POP!
I jolted awake at what sounded like a muted gunshot near my makeshift bed and scrambled to the entrance to peep out at whatever could have made the sound. Night was nearly over as the pitch black sky and sparsely scattered stars slowly acquiesced to the faint glow of the rising sun. The fire had nearly burned out, with only a few spits of flame still struggling to stay lit. I inspected the area briefly before spotting what had made the noise that woke me; a few shards of clay that found themselves outside of the fire pit.
“Ugh. I hope at least one made it ok. I’d like to at least pretend to make something to eat today,” I groaned. The small shot of adrenaline from the dream and popping earthenware wore off quickly as I struggled to get to my hooves. I yawned and grabbed the pole I had used to poke the fire with and set about pulling the coals apart, fully expecting to find all my pottery attempts to have been shattered overnight.
I sifted through ash and clay shards until I heard an almost metallic clink issuing from the end of the shaft. I quickly eased the smallest of the bowls away from the rest of the broken pieces and kicked one of the stones surrounding the campfire out of the way so I could push the only unbroken bowl away from the heat to let it cool. I could barely keep the tears from falling as I stared at the simple and incredibly primitive earthenware before me. Little things can mean so much to a survivor and this little bowl, barely big enough to hold a meaningful meal, meant boiled water and cooked food.
I waited for the pot to cool and the tears to dry before struggling to my hooves once more and took a drink from the stream before getting to work. I spent that morning collecting anything that looked remotely edible, as well as a couple more of the fruits from the day before and began putting it all in the little pot. I kept the fruits to the side, filled the pot with water from the creek, and started my fire up again to boil my bowl of greens and mushrooms.
I made sure to boil everything several times till the water came out clear, then again just to be sure. It was mushy and flavorless, definitely not fish soup, but I had a full belly now and I could feel my body recovering energy as I ate. I allowed myself time to digest the meal and savor the fruit as a sweet dessert while I thought about the events of the night prior.
“What should I do about that dream I had last night?” I asked myself, feeling well enough to spare the energy to talk things through for the first time in a while. “Normally, you’d want to wait where you are to be found. I guess I can’t really do that. If someone was looking for me, they’d have to track me for 30 miles beforehand since I obviously didn’t stay still where I first came too. I really have two options then.”
I sighed as the fire popped, excitedly awaiting my choice. “I can either stay here and make a big enough fire to act as a smoke signal, maybe someone can see it and find me. Or I can continue following the creek and hope to find civilization. I’ve made it ok so far, so I’m not scared of staying around. If anything I can keep myself busy with making some more tools I can use and a bag or something to carry them with just in case. But that dream…" I wondered if it was a sign when-
SNAP!
My eyes darted to the small circle of stones, thinking at first that it was just the burning sticks agreeing with my thoughts, but it wasn't the fire. It sounded far too loud, almost like something heavy had broken an entire tree limb. I slowly stood up and swept the woods in front of me for threats.
The hair on my body stood on end and my skin crawled. I felt like I was being watched and whatever was out there was deciding if pony was on the breakfast menu. I dared not move, my hooves frozen to my perceived safe zone near the fire when another snap caught my attention from my right, and then another straight ahead. Before I could comprehend what I was seeing properly I realized the scene from my dream was coming true. Three sets of eyes lifted up from the ground and stared at me through the shadows cast in the early morning light, reflecting the orange flicker of the fire that gave me scant protection.
Something in my brain snapped and my entire being screamed at me to run. I grabbed the little clay bowl in my mouth and started sprinting down the creek. My decision was made for me as three large creatures covered in wood and brush erupted from the treeline and gave chase. I dared not to even glance at my attackers, afraid that I’d trip and make myself an easy meal. I had really only just gotten the hang of walking about, but my body decided that was all the practice I had needed as I galloped full tilt through the woods with the three howling things crashing behind me.
I made every shortcut I could think to take, leaping across the water when the creek looped on itself, or scrambling under objects too big to go around or leap over, hoping the creatures behind me were too large to follow through but the sound of starved beasts never ceased their chase. I guessed by their number and the sounds they made that it was a pack of wolves or dogs, which only put more fear into my heart as I tore through the brush. A single bear or cat can be scared off or backed away from, but a wolf pack won't back off as easily and is nearly impossible to fight against alone. If I got caught, I was dead.
“I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m so dead! HELP!” I yelped as I ran. My eyes had become bleary from fear and desperation, my lungs gasped for air, and my tired legs screamed at me, especially the one that had only been dislocated days prior. I could feel that one in particular threatening to end the chase with an untimely relapse as I torqued my body around the objects in my path but I pushed through the pain.
