his eyes and heaved a heavy, painful sigh. He readied himself for death.
Soon, a distant sound interrupted his quiet surrender; footsteps in the distance and a sweet, childish voice singing nonsense rhymes. He did his best to ignore it, but gradually it grew closer until the rhymes stopped with an abrupt gasp. The boy opened his eyes, surveyed the girl before him, and fainted.
I would really appreciate your feedback! x