Night Dash

This piece of short fiction represents a special kind of "stepping stone" in life. It represents the "before"--the one that once you lose, you are likely to never get back. Sometimes, although we strive to keep moving forward, reaching the "after" takes a lot away from us. This short story shows just how special the "before" perspective of life can be.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD

            My footsteps? Hers? Theirs? It was impossible to tell. Twisted shrubbery and veiny branches curled at me as if I was emitting a magnetic pull. Everything tore at my skin; the rocks leapt to leave bloody dents below my knees as I rushed, bent forward. One hand reaching out, so as not to come to a final stop upon hitting a brick-hard trunk, and one hand back, so as not to lose the light angel that held on gingerly to my fingers.

            I dared not look back, but surely she was there. Floating, almost, with white fabric flying behind her like wings. Golden hair weaving through rushed wind like velvet. In this way, beautiful all over. And my responsibility in the nightmare of these woods.

            A good thing about these cuts and bruises was that I no longer felt the pain in my muscles from running too long. I didn’t see it yet, but when the green light appeared, we would be first. As I thought this, my fingertips before me were scratched by thorny bushes. I swiftly dug my feet into the ground and came to a progressive stop after the long run. As my right arm formed a fleshy barrier between myself and the spiked bush, I flung my left one over Angel and pulled her tightly to my hip. We both fell to our knees immediately, breathing desperately through our nostrils while the blood came to a swishy stop in our heads. My vision was spinning slightly, and I fought to focus on the scene before me as Angel turned her head and took deep breaths while clutching my shirt to her lips. “Good girl,” I whispered hoarsely.

My eyes darted now, fully focused. We were definitely not in any sort of clearing. In fact, it seemed that we had run off track a bit too deeply in my strategy to keep hidden. I suddenly had to stifle a cough and brought my arm up to my mouth. There was Angel, staring at me with wide green eyes. “…Are we found yet?” she whispered. When I still couldn’t find my voice to reply, she grabbed my shirt in a panic with her tiny fists. “Gamma? Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” I coughed out. “Just…aheh! Off track. But that’s fine. We’re leading.”

Angel continued to stare at me as if I were a God of some sort. “…Okay.” She was so tiny. Even compared to the other petites, she was smaller. She looked five, not eight, and I, I probably looked more like a teenage boy in my state than I did like a girl. I wiped at my face and came back with a palm covered in soot. If we made it, there would be a horrid sleep waiting for us.

Suddenly, a rustling sound. I leapt to my feet but stayed crouched, all the while pulling Angel behind me. She was surely scared, but didn’t let out a single gasp; an expert, now that we had been through these runs countless times. The baby trees before us were hidden in shadows and I cursed. I had let us stop in a position that could be spotted from a blind point. “If it is a chasseur, you run!” I hissed.

“But Ga—!!!”

“No!” I pushed her with more force. “If it is a chasseur then at least you will get there!”

She didn’t answer me, but I didn’t hear her move either. I narrowed my eyes at the rustling branches and began to plan.

Whoever it was, they were clumsy. I wondered if they were one of the nouvelles, but then it would be rare for them to make it this far. Aha! I suddenly noticed, from the height of the origin of rustling, that this person was huge. Perhaps, though unlikely, someone I hadn’t spotted at the début. I kept my eyes fixed on the enemy and grabbed a stone that was at my feet. I was Gamma for a reason—a reason that was gone now. No longer was I one to wait.

“AAAAAAH!!!!” I charged after pushing Angel back forcefully. She fell flat on her butt and I heard her let out a surprised squeak. I tore through the bushes like a mad person, baring my teeth and hunching my shoulders to look bigger. Twigs scratched at my cheeks and I was lucky that none got my eyes. There were heavy THUDS and once I had beaten my way through the web of trees, I spotted the white tail of a plump deer racing off deeper into the woods.

“Zut!” I spat, and then turned to run back to Angel immediately. She was already emerging from the torn hole I had made in nature, her mouth pulled in a tight line but her skinny frame shaking with her attempted bravery.

