Just Feel

He opened his eyes. He felt the lone bead of sweat roll down his cheek from his forehead as his breathing became heavy. He could feel grains of sand in between his toes as he moved slowly, trying to feel where he was.

There wasn’t any light. He was alone, he knew that for sure. He stepped forward slowly, still feeling the sand underneath his feet. He felt a sudden pain shoot up his right leg, causing him to fall to the ground. He touched his leg blindly as he tried to work out what was happening. He shrieked in pain as he felt what seemed to be a large slash on his thigh. He could feel the wet sensation of blood as it soaked into his ripped shorts, and the stinging of his newly realised opened wound.

His breathing slowed as he lay on the ground in the sand. He could not see anything. Wherever he was, was pure black. No light. No sounds. No wind or any sort of movement. He lay there and placed his right hand on his stomach, feeling each of his breathes as he breathed in and breathed out.

He closed his eyes. He tried to imagine where he could be. Perhaps he was on a deserted beach somewhere in the middle of the night? But where were the stars? He opened his eyes and looked up. There weren’t any stars. He looked to his right and to his left. Nothing but darkness.

He sat himself up, holding the wound on his thigh as he struggled to his feet. He slowly moved one foot in front of the other all the while feeling the intense pain in his thigh. Each step was crueller than the last, as he attempted to find anything that could help him work where he was.

One more step. Just one more step he thought to himself as he unexpectedly knocked into something solid. It sounded like glass – like a solid glass windowpane. Yet, he could feel still sand beneath his feet. He let go of his wound and placed both hands up against the glass. He knocked it with his fist as he placed his head and ear against it. It sounded solid and not hollow.

‘Knock!’.

Something knocked back. He quickly pulled his head away and knocked again. This time he knocked twice.

‘Knock! Knock!’

He stood there. He still couldn’t see anything. It was still silent. He tried knocking again, as to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. He knocked three times and stepped back.

‘Knock! Knock! Knock!’

He stepped back even further. He felt the pain in his leg again, as he stumbled backwards into the sand. His breathing became heavy as he lay there, trying to make sense of whatever was going on.

He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, a shiver shot down the back of his spine. He felt a hand touch him on the shoulder. He wasn’t alone.