A Dash of Loyalty

I stirred, tasting bitter earth between my teeth.

Rain whipped down onto my exposed back, lashing with erratic ferocity as I looked up from my pain induced consciousness. Every muscle throughout my chest screamed in protest when I began to lift my torso out of the pooling water beneath my body. I collapsed with a pathetic splash, almost too exhausted to attempt such a manoeuvre again. Yet I tried over and over, each time with added determination but sapped strength. My palms pressed into the gritty paste I had created whilst cold water swirled over my knuckles. My calf was bleeding heavily from a deep gouge which revealed the brilliant white of crimson smeared bone beneath. Yet there was no stopping me, wherever the hell I was; ignoring the searing pain from my leg I lurched upwards, gaining a foothold before standing in triumph, only to observe my surroundings.

I was in a forest clearing, the thickened branches and dense foliage provided no bearings whatsoever and it was almost pitch black; the moon providing a pale illumination by which to squint into the inky darkness. I pressed my eyelids together, willing the sight before me to disappear. For it to begin distorting and shimmering back into the shape of my room where I would pad downstairs to flick the heating on. It was so damn cold, not that being naked helped, the wind took every opportunity to snap and snarl at my bare flesh whilst it merely played with the silhouetted tufts of grass that spanned across the ground.

Where in the shit tits am I?

Lost, naked and in a forest.

No, but seriously. What happened to me in my boring excuse for an existence that I ended up like this?

Don't ask me dude, I know as much as you.

God I have to stop talking to myself, people think I'm weird.

Nothing new there man.

You can just shut up.

Choosing a direction I shuffled towards the tree line, there had to be a cabin or something in there. I half hoped that there wasn't, then I might actually have a chance to get home before some psychopath butchered me where I stood and slung me on a meat hook. Not to say that I wasn't already sliced open, I really needed a hospital to check my leg out. Hospitals were warm. Mmm, I might get some free hot food for it too, gotta love the U.K health system. I needed to focus on the now, the now where my vision was blackening around the edges and ever constricting my view of the trees ahead. The leaves danced in the wind, swaying before bending with the next onslaught of rain. Just a little further and I would be a little better off. A little more likely to survive the night.

If I can do it in my video games, what should be the problem?

This is real life you mug.

God I hate real life. It's the same real life where I pay bills and am just generally mediocre. Maybe I'll buy something to improve it, but it won't let up, the loneliness hurts the most I guess.

I never knew you were such a whiny bitch.

Fuck off.

My face rammed into the floor. Hard. I cried out but the wind whisked my voice into the cold sky. I lay there for a moment, contemplating in pure agony what I had tripped on. I vowed to stomp it. To assault it in any way I knew, yet I still knew I couldn't. Not in my current condition anyway. I felt my rage subside as more pain got the better of it, I looked at the thing slumped across the ground and took a sharp intake of breath. It was a horse! A small one at that. Probably just a foal but I couldn't be sure, I'd only seen horses on a school trip when I was still small. Its mane was plastered to its neck with the rain and even with the moonlight I could see streaks of pale colour running through the matted hair, the body looked a pastel blue in the gathering gloom. Damn. Poor thing looked like its two front legs were broken, they jutted at awkward angles from its frail figure now lying at my feet. Some evil bastards had probably left it to die after torturing and spray painting it. It wouldn't surprise you with all the news on messed up kids and their ever sickening crimes. But I couldn't just leave it, no matter how much I wanted to get out of here.

Squatting, I gently scooped my hands under the horses body wanting to limit any suffering I might cause. This action alone brought forth a fresh torrent of blood from my leg which pooled around my heel, it's coolness worrying me. If lifted, cursing when my spine began grinding against itself from the weight, forcing me to one knee. I recovered, staggering forward into the unknown with a new passenger in tow. The horses breathing instantly became less laboured as the grounds pressure was taken off her forelegs.

~

What seemed like an age passed as I trundled through the shadows, holding the injured equine as close as possible. It was warmer with my new friend, I needed a vet and a doctor now, but vets weren't free. Especially not horse ones. Oh well, it's a good deed to rack and stack I guess, it's not like I would spend it on anything more important than a few crates of Mountain Dew. My muscles felt as if aflame, my lungs were struggling to take in every breath and I had to make an extraordinary effort just to stay standing. As I rounded an impressively robust oak tree, it's gnarled roots forcing their way into the ground, my face was bathed in a dirty orange glow from what seemed like a window from my blurry perspective; which had been carved out into the bark.

The small door soon appeared after a few more windows and I stood to face it. I couldn't risk kicking at it for fear of falling and I had no arms free to knock, so I clunked my forehead against the wood, wincing on impact.

A little too hard?

Oh God it throbs. Please don't ever do that again.

I had to this time though.

Maybe, I would've been happier if you kicked and fell.

Shut up.

The door swung open with a smooth gliding motion, once again swathes of warm light caressed my face as I immediately tried to step inside. Tripping for the millionth time tonight, I plummeted to the floor, bracing my body for what pain may come. Before I 'landed,' I made an effort to shift my body weight so I would hit with my back first, so as not to harm my now precious cargo. My skull connected with wood for a second time and I blacked out just as a spray of black and white hair appeared above my face.

~

I sunk my face into the welcoming pillows, relishing the warmth and security that my bed provided. I froze, starting to recall the strange events of the previous night. My leg held a numb aching sensation so I knew it wasn't a nightmare. I also knew this was not my bed. Now that I was in the hospital somewhere should comfort me but my mind kept racing to crazy uncontextual conclusions.

Could someone have tried to kill me?

Who would anyone want *you** dead? It's not like your leading a life of any real significance.*

Why are you such an asshole?

Why do you act like a pussy all the time.

Could it be my parents?

They're not that bad.

Maybe they wanted me to wake up. Bully me into submission. So then they would have a child of some value to them...

Quit it or cry me a fucking river, I don't care either way. All that happened was that you went out, got a little drunk with some friends, and you woke up naked in a forest. It's perfectly normal.

I swear, If I could look at myself in a mirror, the first thing I would do is roll my eyes. Friends. The very notion of such things to exist even on my planet is a stab in the dark at best. God, I can be such a downer sometimes, that's probably why I don't hang out with anyone. You can be whoever you want on the internet so maybe I should...NO. I really need to stop this, it's time I had a fresh start somewhere, met someone and became something. They would be proud then, watch them smile, maybe laugh with me this time. My train of thought crashed and burned as I looked up at my surroundings.

I expected a clean clinical environment with beeping machines, polished chrome and maybe a doctor or two scribbling illegibly on official looking documents. Yet I was greeted with something straight out of a low budget horror film. I was still in the tree trunk house, the abnormally large oak was entirely hollowed out inside and shelves had been meticulously carved out of the walls. Bottles, jars, pots and pans occupied display spaces on each and every shelf; filled with a seemingly random assortment of colours and volumes. There were various plants growing steadily in neatly arranged rows, none of which I could recognise. One grew up a section of the wall, inching its way up to the thin skylights which showed the morning sun. The centre of the room could not be complete without the giant iron cauldron, stacked beneath was fresh dried wood, forming a neat burnable star. Swirls and patterns adorned the sides of the metal maw that seemed to depict a story with figures that I couldn't quite make out.

Directly opposite me, curled up into a protective ball, was the young mare I had rescued. Only this time, the half light of the sun showed me her features, glistening through glass onto her sleeping form. As the fresh sunlight began to gently caress her eyelids, they fluttered open and her pupils dilated, locking onto mine. Through the shock and fear, there was wonder as I gazed at her irises, lined with a brilliant cerise. Her muzzle curled up into a smile as my head flopped backwards.