#13 - Bigfoot - Art prompt writing contest #4 entry

The following story is an entry to a competition found here.

The writing prompt was the following image:

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I felt the caress of the morning sun on my cheeks softly waking me up. I rubbed my eyes and got out of my sleeping bag.

I walked down to the stream to get some water, made myself a cup of coffee, broke some bread and just enjoyed the view.

I loved hiking.

The fresh air, the exercise, nature and even the solitude.

There was just something magical about being alone out in the woods in the middle of nowhere with nothing but plants and animals to keep me company. The peace and quiet really helped me relax and clear my mind and just soak in the surroundings like a sponge.

Having finished my meal I decided it was time to go. I packed my sleeping bag and my coffe cup, brushed my teeth and headed off south.

Shortly after I wandered into the woods and the path got all muddy. I enjoyed a challenging hike, but I hated cleaning my shoes.

It was starting to get warmer, so I stopped to take off my jacket. I sat on a nearby rock, put down my backpack and had myself a sip of water. Just as I angled the bottle for the second time and closed my eyes not to be blinded by the sun, I heard it.

A mighty roar, no further than a hundred feet away.

I dropped my watter bottle in panic and felt the adrenaline rush.

I looked into the direction it came from and sure enough spotted a tall bearlike figure standing on two feet.

I felt my heart go into overdrive and I did the only thing my body told me to.

Run.

I heard it run behind me and judging by occasional over shoulder glances, It wasn't a bear.

No.

It couldn't be.

It ran like a man.

Because of its size and the length of its steps it was rapidly gaining on me. I was certain this was it.

Then suddenly there were no more trees in front of me.

And no ground, either.

I didn't know how tall the precipice was, but I knew I had no other choice.

I hit the slope not long after and rolled the rest of the way, badly hurting my arms and legs.

Lying helplessly at the bottom of the cliff I was overjoyed to learn the beast didn't follow suit. I tried getting up but I found myself lying on the floor the next second. I couldn't put any weight on my right leg. It wasn't because of pain - I didn't feel any - but it had been broken.

There was a river in front of me. If I managed to reach it, I might have been able to take it downstream and find civilisation. I focused all my strength to try and reach it. There was no way the creature gave up that easily.

The beast's roar pierced the babbling of the river as I was crawling my way to presumed safety.

I wish I hadn't looked back.

Claws the length of my fingers and size twice that of a bear.

A sasquatch. No doubt.

"Play dead, play dead, play dead."

Was all I could hear in my head.

So I did. I twisted into a fetal position and hoped for the best.

I could feel its paw on my back and its hot breath on my neck as he approached me. The strength of its nudge turned me on my back. I couldn't help but look at it.

The big eyes, the giant teeth, the slobbering and the omnipresent brown hair.

I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Just another victim of the alleged bigfoot," I thought to myself right before it tore my head clean off.