Devil's Playground

The deep thicket of green forest slowly descended into darkness as the sun fell beyond the tree line. My pulse hastened from the fetor of fear that lingered in the thick air of the jungle. It was nearly impossible to tell the time since large vines and tall trees obstructed my vision. My legs grew weaker with each step. The exhaustion overwhelmed the need to continue, yet I felt that I couldn't stop.

Almost tripping over myself, I looked down to see deep cuts across my body. I tried to recall how these lacerations across my body came to be. I remembered faint images of scratches from the paw of a four-legged beast, and sharp, teeth sinking into my leg from another. Not knowing what the creature was, nor what quarrel I had with it, I didn't dare ask myself why.

As I stepped further into the jungle, I heard the chirps of unusual birds that haunted me as they rang through my mind. Where are they?! Where are they?!! I thought to myself, hoping that the torment would stop. My hands curled up around the tender oval objects on my head, hoping that it would ease the immense pain.

Finally, it did, the ringing dwindled, and the mysterious birds had stopped. I felt a burden lift from my shoulders as the discomforting sound was brought to an end. I hoped that this feeling of release would carry onward and eventually lead to the returning of my sanity. I knew that this was my brain pushing me off the cliff of reality, but I had hope deep in my heart that I would survive.

Thorny bushes wrapped themselves around my legs, piercing my bony ankles and making blood flow, staining the ground red. It didn't bother me as I got used to the tight grip of the devil-like plants. It seemed as though this jungle kept me alive only to make me suffer until I finally greeted death.

As I continued drifting through the jungle, straying further from the path, I began to question my surroundings. "Where am I? Wh...which way is forward?" I thought to myself as I placed my right foot in front of the left. My feet sank deep into the wet, moist floor, making it challenging to walk unwaveringly. My eyelids tried to close, but my body did not allow it. For once in my life, I felt like I wasn't in control.

Seeing no means of escape, with the light slowly slipping from my grasp, I attempted what I could not do before. My body was so used to walking through this horrid place that I could not stop. And as my body slowly wore itself down, I knew that eventually, I would have to. "Why not now?" I asked myself.

There was no rejection in my mind, but my body had planned differently. Having the same motion for hours, eventually led to my muscles only remembering that pattern. So I needed to pause in one way or another before my eternal doom was upon me.

The blood in my veins seeped faster, and I knew I had to try. Using all the grit I had left, I forced myself to stop, halting in a frozen position. My body dropped to the ground. I winced as the soil pressed into the bloody cuts across my body.

The pain started to set in, but I was only focused on actually trying to faint. The idea seems simple, yet when you have dehydration, malnutrition, and severe blood loss, that thing can nearly become impossible.

I tried my very best to close my eyes and let my brain have a rest. "Exactly...what...I...want," I whispered to myself as I slowly drifted into a sleepy state, deeper and deeper into the black abyss of unconsciousness.

The truth in the farthest part of my mind told me otherwise, making me fear what I couldn't see, hear, and, most importantly, what I could not feel. I hoped the jungle would spare my life for the night, keeping me safe from the predators that lay deep within the bush, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on my body and devour it whole. These creatures existed in this jungle, and I knew that I was being watched.

This jungle was one of the devil's hot spots, and today he decided to take a trip. Why else would gravity disappear? Why else would I be suffering? There is no other cause that my brain would accept; my only option was to agree with it and move on.

The nightmares that followed kept me sleeping, but not enough to heal my injured body. Every time I changed positions from the ghastly dreams, I winced from once again the hard floor pressing its oozing toxins into my cuts. But it didn't matter to me because all I wanted was a little bit of sleep.

Fear and panic were the henchmen for the devil, and I was his next puppet. I do not know why he is after me nor what he wants from me, but I hope to find out soon, and maybe, that will solve the mystery behind why Earth's gravity has left every place besides this one.