The light from the morning sun stabbed at me through my closed eyelids.
Not like warm light waking me gently through the window into some cozy bedroom, but a sharp and frigid light that pierced to my core and ripped me from sleep. The sun had suddenly appeared between the ridges of the forest canopy in the distance. It was time to move.
I turned away from the sun and opened my eyes, quickly surveying my surroundings in the light. I had fallen asleep sitting up against a tree. My right hand was still tightly gripping my trident, as if it had been ready for battle as I slept. Finally, I was learning. I may be allowed to rest from time to time, but I must never let down my guard.
I stood and began to hurriedly gather my things. I couldn't allow my mind to wander to the faces of people I'd lost. That would just leave me vulnerable and exposed, neither of which I was anxious to be during the daytime. I had to face the simple facts: Yesterday I was not alone, but today I am alone. And I'm being hunted.
The reality of the situation was not difficult to accept; I knew what I had to do. In order to survive, I needed to find other people. Without other people, I could never continue to stand up to the four-legs.
Didn't they used to be people like us?
I knew it would be difficult, but there would be others out there somewhere. I was determined to head south until I found a group of people. Like me, but together. Good, two-leg people. I thought I would find them near the gulf coast, where they could survive on the resources of the ocean. It was as good a plan as any might have been.
I picked up my pack and my trident and was beginning to move when I was wracked with a sudden agonizing flash of my brother Gregory's death. He had been savagely ripped apart by a herd of stinking and wailing four-legs not twenty-four hours before. I remembered hearing his screams, even over the creatures' blood-curdling shrieks.
How did they become so different?
Although the pain of losing my last relative threatened to rip me apart all on its own, I hardened my heart and began at my speedy pace through the forest trails. I knew I had to get away from the creek before the four-legs appeared, but my water was nearly empty. Once refilled, I would be able to head off into the tall grass fields. The grass made the best possible daytime cover.
Why do they go on four legs?
I felt comforted by the trident in my hand. My power, my protection. Without this weapon I'd be lost. It reminded me of my father, who crafted it with his own hands some time before he was slain. There was no way of knowing how many I would have to kill just to stay alive, but with my trident it could be done.
Why do they kill?
I kept thinking of all the questions I used to ask my father. Questions to which I never got satisfactory answers. I was pulled abruptly from my reverie as I heard the clumsy cracking of branches in the distance. Then came the snarling, coughing and grunting that was a sure giveaway of the type of people that were approaching. I stealthily ran away from the creek and slipped into the safety of the tall grass, where I continued down my path as the four-legs clamored in the distance.
Here's the original contest link!
https://steemit.com/contest/@gmuxx/art-prompt-writing-contest-4
What an amazing piece of work! I loved it!
Awesome! That makes me happy. Thanks for stopping by.
Wonderful !
Thanks for reading! 😁
Yazıdan ziyade resimlere bayilmistim ki yazı da güzel. İyi ve iki ayaklı birilerini bulursan bana da haber ver 😏
That was a really nice story! One tendency I love in storytelling is the vagueness when describing a creature, a group, a situation, a condition of the environment. Four legs, it has a primal feel to it. It hasn't gone through the cultural filter, it's not "the minotaurs", "the Vierbein" or something like that. It's the kind of name our more simple ancestors may have given it. The kind of name that comes from the need to call it something so you can deal with it.
As I've said before: It's gonna be a tough competition. Really good!
Absolutely! Any readers' imagination is generally more interesting than an author's mind.
When I read, I want to be able to create my own images and draw my own conclusions. With these "four-leg" creatures, I don't even have a great idea of what they look like. I figured that the readers would fill in the blanks.
Have you ever seen the movie Return to Oz?
The closest thing that I can imagine to the four-legs are the creatures that have wheels for front hands. They gave me nightmares when I was a kid.
Thanks for reading and commenting! Can't wait to see some more of your stuff, @steemedchitty!
Haha, expect my entry someday during the weekend. It's been quite a busy week so I wasn't able to meet my post schedule.
In regards to the creatures, I haven't actually seen Return to Oz, but I googled the creature you mentioned and oh boy, I can see why it disturbed you as a kid. I myself pictured something like this from the indie game The Forest, but less amorphous and more tribal, maybe with the legs of captured two-legs dangling from a rope around it's neck.
Yeah, I fill in the blanks quite disturbingly most of the time.
I went ahead and googled the rollers from Reeturn to Oz and sure enough, my childhood fears are rekindled.
I love your disturbing vision. "Legs from captured two-legs dangling" That's pretty terrifying. Makes them seem really powerful. Also, that adds another dimension (nuclear waste or something) where the four-legs are extremely deformed, not even human anymore.
Wow interesting story, be well.
I will do my best. Thanks for stopping by!
Nice chris im glad your doing well out here in steem landia. Very poetic. Super duper dope my guy!!!
Nice, thanks man!
Did you figure out wtf happened to your reputation? I glanced at your page, saw your earlier post.
nah i didnt thank for the comment thou. ill keep up with your cool shit. i slowly building it up. do you know alot about crypos and how to buy without using a bank?
I'm probably not the best resource for that kind of info, but there's plenty of folks in the community who know all about it.
I use my credit card to purchase cryptocurrency through coinbase.I send it from there to Bittrex for trading. It all ends up as Steem, anyway.
nice thx. for the input thou. Yeah i hear you i also like steem. im buying now that its low!
Excellent writing, very interesting!! (The four-legs remind me of videos I've seen of people on that new drug called flakka, maybe because you emphasized that they were people.)
Thanks a lot for reading!
I know! I've heard of that stuff. Makes my skin crawl. Stay off drugs, kids. They ain't what they used to be.
Did you ever read The Time Machine? The morlocks and eloi probably started something like this.
I can't say I have but my husband and son read it. 🙂
img credz: pixabay.com
Nice, you got a $7.21 @minnowbooster upgoat, thanks to @chrisroberts
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Awesome post. @chrisroberts
Thanks!
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Ah man @chrisroberts, no detailed reply, no comments or compliments FROM ME YET, you had me from the first word......Where's the rest of it, Please can we have ther rest of it.???....I loved it. But you can't leave him here, you got to get him out..
He's gonna be fine... I'm sure he'll probably be alright... He may be okay...
I don't know if I'll be taking this one any further. I figured, 500-1000 words, that's about enough for me to do a snapshot of a world. And it's not a world I want to spend that much time in. 😏🙂😌
Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
Ok @chrisroberts thank you for responding. I understand you not wanting to spend a lot of time in this world with the 4-legged creatures. I will follow you and look to see what you write next.
Thanks! Back at you!
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