Excerpt from The Shadow Guardian

CHAPTER 2

I was in the middle of a gully. There were tall, thin, densely clustered trees as far as the eye could see, many of them with sparsely covered canopies. Some of the tree trunks were covered with dark green moss that snaked its way up over the trees’ bark. Others had gnarled, intertwined roots that grew vertically above the ground; as though the earth around the roots had been scraped away.

It was a very sunny day, judging by the dappled sunlight that filtered through the leaves and danced on the gully floor, but the tree cover took away the heat, leaving the gully cool and balmy. Brown leaves and twigs littered the gully floor and merged with the dark soil, creating the look of a mottled brown carpet. It should have been a very tranquil environment. Yet I felt a prickling uneasiness; why was I here….alone?

I stood still, trying to get my bearings. At first all I could hear was the rustle of leaves as a light breeze moved through the trees and bushes. That’s when I heard it: a group of murmuring voices. My heart jumped. Those people should be able to help me.

I started to run toward the voices. My sandal-clad feet barely made any noise on the soft, decomposing gully floor, despite how quickly I was running. My heart pounded in my ears; there was no way for me to tell which way I had come or how I could get out of the gully. I stopped running, my breath coming in harsh, unsteady gasps.

I was so afraid that I had long ago lost the urge to cry. The trees seemed denser here, yet I had just passed the cluster of rocks which I recognized as being close to my starting point. I was no closer to finding a way out of the gully. I changed course and ran back the way I came.

No matter which way I ran the disembodied voices seemed to follow me. I stopped again and listened carefully. This time, I realized that not only was the murmuring growing louder, but I also recognized the voices.

I slowed down and tried to breathe evenly. By now, I should have been able to see Tillie and my mother and all of the other people whose voices I recognized. I was paranoid; there were no voices, no people. There was nothing in the gully other than green monkeys and they wouldn’t bother me unless I bothered their babies. Being deep in the gully was like being trapped inside a leafy green crypt. Frustrated I threw up my hands and gave up. Without warning, I fell to the ground. Try as I might to move, I couldn’t.

I shuddered inwardly, unable to grasp what was happening to me. I was unexpectedly, unexplainably paralyzed in the gully. I tried moving again, every muscle in my body straining to elicit some kind of movement out my limbs. I struggled against the invisible bonds that held me captive. Despite the vastness of the gully, I started to feel claustrophobic as the panic gripped me. My breath came in short, shallow gulps, sweat beaded on my brow and my vision started to spin. I was almost mesmerized as all of the greens and browns of the gully merged into one unidentifiable colour.

And then it was gone.