story by Ashley Suter, 7th grade

My heart pounded loudly in my chest as I ran out of breath. There was no doubt about it. It was getting closer. I questioned myself as I ran, “What was it?” All I had known as the chase began was the scream of my brain and the distinct feel of blood running down the back of my leg. I forced my legs to go faster. I could feel its breath on my heels. As I looked around in panic I realized there was no place to hide. The Grand Canyon, of course there wasn’t, all I had was a light sweatshirt, a canteen of water, and a camera. In a desperate attempt to see what it was chasing me I pulled out my camera, turned it on, and pushed the button down. As I looked forward I saw my fate as I took one wrong step, and plummeted off the cliff. I spread out my arms thinking it may slow me down and the wind filled the back of my sweatshirt. It didn’t slow me down much, but a felt safer with the air filling my back. I am about to meet my death! I must be dreaming! I kept telling myself until tears poured down my cheeks like a waterfall. But I knew I wasn’t dreaming as I felt the weight of my body being slammed against the rocky terrain. Then my eyes closed to a world of darkness. My eyelids flutter open and I look up, I am surrounded by black, I try to speak but my throat is dry like the Sahara Desert. I glance around for my canteen but I don’t see it instead I see the glowing eyes of an animal under the moonlight staring at me – hunger in it’s eyes. I am afraid and question swarm through my mind. What is that? Where am I? What was- I quiet my head and slip back into the familiar darkness. I awake to extreme brightness, which I soon realize is the sun. Suddenly, I have a flashback of the day before – I am at the Grand Canyon, standing in line with my parents waiting for the sight of the canyon through the telescope, I excuse myself and run to the restroom – But it all fades away as quickly as it came. “At least I know where I am.” I mutter under my breath. I look at my few discarded items on the rocky ground, I see my canteen and reach out to grab it, but my arm doesn’t move, and then I remember the wind filling up my sweatshirt, my eyes watching the ground get closer and closer, the pain, like knives shooting through my arm.