A shivering sensation overcame me as my limbs lay lifeless.I stared into the sky as my eyelids blinked into sight and my pulse stammered to a readable pace.I Outstretched My fingers only to indicate from their nearly purple hue that I’d been where ever I was for far too long.I could barely think,or even move for that matter.The frost on the ground surrounded me and clouded my thoughts. The sun had just gone over the horizon as golden hour dwindled away in its final seconds.My clothes were tattered and sobbing wet.As I awoke from the ground I attempted to stand up and felt nothing as my legs gave out underneath me.

My face plummeted into the snow as my soaked clothes made me restless and the temperature tempted me to close my eyes. The wind blew the snow ever deeper into my soul and every second that passed by assured me that my body was failing.

I managed to prop myself up on the nearest tree trunk to find myself totally alone.The tundra stretched out into miles nigh Infinite in every direction.Trees towered over me as my sense of direction seemed entirely skewed.The sky visible yet obscured from foliage and clouds.

As I gathered my thoughts a migraine set in that only gave way to anger and frustration.This Searing pain in my temple simply wouldn’t go away.A deep search into my pockets only revealed a lighter, two soggy cigarettes and a locket.It’s nice to know in my final moments before this I was cognitive enough to recognize my nicotine addiction.As I waved the only tiny sense of hope I had left in front of my face,I realized the lighter had but the slightest amount of fluid left.

Pure euphoria hit my lips as a spark managed to light the hardly smokable menthol in my mouth,but I’d make it work.Now dazed and somewhat sensible I fully stood around.Branches made mirages of passages in the dark,but no trail actually lay out before me.There was no sense of civilization I could muster from the environment.The dark was the only one to keep me company and even then the shadows became indiscernible the more the night melted away.

An hour had passed.I could only tell because the moon sat in the distance waning it’s light on the trees,never touching the ground.

I trudged along as I sparked my second cigarette from the ashes of the first.I had pushed my lively corpse about a mile now through the blackened woods.There was no incline to the slope of my step which meant I was most likely in a plateau closer to the ground.My breathing felt hectic and poorly paced but I couldn’t tell if that was from the elevation or my current condition.

My fingers remained numb but switched their shade,reverting back to a more neutral tone.

Most of my wardrobe still squished out water from time to time,but standing for this long had allowed for my jacket to dry off.Frostbite hade already set in but all I had to do was keep moving to prevent it from getting worse.The dark lay thick on my eyes never letting me adjust until I came to a clearing.

I rested against another tree and surveyed the landscape once more as my final drag gave way to me dropping the filter in the snow.I could finally see the night sky in all its enormity before me.As the moment passed a cabin was also in the distance though no lights seemed to flicker in the windows.I couldn’t see any cars on the property either, but before I could make out anything closer I heard a serious rumbling. Upon closer inspection it was just my stomach. How long had I been in the forest? Why was I asleep ? Why can’t I remember?

While Pondering on these questions I heard something more sinister in the distance.

Kneeling behind the stump I began to hear something making it’s way in my direction.I didn’t know from where it came from but it was fast.Cowering in fear my senses seemed to come back to me. What ever had been running broke the tree line as branches snapped under the weight of it. Was it a wolf ? Bear ? Maybe even a stag?

I attempted to peer from behind the wood but as I tried to peek,I heard the screams of a man.It was clear and sharp as his hoarse voice echoed louder than the breeze itself.The individual began to shriek in all manner of tone as he wavered.My head snapped back to the log to make sure to remain entirely still.Attention drew away from the man as every thing stopped.The wind,the man and even the snow halted as though the time itself had froze.I disassociated myself from my breath and merely stared at the ground waiting out whatever was out there.

Audio popped back to attention as the man began begging for his life only to be met with the crunching of bones.I simply kept waiting.I cautiously made my way from the evergreen which I sat,daring not to go past the tree line.A mess lay about in the slush as fresh snow began to fall.From a distance I could tell blood and intestines were spewed around.No discernible feature of the man was recognizable in any part of the slaughter. Fingers and ambiguous pieces of skin were splattered chaotically.A layer of blood was cascaded all over the house.As I turned the other way to walk along the bushes I realized I wasn’t the only thing in these woods that was starving.