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