RESURRECTION

[stevensenechal]

Resurrection

Samantha stood on the edge of the quicksand pit trembling. Tears streaked her face and her hands flexed involuntarily, a product of rage, despair and the uncertainty of her next step. Suicide seemed both logical and terrible yet her resolution wavered as she contemplated the finality of her decision. 'Is this not what I want?' she reflected. 'No' an inner voice told her. "But it is what must be done.' she told herself. Oblivion, the endless sleep of death, escape from an uncaring world which seemed to delight in serving her a litany of crushed dreams, hardships, unfairness and pain. The smooth expanse promised an end.

The quicksand would welcome her, draw her slowly down into it and embrace her. She would willingly allow it's silky caress to be her last awareness of this terrible world. Then it would close over her, it would take the last life from her lungs and, after a few brief convulsions as her body fruitlessly writhed against the inevitable, she would die. She would hang suspended below the surface like a marionette, encased for all eternity, the strings connecting her to this world cut forever. She took a step into the pool.

Samantha had learned about this particular quicksand pit from some of the locals. It was said to be a maneater, a deep, clutching bog which had swallowed both man and beast over the centuries. She doubted if half of the stories were true but she was beyond caring at this point. It would serve her terrible purpose. It was quite remote and she had spent the better part of the evening probing the dark forest for it's whereabouts. The batteries in her flashlight were already beginning to fade as she emerged into the clearing and found the deceptive, flat expanse of the pit. It's surface was unmarred by tracks and clearly animals avoided the peaceful glade given it's deadly secret.

Samantha, or Sam as they called her at the small cafe' where she worked, still had her work uniform on. In her despair, she had not bothered to change her clothes. She still wore her white blouse, black skirt and pumps. The blouse stood out in the moonlight in stark contrast to the darkness around her. Her black stockings glistened like the pool before her and shimmered like oil as she placed one foot in front of the other. The sand was warm from exposure to the days' summer heat and it parted easily to accept her foot. She sank up to her ankle and, leaning forward, placed her other foot in front of her. This leg went knee-deep and the quicksand flowed easily around her calf, massaging it as it rolled upwards over her tights. The pit quivered at her entry, the grains of sand within it rounded perfectly from aeons of glacial movement and, now saturated with water, formed a rolling, undulating cauldron. Samantha pulled the ankle-deep foot free. She reached down and slipped off the sand-covered pump letting it fall away into the mud. 'I won't need it anymore.' she thought. Quicksand dripped from her stocking-clad foot and she placed this one forward as well. She pulled upward on the remaining shoe and, removing it, let it fall into the mire.

Sam now stood motionless, knee-deep in the pit. Only the sound of her quickened breathing filled the night. Her hair had fallen forward and now clung to her cheeks, stuck in her drying tears. She looked at the pit, mezmerized. 'So easy.' she thought. 'So smooth.' She would not turn back now. Samantha reached down and grasped two handfuls of the soft sand. Lifting her hands above her head, she allowed the runny liquid to flow down her arms, dirtying her sleeves and spattering her blouse. She laughed soundlessly as the tears began to flow once more, blurring her vision.

Samantha lowered her arms and stepped forward again. Whatever bottom that had been supporting her fell away as she plunged neck-deep into her tomb. The quicksand rolled, splashed , accepted her and send an undulating wave across the pit. Soft liquid caressed her throat and she could feel every panicked breath as the sand ebbed and flowed around her ribcage. Her skirt, blouse and brasierre clung to her, saturated with quicksand and she tilted her head back thinking to take a few more gulps of air. 'This is it.' she thought.

Samantha didn't move, she hung there suspended in the pit, arms outstretched. She floated with her face exposed to the night air as images played through her mind. The faces of those who had lied to her, cheated on her, abandoned and hurt her. A scream welled up in her chest, a wail of despair at the futility of it all. She cried out into the darkness, a hoarse, bestial howl which died in the silent forest. 'Nooo!' As Samantha tried to raise her legs she sank into the quicksand. The warm pool closed over her as she gasped and held in her last breath. The pit bounced and undulated as she struggled just below the surface, her form visible as if pressing against a sheet of sand, unable to penetrate through.

She had scant seconds before her lungs burst. Sam clawed involuntarily at the liquid around her, unable to find purchase on anything solid. Then, beyond any hope, she grasped what felt like a thick, rubbery root. The root seemed to pull back and Sam felt herself being dragged upwards, upwards towards the surface and the lifegiving air. She breached the surface of the pool gasping as the muck ran from her matted hair into her eyes, blinding her. She had been pulled almost completely free of the pit when she lost her grip on the root and began to slip back down into the pool. Something as thick as her thigh wrapped around her waist and prevented her descent. It squeezed her and held her suspended above the pit. Samantha gasped: 'Arrrgh! What the...what the...' she could barely form words as she panted for breath. One hand gripped the rubbery thing coiled around her waist as she wiped the sand from her eyes. She fought for balance and peered around wildly, trying to make sense of her surroundings.

