Story- How Long Have I Been Here (Working Title)- Part 1

Hey Steemians!

This is a story I wrote after watching Netflix's Stranger Things. It is a sort of fan fiction. I haven't finished the story yet, but I promise to get it out soon :)

I hope you like it :) Let me know what you think in the comments below :)

Enjoy :)

Note: If you feel disoriented while reading the story, it's intentional :)

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Red.

Yellow.

Red again.

sigh

Where am I? How long have I been here?

There's no way to tell. The first thing I remember about this place is the red sky as I opened my eyes; at least I think it's the sky. It looks nothing like the sky that I remember. Nothing about this place looks anything like what I remember. The only colours I've seen in this place are a whole lot of reds and yellows.

How long have I been here? Was I always here? Did I merely wake up from a colourful dream?

No. The place I remember wasn't a dream. It was home.

(Gets up, picks up cloth bag and wooden shiv and starts to walk.)

How long have I been here? Where am I going? More importantly- where am I and how did I get here?

So many questions and no one to talk to. Nowhere to record my thoughts. No real way to keep myself sane. What do you do when you're in the middle of a desert? At least I think this is a desert. What I'm standing on sure looks like sand; but it isn't somehow.

The sky is strange. There are no clouds or birds. Nothing but a giant floating purple orb; and the occasional gust of wind that carries some of this sand like thing into the sky. I know I'm not home. I know my home. This isn't it.

Where am I? How did I get here?

I don't have time to try to figure out where I am or how long I've been here. I just need to find a way to get back home.

(Attaches string to shiv and throws it at a passing cat-sized lizard-like creature. Cuts open prey with the shiv.)

How long have I been here?

It's hard to tell how long I've been here. Any attempt I make to mark my existence on the ground keeps getting wiped away by the raging winds. Besides, there is no real way to tell how much time has passed; or even if time passes in this place. For all I know, I could have been here for just a day- a very very long day. It's hard to tell. So hard to tell.

(Eats whatever semblance of flesh there is in the creature while staring blankly at the giant purple orb in the sky)

I wonder what that is- the purple orb. It's so close I feel like I can touch it and yet, it's so far away. I wonder if it is a moon.

(Gasps heavily)

Breathing is getting harder the more time I spend here. I haven't had a sip of water to drink since I first awoke here.

Where am I? How long have I been here?

The coarse air hurts my dry insides when I breathe. I can't stop breathing.

I can't.

(Gasps)

The only bodies of water-like substance I've found here are some patches of liquid here and there. It isn't water. The native beasts drink from these patches. I tried to drink it once. It was so salty that it only increased my thirst. Even the beats' flesh is salty. Their blood is salty.

I'm so thirsty.

My throat hurts.

(Gets up and walks ahead)

In my desperation, I cut myself and drank some of my own blood once. It made me feel sick. I don’t think I can do that again.

Have I gone mad?

It's hard to tell what's real anymore. What I see bears no resemblance to my home. The beasts here are like ones I've never seen or ever heard of before.

When I first got here, I tried to hunt one of the smaller beasts with whatever I could fashion into a weapon. I failed miserably. But that's to be expected of a fourteen year old. I had never been hunting before either, so that didn't help.

Am I really fourteen? How long have I been here? To whom am I narrating all of this?

Talking to myself helps. There is no one else here that I can talk to.

Am I really the only human here?

When I was finally able to fetch a meal, it was another beasts prey. I watched as the giant beast tore into its prey with its sharp teeth. Its teeth looked like it could cut through solid metal. I watched as it ate while I tried to muffle my stomach's desperate groans. After the beast had had its fill and was long gone, I slowly made my way to the carcass. I was lucky there were no vultures. There were no birds at all. I ate what little flesh I could pick out. Among the bones I found a piece of the killer beast's tooth. Lucky for me, it wasn’t as tough as I thought it was, but it was sharp enough.

(Hears distant growl. Runs for cover and hides inside a nearby rotting carcass.)

They don’t eat rotting meat. Stay quiet. Stay still.

(A beast nears the carcass. Sniffs the carcass and the surrounding area. Slowly walks away.)

The beast is gone. If I rub some of this rotting flesh on myself, it will keep the beasts at bay.

I have to find a way out of here. I can't take this anymore.

Hunting is tough as it is. Finding a beast's tooth was a huge break for me. The beasts of this land have really tough skin. It cannot be pierced easily, unless you have razor sharp teeth. I mounted the tip of the beast's tooth onto my shiv. This helped me get my next meal. I had been so long without food, I knew I had to find something to eat soon.

I started with tiny creatures- the size of kittens. I thought that would be enough, they also seemed easier to trap. As I thought, it's skin was tough. It's a good thing I had my shiv. Even with my shiv it took me quite a while to get to the good parts. I learnt the hard way that the smaller beasts are not worth hunting, the creature had little meat. Certainly not enough to fill a little girl's stomach. I could use the smaller ones to get to the bigger beasts, but I doubt I'm strong enough to take the bigger ones down.

How long have I been here?

I've been here so long and yet, I haven't seen nightfall. Does this day ever end? Does night ever come? When it does, will I be able to survive?