Chapter 12: I'll mis Midnight

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Chapter 12

I’ll miss Midnight

 

 

 

     We made it back to the spring where we rested once more. I stuck my head in the spring and then pulled it out. I shook off and Midnight gave me a funny look for doing something he usually did. He did the head turn thing in confusion. Silly pup. I looked at him and he barked playfully, startling all the birds away that were in the tree.

     I got up and called him to come. We were on our way again. It wasn’t as bad as it was coming there. Well, at least it didn’t seem as bad. We made it through the swampy area, and the thorn bushes, and the valley, and we even made it over the cliffs with out too many problems. It still took a long time though.

     We were almost home, but not past the river yet. We came to an area I had never seen before. It was an opening or clearing in the dense trees. It was a circle of trees, then some bushes on the inside edge. After that, it was just a dirt area with some tufts of grass growing up. Pretty much nothing else to it.

     I knelt behind one of the bushes and saw a pack of deer grazing and playing in the area. It was fun to watch them as they butted heads and chewed on the grass that was scarce. They skipped and pranced and leaped around. It was fascinating. I watched them for a while, intrigued by what they were doing.

     Then of course, after a while, just like the ducks before, Midnight leaped out near them. He leaped out and slid on the dirt as he landed, kicking up small clouds of dust from the traction. He decided he was hungry and was going to attack. The deer tried to run from him, but a baby deer was lost in the moment and didn’t move. Midnight lunged at that one. But he was blocked by the antlers of a big buck that jumped in front of him.

     He jumped onto the antlers and hit them pretty hard. He fell to the ground from the blow of it. He just lay there on the ground as the deer came back and continued what they were doing as before. I waited a few moments to see if he would get up or move. He didn’t. I was starting to get worried about him.

     I ran over to him and dropped to my knees by his side. All the deer scattered when I jumped out. They were gone in a flash. I pressed my hand firmly on his chest above his heart. His heartbeat was very faint and he was barely even breathing. He was almost like wheezing. That blow hit him hard directly in the chest. A bad place to get. I hugged him, worrying even more now than before.

     I was so afraid of loosing him. He was the only one who had stuck by me the whole way through, Even if he was an animal. I picked him up and put him on my back. I was going to try to carry him back to the cabin. I just had to; I couldn’t leave him there like that. It was too risky. I had to be very gentle. I was pretty sure he had passed out.

     It wasn’t a problem to carry him, that is, until we got to the river. It had raised some, which would make it more difficult to cross. And even worse with the wolf on my back like that. I wasn’t that strong at the moment, torn down from the journey. I felt weak. That’s when my adrenaline kicked in and gave me a boost. It may have been just enough to see through it and get him across the river.

     I made it fine most the way through, about halfway. It was dark, the sun had set, and I couldn’t see as well. I for sure didn’t see the giant log floating at me. The water had dissolved its roots and it had fallen into the water. The current had swept it away. It was coming at me fast. The collision into me was inevitable. I turned my head just in time to see it nail me, and hard.

     I fell into the water and underneath instantly. I never knew what hit me. I had dropped Midnight with me. I no longer had him in my arms. He fell with me. I came to the surface and gained my thoughts back fast, then started frantically searching for Midnight in the dark waters. I couldn’t see him or a sign of him. And I was powerless to do anything about it. All I could do was try to stay afloat as the cold water separated my companion and me.

     I finally passed out from the forceful waves and the waters that had filled my lungs. I never heard the water falling from at least thirty feet down. There was a waterfall ahead, and it was a sure fire thing, that I was gonna be going over it. I knew this, because I could hear and feel it. I felt the weightless wonder of the fall and the pain of the landing. I went down, and didn’t know if I was going to come back

I ended up on a small shore off to the side near the falls. It was morning by then, cloudy skies. I was down river somewhere, cold, shivering, and wet.

     I rolled over and coughed some of the water I had ingested. I was on my stomach, gasping for air. I rested for a moment and then struggled to stand on my own two feet. I gained my eyesight and balance. It took me a minute to realize what was going on. Then I yelled the first thing that came to my mind “Midnight!” I yelled it, but heard no bark as a reply.

     I swung my head side to side to see if I could find him. Then I searched over the entire area. He was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t even find his body. I searched once more, determined to find something of him. This was bad, very bad. I just had to keep looking.  I gave up after the forth or fifth time of combing over the area.

     That’s where my heart shattered into thousands of little sharp pieces. I had lost my only friend and I knew it, I felt it was my fault for some reason. No. I wouldn’t believe it, I just couldn’t. For him to be ere one moment and suddenly gone the next. It was too much.

     I was so attached to him and he was dear to me. I couldn’t believe it ended this way. I started to stagger back to the cabin. Within about forty grueling minutes, I had made it. I opened the door and kind of slumped in. I plopped down on the sofa and sat there, weary from the whole experience. Why me?

     I had some bruises and a few opened wounds. I need to tend to those first as a high priority. I winced as I leaned down and slid the emergency medical kit out from under my seat. I opened it up and started to bandage my wounds.

     I was sad, in pain, and had a void in my heart. Death was a cruel thing to me by then. That brought the count to three. All so dear to me, even if I didn’t really know some of them that well. I was so tired, so very tired. All I wanted to do was sleep. I didn’t eat or nothing, I laid down right there and went to sleep. I had dreams of the incidents that had freshly happened. But it seemed they were more like nightmares.