Struggling in bubbling, sacrificial quicksand
Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:12 am
Another one of my first-person stories. Enjoy!
The fog was so thick in the woods that you couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you. The thicket was clearing up, only a few dead trees appeared in front of me here & there, leaning unnaturally. I was careful to watch myself in this area, there had been stories of savages living in these woods that would kidnap hikers & kill them as sacrifice to some spirit they worshipped.
I heard a noise & turned my head around to see that it was nothing. But I continued to walk forward with my head turned back. I walked for a couple more feet like this before I stumbled into a huge pit, cause I wasn’t watching where I was going. I fell about 5 feet and landed with a thud onto a cracked-up surface of dried mud. I shook my head but then quickly got up, this seemed like a perfect place for some headhunter to jump down & shishkabob me with a spear & I didn’t want anyone getting the drop on me.
I stood waiting there for a minute but nobody showed up. I looked around & saw that I was standing in a giant 5 foot deep hole in the ground that was about 20 feet wide. I could faintly make out big & small trees surrounding the pit through the fog. I spotted a single piece of frayed, thin rope stretched at about waist-level across the middle of the pit.
“This is weird,” I said out loud. Now it was time to get myself out. I walked to the edge of the hole & reached over to climb out. At the same time, I felt the earth move under my feet, like it was shifting beneath me. Undeterred, I began hoisting myself up over the steep angle of the pit’s edge…only for it to give under the weight of my arm that I was using to push myself up. I slid back down the pit, but there wasn’t a thud when I came down that time.
CRUNCH-KABLOOP
I looked down & saw that my legs had broken through the dried up mud surface. I was now up to my knees in creamy, brown mush.
“Oh, awesome,” I muttered. I went for the hole’s edge again but now I couldn’t reach. “Ugh, dammit.” Then I remembered the rope & turned around. It was only a few feet away. “So this is what you’re for!” I began slogging through the mud towards the rope, breaking up dried surface along the way. I looked across the pit & saw that the cracks in the surface were beginning to fill up with wet, creamy muck. I was nearly at the rope when I felt a drop off. The mud made a muffled bubbling sound as I sunk up to mid-thigh. The mud was now looser & made ripples around my legs. I felt myself settling in even deeper, I looked down & saw that I was slowly sinking. Then, all around the surface, bubbles starting forming & popping.
“Is…is this quicksand?” I nervously asked myself out loud. My mind flashed to the movie scenes where someone would fall into a pit of quicksand but would be rescued quickly before they went under. I wouldn’t get a rescuer out here in the middle of nowhere. “Guess I really do need this,” I said as I looked at the rope. I grabbed it & gave it a tug.
I heard a snap & the rope quickly went limp, then quickly snaked out of my hand like it was being retracted by some kind of machine. Along with that, a bunch of torches all around the edges of the pit above me lit up! The lit torches illuminated animal skulls tied to the trees surrounding the bog. I quickly realized my predicament, this was some kind of sacrificial bog.
“Oh…oh no,” I said as the reality set in. I looked down & watched myself sink in up to my hips. Then I remembered that I just need to keep still in this stuff. I just needed to keep still, I would stop sinking & then I could work on a way to get myself out of this quagmire.
So I tried remaining as still as possible. I kept settling in deeper. My heart began to race as the quicksand crept up my waist & half-way up my abdomen. This wasn’t working. I continued to settle into the pit deeper & deeper.
“HELP?! SOMEONE! I’M STUCK IN QUICKSAND!” I cried out. No answer, just the breeze blowing through the woods. I was on my own. There was nothing around for me to grab onto, so the only choice I could resort to was trying to “tread” in this stuff. I began bicycle-kicking my legs & stroking my arms in the creamy brown quicksand.
My descent was slowing! I was still sinking but I was buying myself more time. I continued to look for something to latch onto, but this spot was perfectly inescapable. I was right in the middle of this bubbling pit & my only chances at salvation were high up on the edges of the bog, way too high & way too far for me to reach. I sunk in up to my chest.
“Think, think, think!” I said to myself. But I drew a blank. There really was no way I could save myself from this stuff. If that thought wasn’t bad enough, I was already starting to become exhausted from struggling in the bog. My resistance became less intense…and I began sinking faster again.
“HELP! I’M CAUGHT IN QUICKSAND!” I futilely shouted, again; nobody was coming to help. The muck churned, swirled & bubbled as I settled in up to my shoulders. I kipped & squirmed to slow my descent but it was no use now. The quicksand had me now & I was totally helpless.
Who would’ve thought I’d end up here? Trapped in a pit of killer quicksand & sinking helplessly to my own demise.
Bubbles popped with loud splats as I descended up to my neck in the quagmire. I kipped again, this time, the quicksand punished me by surging me down deeper very quickly. The cool creamy clay lapped at my chin.
Then, I felt my foot hit a gas deposit. The entire bog began to bubble more violently as the muck became even looser.
“No, please, don’t!” I begged the quicksand. But it was too late, I felt myself surge under & I was completely sunk. I struggled & squirmed to reach the surface again, but it was of no use. My lungs burned for air. I lashed & lashed until I could take no more, and the quicksand claimed another victim.
