A Different Path (Mystery)

I remember I was walking. I think... I think I had gone out jogging like I use to do on every Sunday morning. I must have chosen the good ol' path through the woods. It's a bit longer, but the view... so much better compared to that industrial area road. The grass, the leaves, the trees that go past you. And then it is the music they make. All these birds and the little squirrels, the bees and the wasps.

I remember. 

I had my earphones hanging outside my pocket and I could feel them banging against my thigh. 

I remember.

I had my pink jacket on and I was wearing those black athletic shorts and a pair of pink trainers.

I remember I wasn't going as fast as usual because there was something in the atmosphere that made me want to slow down. Something mysterious. Something that urged me to investigate.

I remember I chose a different path, just for a little change, because I couldn't get lost, I had a gps on my phone and my battery would not go dead, I charged it just before leaving the house.

This path was interesting, not at all different from the one I'd take all the time, but just... new.

There were still just grass and leaves and trees. You could still hear the birds, the squirrels, the bees and the wasps, but they were somehow different.

I slowed down.

Something that was not supposed to be there was standing in front of me. 

A little girl?

It looked like one.

And she was sitting on a stump, rocking back and forth with her arms folded and she would not make a sound. She was wearing a dirty white dress. Her black shoes were all covered in red dirt - strange, the soil in this forest is mostly black, where had she stepped on?

I reluctantly stepped closer careful not to scare her away.

- Hello there.

I received no answer.

- Hello, I said a bit louder.

No answer again. 

I went to sit next to her, she seemed lost but knew that I was there. She slightly turned her head towards me but didn't give me a look, her eyes were pinned on the ground and the rocking was getting more and more intense now.

- You should leave now. He is coming.

- Who is coming, little girl? Are you lost? Do you want me to call your parents?

- Leave while you still can or he will get you dirty too.

- Who will get me dirty? Where are your parents? Do you know their number?

- He is getting closer.

- It's ok, you can trust me. I can help you.

- You can't, she turns and looks me straight in the eyes, and it's too late now.

I suddenly feel someone grabbing me from the back. I scream for help, I yell to let go of me! I kick and I turn and I try to get away, but I can't. I am dragged against my will. I am held too tight that my arms hurt. My throat is scratched from the screaming and my veins are now visible on my skin. I have turned red and sweaty. I am fighting, but he is stronger. I am pushed against a tree. My right side feels it violently. My eye is torn and it bleeds. Everything is blurry. 

Again.

I am struggling to keep my eyes open, but everything is turning around and I feel so dizzy.

Again.

Everything turns from blurry to gray and then... black.

I open my eyes to the sunlight. I am lying in front of a tree that looked like the one that met my face a little - or maybe a lot - earlier, I can't tell. 

I try to pull all the strength that has remained in my body, I crawl towards the tree and hold it to stand up. I feel numb, weak and dizzy. My head is so heavy and it takes a lot of effort to keep my eyes open. I turn to the left and there is the stump where that girl was sitting, it must be that same stump, but the girl is missing. 

Whoever did this to me must have taken her. I need to get to the town.

As I'm thinking all that to myself I go for my pocket to grab my phone.

Weird. I can't find my pocket.

I look down.

I 'm wearing that dirty white dress and my trainers are now that girl's shoes all covered in fresh, red mud.

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*Original images (with Nikon D3400) and story by @ruth-girl  - Steemit, 2018

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