SLiP

He groaned as he slowly awakened to the world but rudely met him with a painful throbbing in his head. His body ached everywhere. He lifted his hand up to touch his forehead. It was tender and warm. He glanced around. He was lying on his back, on top of cool and prickly dirt. Where had he fallen? Why did the ground hurt so much? Everything was blurry as he struggled to remember what had caused him to fall. The last thing he remembered clearly was leaving his house…walking into a nearby park…then…he paused, narrowing his eyes, trying to clear away the cobwebs from his brain. His thoughts suddenly came rushing back and he sat upright.

“Oh shit!” he cried out as the memories crashed upon him like waves. “Caleb! Oh my god. I have to go to him!”

His legs immediately sprung into action and he jumped to his feet, stumbling over himself. He stumbled forward until he bumped into a tree.

Wait… a tree?

Aiden looked around, confused. He was standing next to a single tree. But the single tree was not what made him pause. It was the fact that he wasn’t inside a familiar neighborhood; he was outside somewhere unfamiliar. Looking forward, he saw nothing but sand and endless miles of empty land stretching to the horizon.

“What the hell..?” He breathed out, still in shock. This couldn’t be real. No, no way could this actually happen. He must be dreaming. He had just fallen asleep on the couch watching TV, and now he was outside...

Shaking his head, he tried to rationalize his situation. Surely this was just a dream , or hallucination. After all, he didn’t believe in such weird stuff as apparitions. But despite the logical voice telling him this wasn’t really happening, it was too vivid to be a figment of imagination. All the events seemed so real that he couldn’t deny it. So where the hell was he?

Turning around, he looked ahead, wondering where he should go next. He thought about running, but he didn't want to put any weight on his ankle, considering how badly it was hurting right now. Deciding to take his chances with going left he started walking that way. He soon found himself in another direction. Now he was lost.

"Fuck", he mumbled under his breath.
He decided to keep walking, and hopefully he'd stumble upon a road or village. Or even a small town! He needed answers. Maybe when he does find a town he can get out of this scorching heat.

He tried calling out for help but no sound emerged from his lips, as though there weren't any air to speak. He couldn't hear himself screaming either, no matter how loud he yelled. There was nothing but silence. There was no reply. Not even a bird chirped from afar. There's no birds or animals at all...not even insects buzzing around. Just silence! And yet, even more confusing is that he somehow heard his own breathing. His lungs weren't burning from the exertion, but rather he felt thirsty. If only there was water around here.

He brought his arm over his head, shielding his eyes from the sun bathing down at him, looking around desperately for anything that could give him shade. Nothing! Only the endless dunes, and an infinite sea of sand...just endless sand. How he wished he was dreaming now.

Suddenly, he felt a breeze blow across his face. As he blinked, trying to adjust his eyesight , he finally spotted a sign in the distance. Turning towards it he began moving. When he got closer, he realized it wasn't just a sign in the distance, but was actually a road leading towards it! Excited, Aiden ran towards it.

As he approached the sign he could tell that it hadn’t been built recently. It seemed old and rusty, showing signs of disuse. He looked around for a moment, waiting for someone, anyone, to show themselves. When nobody did, he continued onto the road. As he got further, the path he was following stopped, and he turned to the right, and started walking up a hill. The path became steeper and harder to climb, as it seemed to be a straight road leading into the distance. He looked behind him and the road was disappearing into the distance. What was this?

He looked down and there was nothing below except more sand. The only thing to be seen were the endless lines of dunes stretching for hundreds of miles ahead. There was no other option but to continue forwards. He was beginning to realize that he had no idea where he was headed. Maybe he was just wandering aimlessly. He wasn't exactly sure, since he couldn't remember his destination at all.

As he kept climbing he realized that the sun was starting to set. The light from above was dimming. He was glad that it wasn't as hot anymore, but he wasn't enjoying his new found freedom. The wind was chilly and blew through his clothes, chilling him to the bone. His arms shivered violently, and as the sun was completely gone, he started thinking about how cold the night was gonna be. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming up the slope behind him, catching his attention.

"Who's there?" he whispered quietly, darting his eyes around for any sign of a person or an animal. He scanned the landscape anxiously, expecting something to leap at him any second.

Nothing happened. Instead, a pair of paws… Giant paws appeared in front of him, stepping out of the darkness. He gasped and jumped backwards. The beast stood at least twenty feet tall! It was a gigantic bear, with two heads. Its paws were twice the size of its shoulders and covered with thick fur, as well as long bushy tusks. They jutted upwards from the bottom of its mouth like the fangs of a vampire. Its entire body was covered in long spines and fur that resembled those of a scorpion. And yet it looked harmless enough.

The bear roared loudly, causing Aiden to jump again. He took a few steps back, trying to make sense of the situation. The giant creature stood silent and unmoving, seemingly staring at him intently. Then it gave off another roar, shaking the ground beneath their feet slightly. Aiden felt his legs tremble uncontrollably as he took another step back.

It snarled at him again and stepped closer to him. With a final growl, it leapt at him, jaws opening wide in preparation to devour him alive. Before he knew it, it had closed the distance between them and latched onto his arm, sinking its teeth into him viciously.

Aiden screamed in excruciating pain as its sharp fangs pierced into his flesh, piercing through his skin. He Instinctively swung his free arm, striking the bear’s snout. However the bear seemed unfazed by his struggles and kept digging into his shoulder, dragging him further down the hill.

Panicked, he pulled hard on the bear’s jaw but his efforts proved unsuccessful. It only dug deeper, forcing Aiden to fall.

‘No! NO!!’ Aiden thought to himself, thrashing wildly as tears began to roll freely down his cheeks. He kicked the bear repeatedly but it paid no mind to it. Aiden let out a cry of pain as he felt a searing pain shoot through his entire body. In the back of his mind, he felt numbness creep in, as he watched the bear continuing to dig its claws deep into his arm. He shut his eyes tightly as tears poured from the corners and he bit down hard on his bottom lip, hoping to keep from whimpering out loud.

Just then, the bear suddenly let go of his arm and backed away, bowing its head. Aiden scrambled backward on all fours while holding his injured arm. As the pain began to subside, he glanced up and saw the giant bear turn, taking one last look at him before disappearing back into the darkness.

Once he was certain the bear had gone, he crawled onto his knees, hissing in pain as he clutched his injured arm tightly against his chest. Blood was oozing profusely from the wound. He sobbed as he cried in agony, unable to stand upright.

With each passing second his body grew weaker. He fell forward and laid there motionless, trying to catch his breath. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing stars spinning above him. He lifted his shaky hand, placing it against his head, feeling how warm it was getting. The world became blurry, his vision becoming unfocused.

Suddenly, everything went black.