Hope Striders

I pushed his arm away from me and darted for the door, already feeling the burning bile rush up my throat. When I got to the edge of our little hut that overlooked the deep forest that surrounded us, I bellowed over. I couldn’t stop it. My knees buckled under me, and I was sitting in the dirt that bloomed pink orchids around me. I felt a sudden tinge of guilt as my bile redecorated its beauty. I continued to upchuck as visions of Kim flickered in my head. I dropped my hands to the ground, already feeling the dark spots surrounding my vision. I closed my eyes tight and clenched my teeth, trying my hardest to push it back in its box. When I heard footsteps rushing behind me, I used the back of my hand to wipe away whatever was dripping from my lips. I opened my mouth to allow the air to flow down my airways properly. “Hey, what happened? Was it something I said?” he asked. It only took the faintest sound of a whimper to escape my lips before the shaking began. It was like an active volcano had finally erupted inside me. I couldn’t see him anymore. I only saw the spitting image of my lost Kim. The pain traveled from my chest to my head as the numbness traveled to the ends of my limbs. I pushed off the ground with the remaining strength I had and ran. I ran hard and fast. Deeper and deeper into the woods was all my vision could see. There was a brief ease of relief until Kim’s face parted my vision and found its way at the forefront of my mind. I stumbled as I tried to grab a trunk for balance, but the bark I grabbed ripped off, and I tumbled to the ground. There was a slight hill that propelled my toppling to a hard stop, but the pain from the impact of the rocks and the dried-up wood was nothing to the choking pain I had felt as memories of Kim seemed to press for my attention. No! I couldn’t cave in. I had to beat it. I charged for another attempt to push her back down out of my thoughts, but there was another eruption in my chest that completely wiped me out, and I fell under the black shadows of my mind.