Nothing made sense. A thick tentacle was wrapped around her waist, holding her above the pit. Below, a writhing mass of tentacles crept, crawled and flowed from the quicksand, probing the night air, coiling and uncoiling. Samantha was wide-eyed, mouth agape, transfixed by the new doom which now awaited her, the stuff of nightmares. Her mouth formed soundless words as she fought for breath, her lungs constricted by fear, her body paralyzed. Finally, she screamed, it rent the night air with it's high-pitched, keening wail.The thick tentacle lowered her down into the writhing mass below.

Tendrils flowed around her arms and legs, manifold arms grasped her body and tumbled her over and over. Her skirt slipped away from her waist, flowed down her legs and was discarded. Her blouse slipped away and she was left in her sodden underwear and hose. The wriggling mass played over her as she panted, fought and screamed in what seemed an unending blur of horror. Soon she was naked in the tentacled mass and she ceased struggling as the last of her strength left her . Sam could only moan weakly as she had become a helpless doll in the creature's grip. 'No.' she gasped 'No.' Tears flowed unchecked as she shuddered weakly, resigned to her fate.

A tentacle brushed over Samantha's face, wavered and lingered as she recoiled from it. It differed from the others in that it could be mistaken for an elephant's trunk. It was slender and maleable and Samantha felt warm air blow upon her face from two 'nostrils' at it's end. It played over her face, stopping to 'taste' her tears or perhaps sample their salty residue. The 'trunk' snorted again, blowing Sam's hair from her forehead. 'Oh!' she managed as she drew back again.

She held herself still, transfixed as the 'trunk' explored her naked, muddy form. It lingered around her throat as her pulse pounded in her ears. Moving over her breasts, Samantha stifled a gasp, barely remaining motionless as the appendage flowed over her stomach stopping at her navel and filling it with it's warm exhalation. Her own breathing had become slower and deeper as she rested in the nest of tentacles while the creatures' snout continued it's journey down her torso. The 'trunk' coiled around Sam's right thigh and inadvertently brushed the short hairs surrounding her mound.

Something deep inside Sam overcame her reason and her fear. She felt herself raise her pelvis and push against the appendage, squeezing the thick trunk between her thighs. 'Ah!' Sam grunted as she exhaled. Her eyes were closed as she grasped a tentacle to either side of her and again raised her pelvis with a new urgency. The creature exhaled into the folds of her mound and the warm air caused Sam to sit upright with a start. Samantha opened her eyes. She was sitting upright, her legs folded under her and the creatrure's snout had found her. She grasped the trunk and coaxed it into her. 'Yes.' Sam uttered the word without fear. It came from a deep part of her and was both plea and command. 'Yes!' This time the word was more demanding, forced through clenched teeth as her need consumed her. The need was primordial, the need to live, the necessity to create and rage against extinction. Sam no longer wanted to survive, she wanted to live.

The slow, rhythmic movements of her pelvis became the deep, violent thrusts of a battering ram, breaking down the barriers of her past. The creature labored to inhale as Sam constricted her pelvic muscles and continued her assault. Her blood became fire and sweat streamed down her face and neck. As her need came to a crescendo, Samantha threw her head back and roared into the night air. The darkness fled from the clearing and the light from a million stars glittered above.

Then all was stillness.

Sam lay there for an eternity and mist began to rise as the air cooled and morning approached. The creature had not moved for some time and Samantha now willed herself forward. She crawled and clawed her way free of the pit. She staggered upon solid ground and fell to her knees gulping in the cool night air. The quicksand coating her body dripped to the earth. Her mind was a fog of fatigue as she willed herself forward, feeling cool and exposed as she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled naked into the forest. Sam ran, she ran from the pit, she ran from the remains of the creature and she ran from the remains of her old life.

A week later, Samantha looked at her own face in the mirror. She smiled as she wiped the vomit from the corner of her mouth, she smiled knowing that the vomit in the sink before her promised a transformation, it was a precursor to a new life. The morning sickness, the nausea and the retching, all would pass as new life grew within her womb. A multitude of life by the thousands, the swarming resurrection of a species on the brink of extinction now given new purchase within her; their Queen. She would become mother to them, ensuring their survival and their ascendancy. Sam smiled, she would never be alone nor afraid again, her resurrection too had begun...

[jack c]

Well written, and an interesting combination of melodrama and sci-fi. A good read - thanks for posting.

[PM2K]

I agree! Nicely done!

[sakura_inverse]

I absolutely love tentacles and quicksand. I'm glad that it's becoming more of a theme.

[TBoneTony]

Oh boy... another awesome story with tentacles and quicksand.

This reminded me of the classic "Urotsuki-Doji: Legend of the Overfiend"

[nachtjaeger]

Seriously creepy! Thanks!