The fog was so thick in the woods that you couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you. The thicket was clearing up, only a few dead trees appeared in front of me here & there, leaning unnaturally. I was careful to watch myself in this area, there had been stories of savages living in these woods that would kidnap hikers & kill them as sacrifice to some spirit they worshipped.
I heard a noise & turned my head around to see that it was nothing. But I continued to walk forward with my head turned back. I walked for a couple more feet like this before I stumbled into a huge pit, cause I wasn’t watching where I was going. I fell about 5 feet and landed with a thud onto a cracked-up surface of dried mud. I shook my head but then quickly got up, this seemed like a perfect place for some headhunter to jump down & shishkabob me with a spear & I didn’t want anyone getting the drop on me.
I stood waiting there for a minute but nobody showed up. I looked around & saw that I was standing in a giant 5 foot deep hole in the ground that was about 20 feet wide. I could faintly make out big & small trees surrounding the pit through the fog. I spotted a single piece of frayed, thin rope stretched at about waist-level across the middle of the pit.
“This is weird,” I said out loud. Now it was time to get myself out. I walked to the edge of the hole & reached over to climb out. At the same time, I felt the earth move under my feet, like it was shifting beneath me. Undeterred, I began hoisting myself up over the steep angle of the pit’s edge…only for it to give under the weight of my arm that I was using to push myself up. I slid back down the pit, but there wasn’t a thud when I came down that time.
CRUNCH-KABLOOP
I looked down & saw that my legs had broken through the dried up mud surface. I was now up to my knees in creamy, brown mush.
“Oh, awesome,” I muttered. I went for the hole’s edge again but now I couldn’t reach. “Ugh, dammit.” Then I remembered the rope & turned around. It was only a few feet away. “So this is what you’re for!” I began slogging through the mud towards the rope, breaking up dried surface along the way. I looked across the pit & saw that the cracks in the surface were beginning to fill up with wet, creamy muck. I was nearly at the rope when I felt a drop off. The mud made a muffled bubbling sound as I sunk up to mid-thigh. The mud was now looser & made ripples around my legs. I felt myself settling in even deeper, I looked down & saw that I was slowly sinking. Then, all around the surface, bubbles starting forming & popping.
“Is…is this quicksand?” I nervously asked myself out loud. My mind flashed to the movie scenes where someone would fall into a pit of quicksand but would be rescued quickly before they went under. I wouldn’t get a rescuer out here in the middle of nowhere. “Guess I really do need this,” I said as I looked at the rope. I grabbed it & gave it a tug.
I heard a snap & the rope quickly went limp, then quickly snaked out of my hand like it was being retracted by some kind of machine. Along with that, a bunch of torches all around the edges of the pit above me lit up! The lit torches illuminated animal skulls tied to the trees surrounding the bog. I quickly realized my predicament, this was some kind of sacrificial bog.
“Oh…oh no,” I said as the reality set in. I looked down & watched myself sink in up to my hips. Then I remembered that I just need to keep still in this stuff. I just needed to keep still, I would stop sinking & then I could work on a way to get myself out of this quagmire.
So I tried remaining as still as possible. I kept settling in deeper. My heart began to race as the quicksand crept up my waist & half-way up my abdomen. This wasn’t working. I continued to settle into the pit deeper & deeper.
“HELP?! SOMEONE! I’M STUCK IN QUICKSAND!” I cried out. No answer, just the breeze blowing through the woods. I was on my own. There was nothing around for me to grab onto, so the only choice I could resort to was trying to “tread” in this stuff. I began bicycle-kicking my legs & stroking my arms in the creamy brown quicksand.
My descent was slowing! I was still sinking but I was buying myself more time. I continued to look for something to latch onto, but this spot was perfectly inescapable. I was right in the middle of this bubbling pit & my only chances at salvation were high up on the edges of the bog, way too high & way too far for me to reach. I sunk in up to my chest.
“Think, think, think!” I said to myself. But I drew a blank. There really was no way I could save myself from this stuff. If that thought wasn’t bad enough, I was already starting to become exhausted from struggling in the bog. My resistance became less intense…and I began sinking faster again.
“HELP! I’M CAUGHT IN QUICKSAND!” I futilely shouted, again; nobody was coming to help. The muck churned, swirled & bubbled as I settled in up to my shoulders. I kipped & squirmed to slow my descent but it was no use now. The quicksand had me now & I was totally helpless.
Who would’ve thought I’d end up here? Trapped in a pit of killer quicksand & sinking helplessly to my own demise.
Bubbles popped with loud splats as I descended up to my neck in the quagmire. I kipped again, this time, the quicksand punished me by surging me down deeper very quickly. The cool creamy clay lapped at my chin.
Then, I felt my foot hit a gas deposit. The entire bog began to bubble more violently as the muck became even looser.
“No, please, don’t!” I begged the quicksand. But it was too late, I felt myself surge under & I was completely sunk. I struggled & squirmed to reach the surface again, but it was of no use. My lungs burned for air. I lashed & lashed until I could take no more, and the quicksand claimed another victim.