Up ahead I could see a clearing, which made me feel a leap of elation. A clearing might mean a field or a farm, maybe someone would be there to help me, or maybe it’s where the creek hooks up with the river and I’d have to make a choice to swim or get eaten. “Can I even swim? Do horses swim well? What if I just drown or they follow me out and drag me back to shore to tear out my insides like a vibrant spaghetti filled pinata.” I shook the thought from my mind, I couldn’t afford to think that way now. I had to think of a way to survive.
I burst past the treeline and to my horror saw that the clearing wasn’t just a clearing. The creek I’d been following fell into a ravine a short distance away from the edge of the forest. Rushing water was churning below as the rapids flowed through the canyon, mocking me in my plight. I made to turn right and followed the ravine, hoping that there may be a thin spot to leap across or a bridge that I could break to prevent the wolves from continuing their chase but it stretched on ahead of me without such an allowance.
The wolves were gaining now, able to travel their full speed in the open ground. All I could do was make their chase last a little longer until I ran out of gas. I hated that I couldn’t even take satisfaction in making their job harder for them. They were wolves, after all. They thrilled at the hunt like a dog chasing a frisbee. All I was doing now was helping them live their best life while I was about to lose mine.
I desperately looked for anything around me that I could grab to throw or hit them with or climb but they would be upon me too soon. The little clay bowl I made clattered noisily between my teeth as I galloped, and in desperation I threw it backwards as best I could without causing myself to trip. It was the only thing that gave me comfort since I'd found myself here, and my last hope of evading these monsters. One of the wolves behind me yelped and growled loudly and their pace quickened as my heart sank. I could think of only one other option.
A single wolf leaped from behind me and I could feel their sharp claws graze my back as it missed pulling me down and landed with a thud just behind me. I wasn’t sure how badly I’d been hurt, but I could feel the heat from my racing blood seep into the hair on my hind legs, surely staining that flint and steel tattoo on my flank.
I was out of time. “I’m not going to die being eaten alive out here! Screw you!” I screamed and swerved hard to the left towards the ravine and leapt. I knew I wasn’t going to make it across. I wasn’t big enough, running fast enough, nor strong enough to clear the gap. Just brave and stupid enough to make the decision to choose how I wanted to go out.
I closed my eyes and waited for gravity to take hold, expecting to feel that familiar thud as my body collided limply against the stones in the rapids below. Maybe if I was lucky, I would survive the fall and somehow not drown. I’d managed to live a drop like this once this week, why not go for a personal record? “This is a long fall.” I thought to myself. The other one didn’t take nearly this long. I dared to look, expecting the rocks below to be upon me as if waiting for me to open my eyes so I could see them strike the final blow. My eyes cracked open and-
The rocks had stayed where they were. Or maybe, I had stayed in the air? “What the hay?!” I gasped, not realizing my pun. I was floating in mid air above the ravine! By some grace of magic or miracle my body was just floating there, or rather slowly gliding to the other side of the ravine. I felt the wind blowing through the valley wash cool over my body, sending a shiver through my lower back as it cooled the hot blood running down my flanks and feeling a strange flapping sensation in my back. “Wings? …oh, right. I have those now.”
And as if they had stage fright they locked up and closed tightly against my barrel, stealing my lift and robbing me of flight just in time to send me crashing into dirt on the opposite side of the ravine. I scrambled to the safety of solid land and gasped ragged, raspy breaths as I laid there in what must have been a slowly widening pool of blood. My body felt wet, clammy, and sticky from sweat, and my injured rear leg felt numb again, but I was still alive, somehow.
A pitiful howl shocked me out of my reverie and I looked at my attackers for the first time, pacing back and forth across the ravine, slavering and staring at me with hungry eyes and hateful glares. Two wolf-like creatures made of leaves and wood and sticks pawed at the ground and gnashed their thorny teeth in frustration while a third could be heard yelping and whimpering somewhere in the rushing waters below.
“Timberwolves. Heh…” My mind thought only to make light of the poor taste of a living dad-joke before my body crumpled under its own weight. "I must have lost a lot of blood." I imagined that my wounds were much more serious than what I initially thought, but my nerves failed to register the pain. I could feel the now familiar onset of shock coming over my body and my thoughts began to cloud up. “I-I can’t die. Not here. I-” Exhaustion overrode any will I had left to move.
I was only faintly aware of my head hitting the ground as the world turned black. A dull flapping sound filled my ears and I felt them barely moving about to catch some sound they could detect that didn’t quite register with my brain. Sounds of metal tinkling. Hooves. A breeze? At least it wasn’t raining while I died. “...” A voice? I couldn't hear what it was saying. My dream friend? No…this one was male. Someone found me. “Too late. I wish they’d stop trying to shake me awake. I want to sleep.”