SECOND CHANCE TO LIFE
-A short story


Izuchukwu had no foggiest idea where he was. All he knew was that he had been here in the deep dark night. And he had no knowledge of the way to his salvation. He had been running deep into the thick forest from the dangers that looms in the corners of the forest. He had no way of escape, and he had fallen severally and risen in his struggle for his salvation.


His heart lurched as he ran blindly in the dark. He wondered what future the bleak night held for him, surely nothing good. The night spells doom for him. He felt a stinging sensation as the edges of the thick elephant grass he ran into latched at his soft skin, just below his left eye, eliciting groans of pain. The harsh realization that he was in the middle of nowhere hit hard on him. Blanket of goose pimples from black heaven fell on him. Dangers looms here, yet he couldn’t lay his hands on what is pursuing him, but he needed to run far from the unknown dangers that hovered around the forest.


His knee creaked. He was tired of running, yet he ran till he fell hard between thorns, hit his head on the bark of a tree. On the tree, he heard a owl hoot, the sign of bad luck. He wasn't sure what the long night held for him, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasing. He prayed for the first time in a while that the day break, and dawn to come and take away his sorrows. He felt trickles of blood trail its path down his skin. He was bruised.
The grass rustled, and he cowered in fear at the sight before him, a tiny shiny eye that stared at him. He wanted to run but his legs couldn't carry his heavy frame. It failed him when he needed it most. He fell again, this time heavily on the thorns, and winced in pain as it tore deep into his skin and blood gushed. His body and his muscles ache, and pains seared through him as he fell again on the thick muddy ground. He was tired, and his feeble legs could not carry him any longer. He resigned to fate.


He felt something move below his palm, and felt the gooey skin of a snake that glitters in the night, and it he heard it hiss. The tiny shiny eyes advanced towards him, and when it was few meters from him, it roared. It's a lion. He was helpless and weak that he couldn't move a finger, couldn't he his heavy legs anymore. He resigned to fate as it seem the inevitable was bound to happen. He saw death staring at him in the eye.


"Is this how it will all end? Is this how I will die?" He asked himself. And the lion before him roared again and dove at him. And in a fleeting moment between life and death when the shimmering tug hovered at the edge of his consciousness, out of the blues, he felt the shimmers of light flood his eyes. He shielded his eyes from the bright rays of the light. "Is this the salvation I clamor?" He asked himself as he felt the ice-cold clench of fear and excitement sear through him.


And as his eyes were adjusting to the bright light, the images of the lion and snake disappeared, and the forest faded. Thick beads of sweat covered his whole frame as he stirred and stretched on the bed on which he lay. "It was all a dream", he said and let out a deep sigh of relief. And he thanked God for another chance to life.


THE END


©2017 Chukwuebuka Ezeudeka