A Second to Go

The prompt: write a brief fiction piece which, without context, carries the feeling that it could serve as both the prologue and epilogue of a larger story.

Each breath felt like exercise as she pushed herself forward. Her lungs worked overtime as she sucked in the heavy, humid air. The stray hairs that had escaped from her ponytail stuck to her neck, and sweat dripped down her face.

She wiped her free hand across her forehead to keep the sweat out of her eyes, smearing the dirt from her hands onto her skin – not that she cared. Her thighs burned as she made her way up the hill, slowing only for a second to tighten her grip on the heavy black trash bag she dragged behind her.

A thunderclap roared somewhere nearby, and without slowing down, she threw a glance up at the sky. Deep, ominous, dark-blue clouds were closing in on her and she knew it was time.

She noticed a lighter spot between the trees in the distance. Ignoring the burn all over her body, she pushed forward as fast as she could. She was not giving up now, not this close.

Almost impossibly, the air grew even heavier and hotter than before. It happened so suddenly that the surprise slowed her for a moment as she looked over both shoulders, glancing back at the narrow trail and up at the treetops, trying to figure out the cause. It felt like someone had turned off an old fan that had somehow managed to keep spinning. It hadn’t done much to cool her, but at least it had moved the air around her. Now everything was suddenly still. The air was just...there. Hanging around her, heavy and thick.

It felt like the Universe was closing up a circle. Whether it would happen with her in it, or if she had time to step out of it, seemed to be up to her.

The silence was broken by a deafening crash just above her, sounding like two boulders crashing into each other at hundred kilometers per hour. The storm was at her heels, and she didn’t know how much time she had left.

The lighter spot between the trees had become clearer, and each step she took felt longer than the last. She ignored her burning muscles, blistered feet, the branches that whipped her in the face and tugged at her hair, and raced on, the following thunder thrusting her onward. That was it – that was the place.

She darted out from between the trees that encircled the meadow and stopped just a meter before their incredulous faces, throwing the bag in front of their feet.

Thunder roared again, and a gust of wind caught up to her from behind, making her now-loose hair curl and coil around her head like the wriggling legs of a kraken.

This piece was created in response to Gabriel Huizenga’s unofficial writing challenge "Beginning-Endings"

If interested in joining and submitting your own entry, more information can be found here.