13 October 2008

Twisted

He began to regret his decision to cut through the dell on his way home. He almost wished that he had refused that last drink and taken a taxi.

The leather soles of his shoes kept slipping on the uneven stone strewn surface of the makeshift pathway he was attempting to pick his way over. There was enough daylight to visually make his way through; the problem was the amount of rain that had fallen throughout the night. What was usually a reasonable cinder path had been transformed into a ribbon of mud.

He was about halfway through his reckless dawn trek when he consciously acknowledged the singing. At first, he thought that his mind was playing tricks on him and that it was some kind of insect. After a while, he realised that it was definitely singing although no matter how hard he tried he could not make out the words or any tune come to that. There seemed to be a number of voices and they never grew any closer or further away. He made a mental decision not to think too much about the surrealism of it all until he arrived home.

In doing so he lost his concentration and footing, he felt his heart race and the adrenalin flow as his right foot slipped from underneath him and his ankle twisted with the strain. Reaching out he grasped at a blackberry bush close by.

“Bugger!” he exclaimed as a sharp thorn sliced through the delicate skin between his thumb and forefinger. “Just my flecking luck!”

Instinctively he brought his hand up to his mouth and sucked the wound tenderly; the warm fresh blood and sweet juice of the berries acted as a spur and he decided to step slightly off the path and continue over the short carpet of grass and plants that edged it. It was a good decision and he was able to improve his speed marginally even though his ankle ached sorely and he didn’t need to look at it to know that it was swollen. He made a mental note to bathe it before he went to bed.

Ten minutes later he came to an abrupt standstill when he recognised the devil blackberry bush he had tackled earlier.

“Well I'll be damned!”

He turned sharply when he heard the scurrying and giggles behind him. He made a mental note not to scream and then carried on regardless.

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Posted by Miladysa at 5:08 PM 5 comments