Sixty-two

I see sandy spotted fur and a lot of it. It's a healthy specimen judging by the shine of its pristine coat. He is too engrossed in helping himself or herself to the dried blood to notice when I lift my head to have a better look at it.

It's a sort of cat, but bigger. I sort of like cats, and they sort of like me. Not in a cuddly kinda way. They sort of stop to say hello, and move along.

Through the haze of hunger, exhaustion and pain I finally realise that this is a lynx. A wild cat.

The lynx startles when I push myself on my elbow, retreating a few steps back, while he lowers himself on his haunches, licking his chops. I'm surprised he hasn't started to chew my leg off. As far as I know, they only do that if you are already dead.

He asses me with his golden eyes, and I stare back, wishing him to run away so I can follow.

I know I won't be able to keep up with him but I just need the general direction. I know cats are agile and can climb pretty much anything, so it may lead to a dead end, but I'm already at a dead end. At this point, I have nothing to lose.

Wherever he will lead me I'll take my chances.

Slowly, I rise even further while he hisses at me, displaying his sharp teeth that could tear through my flesh like butter. His claws scrape against the stone with an ominous screech and I know there is a good chance he is preparing to attack.

" It's okay," I say softly, as I slowly rise to my feet, and support myself on one of the stones protruding from the ground. I'm bigger than he is, I'm just hoping that he won't get any wild ideas if he sees that my size is greater than his.

He leans back on his haunches, his eyes fixed on mine, the little tuff at the end of his ears sway gently with the slight breeze travelling upstream, while I hop a step forward showing him that I'm not afraid.

Speaking might not help since this is not a domesticated cat, but they are closely related so I try again.

" Come here little guy," I make kissy sounds while stretching my hand in front of me. He aggressively hisses at me again, showing his hostility towards my approach.

" Okay. So you're not the lovey-dovey type. Frankly, nor am I, you know," I fully lean onto the rock because my leg is threatening to snap in two, and the pain lancing through it, makes me want to scream.

I swallow all of that and keep myself together. How about you show me the way out of this place?" I've completely lost all of my marbles if I'm having a conversation with a wild cat. I've done worse though, so this doesn't even make it to the top ten.

Hissing, he retreats further. I'd be pissed too if someone would interrupt my snack time, but I'm in a bit of a pinch.

" I'll let you lick off some more blood, if you show me the way out," I bargain.

In one nimble move he turns around and sprints over the shallow water, jumping onto one of the rocks, and from there he picks up his pace and keeps going until he disappears behind a boulder.

Whether he did that intentionally or not, he'd offered me a way out, and for that, I'd happily let him chew off one of my fingers.

I hobble after him, my movements slow due to the banged-up leg. Luckily the rocks are close enough to each other, so I can use them as a crutch while I trek through the rapids. The water is cold, but I grit my teeth and bear it if it means I'll escape this hell hole.

Out of breath and with very little steam, I finally reach the boulder and lean onto it to catch my breath for a few moments, before I continue my trek into the unknown.

Gathering whatever is left of my strength and courage I push off the boulder and round it, and there it is. Exactly what I've been looking for, a small hole big enough to fit a small child. Now, I'm no small child, and it will be a tight fit but I have to try.

Picking up a sharp rock out of the water, I stumble my way to the entrance of the hole and drop onto my knees.

The impending sunrise provides enough light that I can see the exit where it expands. So I'll have to squeeze through just for a few feet.

With a deep breath, I lie on the floor hand stretched before me to reduce the circumference of my body as much as possible, I use the rock I've picked up to drag myself on the floor. Since I can't use my legs or hand in other ways.

It's agonisingly slow, the sharp edges of the surfaces scrape against my belly snagging on the clothes, shredding into them and then into my flesh.

I've lost quite a lot of blood. I have no idea how much more I can lose before I lose consciousness again.

Through grunts, yelps of pain, and a lot of cursing I push through the few feet of narrow tunnel. I crawl to the last stretch where it widens a little bit, my skin is scraped raw, and more bruises are blooming all over my body.

The last stretch of the tunnel is done in a crouched position where I drag my injured leg behind me, the light pierces through from the other end blinding me announcing the sunrise.

I can't see much, but it can't be worse than what I left behind.

I hobble the last few feet, and can't help the laugh that rips out of my chest at the earthy breeze engulfing me, as I grab the rocky edge to emerge on the other side. My hands are scraped raw, and the sharp edges dig themselves into my bleeding flesh but a sense of euphoria overcomes me when the scent of fir wafts to my nose.

My laughter dies in my throat when I hit the edge of the tunnel, and I feel like I'm standing on the precipice. I can't see much, my eyes still adjusting to the blinding light of the sunrise. A few rocks dislodge beneath my foot from the rocky cliff and tumble down the cliff with a clatter while I'm slightly pushed backwards by a sudden gust of wind.

I squint into the light while my heart slowly climbs down in my chest from where it lodged itself in my throat when I almost fell.