Favourite Hat

[Viridian]

"Oh, bother." The hat flew out of Monica's reach. She had been in the middle of changing out of her bikini, but not wanting to lose her favourite hat, she chased after it. Unfortunately, the hat rode another strong gust, nearly disappearing into the trees. Monica managed to follow it into the forest. However, with her eyes fixed on the floating hat, she wasn't watching where she was going. Her feet slipped and she stumbled into a patch of soft, sandy mud. Taken off guard by the strong suction around her calves, she looked at the rippling ground and recognised it as the quicksand the signs had warned about. She lurched backwards, landing on her backside but freeing her legs before they became stuck. She breathed a sigh of relief, having avoided that close call.

Then the hat floated back down, landing almost right in the middle of the clearing.

She cursed at her luck. She'd have to find a way to cross over the quicksand to get the hat. The clearing was surrounded by roots and knotted branches, one of which twisted out towards the hat. It was thin, but hopefully strong enough to hold her weight. It was too springy to stand on top, so she sat on it and carefully edged her way over the quicksand. The branch creaked ominously, bending closer to the deadly sand. Monica thought about going back and leaving the hat, but it was so close. Not giving herself time to hesitate, she lunged out and snatched the hat by the brim. She immediately caught herself with her free hand, latching onto the branch to recover her balance. The recoil nearly caused her to fall off. She swung her legs down before she realised her mistake. The sand swallowed her feet, and once again she felt the heavy suction pulling her into the pit below. Bracing herself against the branch, she began to twist her legs to break free of its grip, her attempts at escaping the trap causing the branch to bounce up and down.

She heard a crack.

Fearing that the branch was going to break at any moment, she shifted her weight off of it. This too was a mistake, her leg right leg now freely sinking into the sucking sand. Quickly losing what little leverage she had, Monica tried to shuffle back onto the branch. But if the branch were to give way, there was nothing stopping her from plunging into the inescapable sand below.

If that were to happen, the only thing left would be her hat...

[Aiko]

Either way, the hat is going to survive.

Nice work, Viridian! Thanks for sharing!