Flash Fiction by Anonymous

I’m staring off into the distance, taking in the sounds of the group trooping through the forest. The murmur of voices, the crunch of leaves. I see color behind a tree. I pause, turning my head in that direction. A deer munches on the leaves of a small tree, backlit by a golden sunset. I  grab the camera dangling from my neck. It’s a picture I just have to have. 

“I’ll be back in a second,” I call to my group, “No need to wait up.”

I scramble through undergrowth off the side of the trail, as quickly and quietly as I can. Over spiky thorns and under low hanging branches, I approach the deer, still slowly chewing. Perching on a small rocky outcropping with a clear view of the deer, I raise my camera. The deer stands perfectly in the middle of the sights. A twig snaps and the deer's ears perk up. I stay perfectly still. It looks right at me before bounding away. “Damn,” I whisper.

Sighing, I turn around, ready to rejoin the group. And then I turn around again. Which way was the group? I feel my heart begin to pound as I stand very still. Everything sounds very loud and yet very quiet at the same time. A creak of a branch, the babbling of a nearby stream and the chirps of songbirds fill my ears.

“Hello!” I call out. No response. I sit on the rock, beginning to really panic as the sun sinks below the horizon. “Surely they will have noticed I’m not back,” I think. “What if I’m stuck out here all night?” The thought shakes me to the core. I’ve heard more than enough stories of people getting lost in the woods and waiting weeks for rescue parties to come find them. I don’t know if I could survive for a week in the woods. As I look around, each shadow distorts in the fading light, playing into my fears. “Calm down,” I think. I close my eyes, focusing on the darkness and taking deep breaths in and out. No sooner have I opened my eyes that I hear footsteps and voices approaching in the distance. Relieved, I run over to them.

“There you are, Bob,” my friend Dale greets me as I rejoin the group. “We were worried about you.”

“Yep,” I say. “Nothing to worry about.” I’m a little embarrassed by my panic, but I move on quickly, eager to get home.