Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 5: Cashmere

        I breathed heavily as I ran through the woods. Tree, tree, tree. Bush, grass, another tree. I stopped and took a deep breath. I missed my mom. I missed my dad. I wished I was back home under my nice warm blankets. The sky was getting dark and cloudy—not a good sign. I looked at my watch. 4:47. I had been wandering through nature for three and a half hours. I sighed, and my stomach grumbled. I had no food. Suddenly I heard a roll of thunder and a water drop landed on my nose.

        "No!" I screamed. Rain fell all around me, drenching my clothes. I ran frantically, trying to find something that would shelter me from the storm. Lightning lit up the sky as the rain continued to fall. I searched, turning all around. Every direction looked the same. There. I ran to my right and stopped at a dry area.Over a hundred branches overlapped about four feet off the ground. Perfect. I climbed underneath and heaved a sigh of relief. Thunder rumbled and a drop of water dripped from between the branches. I laid down (mainly because I couldn't sit up since the branches were so low) and looked at the darkening sky. I longed to see the nice, warm glow of the sun. I looked down at my palm and studied the sun etched into my skin. Some days I would stare at it for hours. But that was before. Now, I couldn't think about anything but running away. Where would I go? What would I do? My life was ruined back home. There was no turning back now. I began thinking about my parents. I had never felt home sick before. I yearned to see my mom's warm smile, my dad's hugs and the way he poked my on my side and made me laugh. I began to cry. What had I done? My life was gone. I had thrown it all away.

        No, I thought, your life is not gone. You just need to start over. 

But how? I was all alone. I was in the middle of nowhere. I would never see my parents again, or my home. I couldn't be away from the light, too. I'd go crazy! I ripped some branches from above me, and thankfully the whole thing didn't collapse. It also gave me enough room to sit up...kind of. I placed the branches on the ground next to me, but kept two, one in each hand. I rubbed them together—nothing happened. I rubbed harder—still nothing. I must have tried for an hour, but still remained in darkness. Full of complete frustration, I put them against each other and closed my eyes. I concentrated and thought,

        "Light. Sun. Fire."

The moment I began rubbing the sticks together, a spark jumped and a flame erupted on the wood. At first I was frightened since the flame was so close to my hand, but after a couple of seconds I couldn't help smiling. As soon as I did so, I realized I hadn't smiled in a very long time. I placed the sticks on my pile of branches, and the flame grew. I could have sworn that every time I thought about light, the fire got brighter. It was probably my imagination. I laid back down as the fire supplied warmth. I watched the light dance across the wood, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

In my dream, I was running through the woods, and something was chasing me. I looked back and saw a large dark figure racing towards me. I screamed and ran on. The figure was approaching quickly, obviously gaining speed. I turned again (big mistake) and tripped over a tree root. I fell on my face and scrambled back up, but I was too late. The beast had caught up and was only a couple of yards away, now. I ran, but knew there was no way I could get out of this. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something shimmer. I looked to my left and saw a coyote standing at the top of a hill. But the coyote wasn't any normal coyote. It's fur was golden. It glowed and stood out among the dull colors of the forest. When I looked at it, everything around me seemed to be black and white. I looked it in the eyes, and it ran behind the hill. I was still running, but I felt an urge to follow it. I ran to my left and heard the creature tramping behind me. When I reached he hill, there was no sign of the coyote.

Suddenly there was snow all around me and I saw animal tracks. I followed them, but then it was raining. It washed the snow away and I had no tracks to follow. When the rain made mud, I could see tracks again, just barely enough to follow. Suddenly everything started to fade and then I was in darkness. I couldn't see where I was going, but I knew I had to keep running. Among the darkness, I saw a golden glow—the coyote! I ran towards it, but suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my leg, as if a thousand knives were stabbing me. I cried out, but I was all alone. The coyote was gone, and the creature had caught up to me and bitten my leg. I was too afraid to look down upon my bleeding skin. I collapsed to the ground and saw a ferocious beast lash out at my face.

I woke up covered in sweat. I was breathing hard and my whole body was shaking. I remembered the feeling of being completely helpless. The dream felt important, but I wasn't sure how. It had almost seemed like the light—the glow from the coyote—had been leading me to safety. And the other three things seemed important: the snow, the rain, and the darkness. Throughout everything, the coyote had been guiding me. This whole thing seemed crazy. I shook my head but decided to keep it in the back of my mind.

I got out from under the hood of the branches and got a chill. The fire was out, but it had stopped raining. My clothes were drenched and the air was cold. Just my luck. I pulled off my t-shirt so I was wearing a cami and jean shorts. "It's better than wearing a wet shirt." I muttered to myself. I stood and thought for awhile. Than I bent down and grabbed some vines. I used them to tie the neck hold of my shirt closed. I grabbed more vines and tied them to the bottom of my shirt. I used this as a makeshift backpack thing. I placed some sticks in the bag and than swung it around so it was resting on my back and began traveling again.