A Sheep in Wolf Clothes by Allyssa Zwiefel (rm book recommendations .TXT) 📕

"Hello?" 

Nothing. Only the rustle of the leaves above my head responded to my voice. I rubbed my eyes, unsure of where I was. Could I possibly be dreaming? No, no. This felt too real. The cold gripped me like a small child clinging to it's mothers hand in an unfamiliar place. This feeling, however, was much more ominous. Sinister, almost. Not the least bit comforting. 

I stood slowly, taking in the sights of the strange little world around me. I was in a forest, I could gather that much. The fire-like leaves above me danced in the wind and sprinkled down slowly. I sighed, my foggy breath reminded me of the cold, dry air. 

"Hello?" I called out again. I took a small step onto the crispy autum leaves. If I could find a stream, perhaps I could find the closest city. The wind blew constantly, working with the leaves to drown out any other sounds besides the faint sound of the animals. The one sound I longed to hear was not in reach. Normally I would want to stay away from a running stream in the cold days before winter, but right now that could be my only hope to at least find out where I was. I shook my head, doubt filled my already unsure mind. I continued to walk. 

The wind would stop for all of three seconds, leaving me no time to be able to stop and listen with no interruptions. I had been able to peek through and see gray clouds beyond the firey wall of leaves. Would it rain? Or was it cold enough to snow? Either way I would be out of luck. Even if it wasn't cold enough for snow the rain would be freezing. Freezing. I hugged myself and ran my hands up and down my arms as I shivered. I was only wearing a thin jacket over a medium length dress. 

Turn around.

Without thinking about it I did. My hair fell out of the loose bun I had put it in before. At home. I had never wanted to be home more than I did at this moment. 

"Hello? Who was that?" Only the wind responded. I knew I had heard a voice, another chill had swept through my body. "...Hello?" I whispered. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know what way to go. But I did know that I did not want to be there any longer. I turned back around to continue my search, a pair of glowing eyes met my own.

 I stumbled back, falling onto a small pile of twigs. The crunch of the twigs startled the stange creature as it ran off. I laid on my back, attempting to make sense of what was going on. How did I even end up here? I took a long breath, followed by a long wavering sigh. Sitting up would be a challange. 

 I stared up at the fall leaves, thunder roared in the distance. Great. Just great. Not only was it going to rain, but it was going to storm. As my heart raced a small flake of snow fell through the leaves and onto my nose. Snow? I had never heard of thunder while it snowed. I sat up, still dazed. The eyes had long since disappered. I stood slowly. The sound of the wind had become familiar, comforting almost.

The snow had already started falling rapidly, melting as soon as it impacted the ground. I knew I had to find shelter, but somthing about the thunder threw me off guard. It was constant, almost as if it was a waterfall. My eyes widened. A waterfall! Without realizing it I had started to run. The snow may not have been visible on the ground but it was definitly leaving its mark. The forest floor made a faint squish as I ran. The booming sound of the waterfall shook the forest as I neared it. My legs moved like lightning, almost as if they were mimicing the thunderous sound filling the air. 

Just as suddenly as the sound appered, it vanished. I stopped dead in my tracks, unsure of what had happened. How could something that loud be gone so fast? I slowly started moving my feet, nearly to the point of shuffling, torward to where I was previously running to. But, what was I running to? Another cold shiver swept through my freezing body. Something was going on, something that I most definitly did not want to be apart of. I took a deep breath and continued my slow pace.

Publication Date: 08-13-2016

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