“What was it?” she whispered at me in the dark.

“A deer, nothing to worry about,” I replied quickly, hoping to calm her. “If the deer’s here that means we’re probably alone in this part of the woods. Let’s go quickly before any of the others come around.”

Angel nodded and her golden strands flew back and forth brightly against the inky blue hues of the forest. She reached forward and her pale arm was revealed as the white gown sleeve fell back. Not a single scratch on her snowy skin, so I was doing very well tonight. Taking her hand and facing forward, I took a single, deep breath before breaking into a run again.

“Les autres!”

This single cry, cracking through the air like a charged whip, sent me flying. I grabbed Angel’s hand with blood-stopping strength and yanked her forward, directly to my side. As I sprinted I pulled her roughly along with me; she was making complete steps on the ground one time out of every three, but mostly, she was like a doll flopping in the wind. A low tree branch was coming up ahead of us, and I half-ducked, half-crawled in my haste, scraping both knees against sticks and hard mud, all the while pulling Angel along with me. There were definite others behind us now, but there was no way I would let us be stopped here.

And suddenly, the green light. I saw it once as I tripped momentarily on a thick root. It whizzed across my vision, teasingly yet certainly. “There, Angel!” I rasped. We ran together now, as I was losing speed after the long race. The cries of the others rang out, stupidly close to the fence that was looming ahead.

“Gamma, jump!” Angel was crying out now too, in a horrifyingly desperate voice. “Jump!” She slipped out of my hand and leapt across the wooden planks that stood before us. After a moment, she appeared at the top again and reached down to help drag me over. I felt one of the others make a grab at my ankle, but it was a bad grip and I was able to flee. On the other side of the fence, I fell to the wet ground and got mud in my ear. But now, the green light was meters away, and it would be worthy of a tragedy to let things end here.

Hastily, I rose and followed the white flowing robes that dashed ahead of me. Every few seconds the golden color would disappear and be replaced by green eyes and a panicked face, checking to see that I was there behind her. There were shouts trailing us as more climbed the fence, but Angel and I were at the green light, too far to be caught.

I let out a whoop as we ran by the mighty pole that shone the light on us. My feet were sturdy on dry dirt ground, and victory was meters away in the form of triangular shapes. Unfortunately, soon after the green light, there was yellow, all around, emerging from corners unseen.

“Malheur!” The yellow lights cried. “Stop there!”

Angel shrieked as the others caught up to our pace. When we passed bright red fabric, I shoved her in without warning. “It’s yours!” I called out. “Sleep now! Do not budge!” And then, I kept running. The others dispersed around me, disappearing into the purples, the greys, and the browns. I, myself, ran to the end, where the orange one stood. With a long dive I was in, then crawling like mad and rustling around with blind eyes. A yellow light was coming closer; I could see it through the orange fabric. There was a ziiiip! and I flipped over so my back was to the half-open space. Eyes shut tight, the performance began.

A rustling, a trip, wild yellow light. “You!” came the hiss. “I know you were there! Look at me now!”

Stay still. Do not move. Perform ‘till la fin.

Another one now. “She was there! She’s always there! Don’t pretend to sleep, Anna! Look at me now!”

The yellow light was on me; I could feel it like it was burning the hair off my scalp.

“Tomorrow morning you will all get it! You little criminels! If you think you can do this every night we will call your parents so fast, you will not have time to blink! Zut! I know you were there!”

Deep, even breathing. Like the first night, when we actually slept.

The voices were leaving now, angry yet with no concrete proof. “They think they can come to camp and do whatever they want?!” A ziiiip! as my tent was shut tight. “They do not think what will happen to us if the park police find out our girls are running like mad every night! That Anna! She was running! I’m sure she was running too!”

In, and out. Just like that. Just like that, I let a smile creep out. Because then, I was sure. At the meeting tomorrow, Angel and I would be crowned first.