Falling Sparrow

[GregTheAnti-Viking†]

((Premier for G041: Tabitha "Tabi" Gweneth))

Splat...

Tabitha Gweneth's eyes bolted open, but she was barely able to see. She felt a surge of liquid rushing into her mouth and nostrils causing her to turn on her side and cough violently, spitting up foul tasting water as she grasped for any amount of air that could be put into her lungs. She could hear nothing, save for a low rumble and a high pitched whirl. Her senses of taste and touch were the only feelings available to guide her.

Tabi lay motionless, with only her chest moving with each revitalizing breath. When she blinked, a coarse sting welcomed her, and only a grey haze when she opened them once more. She started to curl her knees inwardly, she felt cold, and the bottom half of her body felt like it was submerged in two feet of water.

As time went on, Tabi was able to breathe easier, her hearing and vision returning; but as she sat up she found little comfort in it. There was no sound, save for her breath and the buzzing of nearby insects. All that she could see was nothing but mud. She was now half sitting in a small body of water, surrounded in brown spongy ground, with sparse foliage to be found.

She was all alone...

Tabi's arms and hands were covered in a layer of thick grey goo. She waved her arms around in attempt to remove the unpleasant-feeling muck off of her but it clung to her bare skin. She lifted her arm up to her face, and sniffed, but found no odour to it.

She was all alone...

Tabi dipped her hands into the pool and cleaned the mud off them. She let the water pool up into her now cupped hands and splashed the liquid onto her face. She cleared her eyes and face and found that she was finally able to see clearly once more.

She was all alone...

Tabi gasped as the thought began to seep into her brain. The young woman began to dart her head back and forth, hoping that she could see anything or anybody on the horizon and found only a backpack sitting to her left and a butterfly net to her right. She picked up her backpack and started to open the zipper...

Bang

Tabitha squeaked and her arms clung onto the tan bag like it was her old teddy bear. Her breathing became faster and harder.

Was that a gun? N-No it c-couldn't be a gun. M-maybe it was a twig...

Her hand began to feel around for the butterfly net, as soon as her hand touched something that resembled it, she clung tightly to it and brought that towards her chest as well, as if it were the sword that would keep her safe from harm.

A very large, very loud twig...

She slowly tried to get on her feet, using her butterfly net as a makeshift crutch. Despite her incessant attempts to calm herself down, she still found herself struggling to breath properly. She was cold, wet and clearly not alone anymore.

Tabi had a plan though, she just needed to relax, gain her bearings, and find a way out of the swamp. Her body was shaking and her arms were now covered in sweat from clinging to her belongings. She would not let go now, her backpack and butterfly net were all she had and she wasn't about to let go.

Tabi's breath began to slow once more. This was the moment. She summoned all of the courage she could muster to restrain her body from convulsing again. With a deep breath and a tight squeeze of her backpack, Tabi took her first step out of the pool...

Bang

What composure she had maintained was gone in an instant. She let out a small cry and bolted out into the distance. The "twig" was now louder, and much closer to her. Direction was now meaningless, all she had wanted to do was get away from where she was. Her steps were hindered by the mud and water and she continually tripped over herself, falling onto her face. But that meant nothing, and she refused to let it stop her from running, too scared to let it do so.

Tabi scrambled back up onto her feet, and continued to run as far as her legs could carry her.


(Tabitha Gweneth continued in A Solitude That Asks Nothing In Return))