Flash Me Friday

This was actually posted on my other blog a long time ago, but I thought it fit the atmosphere of impending Halloween enough for a re-posting.

Sorrow Thy Name is Woman

“Julia . . .” the wind whispered her name through the trees.

Julia stumbled and broke into a run again, or at least as much of a run as she could manage. Her clothes were in tatters, arms and legs scratched from fighting her way out of a patch of juniper where she’d tripped and fallen. God only knew what happened to her pack.

“Julia . . .”

Would this nightmare never end? Her breath caught on a sob and she pushed herself harder. She’d hoped to make the ranger station before dark but sheer panic had made her disoriented and now she was hopelessly lost. All she could do was keep moving.

“Julia . . .”

They tried to warn her about this forest, warned her to stay away, but she hadn’t listened. Instead she laughed, calling them superstitious fools, and loaded up her back pack for a prolonged hike. She wasn’t laughing anymore.

“Julia . . .”

Branches seemed to pluck at her, like they were sentient and trying to hold her back. For all she knew they were. There’d been something not right about this forest from the moment she’d stepped into it. If only she’d turned back when she’d had the chance, but no, she was too stubborn for that. She didn’t believe in superstition or psychic energy, she was too level-headed.

“Julia . . .”

The voice sounded louder. Was it getting closer? Oh, God, she was going to die here. She was going to die a horrible death and no one would ever know what happened to her. No one except those people in the village. This was all their fault! They goaded her into entering the forest, they deliberately teased and taunted with their stories. And now she was going to die because of them.

“Julia . . .”

Dusk was starting to fall. It was getting harder to see where she was going. Was that a break in the trees up ahead? A flicker of hope stirred in her breast.

“Julia . . .”

The trees parted abruptly and Julia grabbed hold of a tree trunk to keep from falling. Hopelessly she stared down into the ravine. Her breath came in sobbing gasps. There might be water in the bottom of the abyss, it was too dark to tell.

“Julia . . .”

Jumping wasn’t an option. Or was it?