Hungry, written for the Flashy Fiction prompt today
Image courtesy: here
I am already so hungry that it seems to me my hunger has eaten the colour vision from my mind. I close my eyes for a second and when I open them, the whole world around isblack and white. Not that there is anything attractive to be seen in colours. Bare rock, a solitary fir tree emerging from a crack in the rock, some shrubs… And more rocks.
Wherever I turn my eyes, I see rocks. And cracks where something grows. How come only prickly things grow in these cracks? Why not soft fern to pick and make into a mattress? Why firs? The rock is too hard already, no need for more.
The sky is also black and white. Predominantly white, of course, with a cloud or two here and there. Yet, something is weird in this black-and-white picture. I feel as if everything shines with intense brightness and I have to close my eyes for a while. Then I lose my balance and swing slightly from side to side. “That must be me starving”, I think. Hoping to restore both my balance and my colour vision, I make an effort to open my eyes.
I believe I manage. My head grows heavy all of a sudden and it hurts like hell. “Could’ve brought some aspirin, too”, I think, “in addition to food.” Still, I am able to see. Colour has not come back, though. Neither has balance, so I slump down like a bag. There is no pain. I am sure the rock is not smooth at all. Yet, it isn’t hard either. It simply is. So, I begin to crawl towards the edge of the rock, past the fir tree. I want to see what is beyond.
The brightness of the sky maddens me. I think I can see metal blades flash here and there moving in the ruthless sunlight. Nothing moves in the scene. I crawl and I bump against something. I raise my hand in the air at my eyes’ level, push and press something there. Only, I can’t see it. Perhaps hunger has eaten more from my mind, and I can’t remember what, because it has been eaten off. That idea is scary. Looking into the large crack just beneath my nose I see a glittering speck. “What is it?” my mind trembles with lame excitement. The crack is wide enough for my arm, so I fish inside without fear of the unknown darkness below.
My fingers touch something smooth, feels glossy. Will I be able to grab at the thing and fish it back to the surface, or just like in a cheap movie I’ll be struggling to get to it? The crack is spacious and I push deeper, until I feel the glossy thing reach my palm. Then I grasp. And pull up.
It is a colourful piece of foil, the empty wrap of a tasty, nourishing waffle. I can still see chocolate dots on the silver inside. My empty stomach howls in despair. Would a wolf eat that? I am musing. Perhaps it will.
Wait a minute! I stop and look at the foil wrap again. Now-wait-a-mi-nute! It is colourful. So, I have my colour vision alright. I look around. Everything is still black and white. Then some motion attracts my eyes. Just beyond the rock edge, where I bumped into the invisible something, I saw something move. I thrust myself in that direction. That is not exactly a fast move, because I have no power left in me. But, somehow, I reach the invisible wall and press my face against it.
Now I begin to see more clearly. I can see a large hall on the other side, merging with the bare rocks and the brightness of the black-and-white sky. In that hall, there are people – I can see them a lot better now, walking in twos, or in threes, children hopping from show-case to show-case. I see other glass cases like the one I’m in, with other objects inside. A small face presses against the glass wall, just opposite mine. We look at each other not breathing. I don’t know whose shock is greater.
I hit my fist against the window case and say with a fierce grimace and bare teeth: “Bring the food, or I’ll come out and eat you, child!”
© 2012 Mariya Koleva
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Mariya!!! Wow!! I love this…you had me enthralled the entire write…very visual…all senses pulling me along….love the color of the foil contrasting with the black and white and the twist of your ending leaves me hungering for more of the story!! Very well written!!
Here I send you yet another colour. No doubt the world needs them all.