A New Beginning

I never wanted to leave this place and, in a manner of speaking, I guess I never will.

“F**k!” I howl through gritted teeth, piercing pain encompassing my right knee. I know it’s bad, but I don’t look because I don’t want to know just how bad. In some twisted karmic way I got what was coming. I had wandered off after using the bathroom while everyone was asleep at camp because it was cold and I didn’t feel like hurdling over the three huddled sleeping bodies of my friends again just to get back to my sleeping bag. It was the end of June and still super cold with temperatures in the low 40s at the Crater Lake campground.

I know what you’re thinking, of course I wouldn’t have been so stupid as to go off without leaving a note or sending a text or writing in the dirt where I was going; I saw what happened in 127 Hours when one did not do that. It didn’t end well. But… you see… it was all very spurious and I was clearly still very much asleep mentally because I decided to go off without doing any of the aforementioned. Whoops.

I noticed some people packing their stuff and loading it onto the back of a pickup. When their backs were to me to disassemble their tent, I crawled onto the bed of the pickup and hid underneath a tarp and some packs so they would not see me. A few minutes later I hear a thud, which I can only imagine was the tent landing on the bed, and doors slam. The engine revved to life and we were off. I pushed the tarp off me and anchored down as best I could as the truck made the climb back up the windy road to the top of the rim. So. Many. Switchbacks. It’s a miracle I didn’t fall out then. Once at the top, the strangers stopped at the gift shop/café cottage where I waited for the door slams and lock chirp before I made my move. My head popped up and after a quick scan around I hopped out and beelined for the trees.

I meandered through the trees for a while. Lost in my thoughts and nature’s beauty around me, I lost track of time. There’s nothing like this back home.Eventually I came across the noted Crater Lake and, boy, was it a sight to behold. With the clear blue sky above, snow capped mountains surrounding it, and the bluest water I had ever laid my eyes on it was breathtaking and magical in every way possible. Looking down at the water below there was a small island full of greenery that I read online was called Wizard Island. Definitely could see the wizard hat. Stepping over some fallen branches, I inched closer to the rim’s edge. Apparently, I got a bit too close because next thing I know, I’m tumbling down… fast… and hard.

I hit so many rocks on my way down. Break a branch here and there and hit a number of shrubs too. The rocks were the biggest problem. Well, them and the sheer steepness. Screaming and groaning the whole way down, I had to have hit my head on a rock at some point because I wake up to water lapping up against my face and fingers.

A garbled groan escapes my lips as I shift my arms in attempt to push myself onto my feet. No dice. Pain shot everywhere with the most centralized around my right knee. That can’t be good. So I settle for rolling onto my stomach whilst propping my arms underneath me. A score of cuts decorates both arms. Some blood dribbles down them as I adjust my positioning; however, most had dried mixed in with the dirt that clung to my limbs. It’s a miracle my upper limbs aren’t more banged up than they are. I gingerly reach up and remove pieces of greenery from my hair noting a definitive gash on my head with wet matted hair surrounding it, and a shooting pain emerges localized around my shoulder. “Arghhhh!” I scream.

I must have dislocated and then relocated my shoulder at some point in the fall. Ok, maybe not as unscathed as I thought. I pull myself closer to the water’s edge so I can reach in and take a drink. My body collapses at the water’s edge from exhaustion. It wasn’t until nightfall that I awoke. God damn was it cold. I pull my body in as close as possible to keep my core warm grimacing at every slight movement my legs make. Must assume fetal position; must keep core warm. That’s when I got a real taste of the damage to my legs. I cry out a feral and guttural noise after clasping both hands around my right knee and pulling it up to my chest, the pain agonizing.  Releasing my knee, my hands move to rub my chest as I curl up for warmth. From the pain, the hunger, the cold, and general exhaustion I pass out again. I flitter in and out of consciousness for the next few days knowing only that time passed because sometimes I saw sun and sometimes it was starry night sky whenever I blinked the sleepiness out of my eyes. That’s when I notice the man standing a short distance away from me.

The man did not say a single word. His garb also seemed most peculiar, traditional and not of this time. His stoic expression gives no hint to his motive as he lifts his hand to gesture at me and then the water. A quizzical expression breaks across my face as I propped up onto my arms. I raise a brow. He gestures again but this time with emphasis. First he points at me then the water. I reach one arm out and dip my hand. The water is crystal clear and frigid to the touch. Next thing I know, I am submerged. “Gahhh,” was all I could muster as the cold water rushes over me, mouth gaped open, and for a second that felt like eternity I stop breathing. The ice cold water shocked me to my bones. I open my eyes and all I see is blue. The water did not sting them and when the pulsing pressure finally registers in my brain that I need air, my arms flail and I kick my good leg to reach the surface. “F**K!” I bellow.

Gasping for air, my teeth immediately chatter. Flipping my head left and right, the man is longer on the lake side. As my head comes back around I startle back because the creepy quiet  man stood now in front of me. He makes no effort to tread water; he makes no movement at all yet somehow he is perfectly fine while here I am shivering and struggling to stay afloat. That’s when he spoke.

His soothing voice causes my body to relax and go limp like my life force is getting sapped out of my very being. I don’t remember much of what he said, only that what I wanted most could be granted at a steep price. Dazed, I mutter a soft barely audible “yes.”

My body was found three days later floating past the boat that takes tourists to Wizard Island. After all the screams and pointing and pictures, my body was fished out and eventually sent home. Except I didn’t go with it. The corporeal form of me left Crater Lake three days later but part of me remained. I latched onto Crater Lake; guess I really never wanted to leave this place. In time I would come to know that the man I saw that night was tasked with collecting souls as sacrifice to prevent the return of the Darkness. He targeted the weak and the vulnerable; my job was to walk the rim’s edge luring in those who stood invisible in their earthly lives.

They say all things start with birth and end with death. It’s the so called “great circle of life”. But circles have no specific start or end. For lack of a better way of putting it, they just exist. So what if death really isn’t the end but, say, a fresh start, a new beginning. In time I would come to learn of a better way to stop the Darkness from rising and consuming the world, free of any soul collecting. But that would not be for some time.

Author's Note

Response to the prompt- a story entitled "A New Beginning"