Guy--Part Twenty

Splog # 79

Twenty

 

   The creature that had captured Guy's hands moved back and forth in front of him a few times and then ceased all motion. Guy's arms were beginning to ache a little from the strain of being pulled and, as he sat on his thighs wondering what would happen next, a thought came to him that increased his sense of fear. What if the thing pulled him completely under the sand where he wouldn't be able to breathe? Or into the wall of water? Either way, he would suffocate. With a renewed sense of urgency, he tried to remove his hands from the unknown object. He tried to flex his fingers but they remained extended. He tried to let his hands go limp and just fall off the object but they remained attached. He tried to lift the object out of the sand but it remained buried. He brought his feet up under himself and tried to stand so he could use the full strength of his body and lift the strange object towards himself. He strained and pulled and grunted but to no avail. He only succeeded in exhausting himself to the point where he sank back onto his knees, fighting back tears of frustration.

At almost the same moment as he had given up fighting and dropped into a state of resignation, the object came to life again. It began to move, ever so slowly, back in Guy's direction. He watched uneasily as his arms moved through the sand towards his knees. The creature was coming straight at him and Guy had no idea what it was or what it could or would do to him when it reached him. His arms slowly approached his knees and, when they touched, he could feel the creature keep moving. He spread his legs as his arms moved slowly up between his thighs. He got up onto his knees and started slowly scooting backwards; otherwise, as his arms went under him, his face would be drawn into the sand. But the thing had to stop moving or he would be pushed into the wall of water. He looked behind him to see slowly spinning water only a couple of feet away. He gave a little tug on the object and, as soon as he did, it stopped moving. With a sigh of relief, he relaxed but, the moment he stopped pulling on the object, it started moving in the same direction. Guy again started scooting backward so his face wouldn't be forced to the sand and, in a moment, he felt his feet plunge into cold water. He immediately stopped moving and pulled the object back away from the water. There was no resistance to his efforts. As long as he was exerting some strain on the object, it stayed where it was. He couldn't change its position or direction, but at least it didn't go any closer to the wall of water.

   Guy felt very uncomfortable with the awkwardness of his physical state. He was kneeling on grainy sand, his feet in moving water, with his hands buried in the sand between his knees. His arms and shoulders were beginning to ache with the exertion of maintaining a pull on the object to keep it from disappearing beneath the wall of water with himself attached to it. His breathing began to come heavier and heavier, and tears of exhaustion and fear began to fill his eyes. Every once in a while, his arms would go limp and then the creature would start moving under him and towards the water. He would immediately begin to tug and pain would shoot up the outsides of his arms and into his shoulders. His stomach was beginning to cramp up and he was feeling the strain in his thighs. And his head was beginning to throb.

 

   Finally, with no strength left in his arms, they went limp and the thing resumed its inexorable motion. In a panic, not wanting to go under the water, Guy planted his feet, which were already in the water, on the sandy bottom and then threw himself over his hands in a somersault. He felt a wrench in his shoulders and the breath knocked out of him as he landed on his back.