𝐌 𝐈 𝐃 𝐍 𝐈 𝐆 𝐇 𝐓

9| 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

/𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥/

𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎

☾

I stared at the poorly lit street through blurry, teary, eyes as I continued to walk away.

Fight or flight is a funny concept.

Well, to me at least.

Essentially, your brain goes on high alert at the sight of something you deem potentially dangerous or stress inducing.

We can find out what truly stresses someone out or what they are really scared of, whether it be spiders, ladybugs, perverted old men, or the dark.

Recklessly, I had just walked out of the house into the dark and kept walking till I reached the edge of my neighborhood. The walk, itself, had been good for me. It helped calm me down, and even though the tears were still falling, and I was still shaking, I was away from the place I thought of as potentially dangerous and stress inducing.

I had chosen flight without even realizing it.

Perhaps my body knew what it was doing. I had known my mother long enough to understand that it was hard to convince her otherwise when she already had her mind set.

I just wish I had grabbed a jacket first.

My sweatpants were doing the best they could and my socks helped, but I was still in my slippers that I had reserved for indoor use only and my shirt, while long sleeved, could not withstand the cold night.

I paused at the end of the sidewalk and looked at the massive wooded area in front of me.

A car loudly came driving down the street and I jumped, startled at the sudden sound. It's headlights were beaming ahead and when I made out the license plate that said "HILBILY" I ran into the woods and behind a tree.

Mike's license plate put my brain on high alert and made my muscles tense.

My breathing was in shallow pants and I felt a cold sweat fall over my body. After what seemed like hours, he finally made a u-turn and went back the way he came.

The night suddenly seemed darker. I shivered and turned around only to be met with more forest. I don't remember running in this far. I tried to trace my steps, even using the flashlight on my phone but I couldn't see the street anymore.

Branches snapped and leaves rustled in the dark around me.

I turned off the flashlight suddenly paranoid that it would make me a visible target of whatever is lurking.

The cold sweats reappeared and I looked around me.

Oh god.

Where am I?

I shivered at the thought of spending the night in the woods. Sleeping in the dirt, bugs crawling under my clothes and into my hair. I cringed and itched my scalp. My tears had stopped but I felt them prick at my eyes. This isn't happening. This is not happening.

Just calm down and try to find a way out.

My head was pounding and I swallowed the lump in my throat but my hands were still shaking so much and my stomach was churning.

I bit my lip so hard it started to bleed.

Just relax. Corvina, please just relax.

Breathe.

Trying to convince myself to calm down at this point was fruitless but I knew I needed to get my mind clear. There was so much happening. So much had already happened. And now I was lost in the woods. In the middle of the night.