As if From a Dream

A couple traveling settled down near a river preparing to eat and rest. The man, who had started building a fire to cook their food on, leaped up startled by a deafening roar and scream. His mouth dropped open as he gazed upon his wife held in the grasp of a huge crocodile. Massive jaws clamped down crunching hard, stifling her second attempt to scream; blood popped from the face. The animal moved towards water with the twitching body. In despair the man staggered backwards, fleeing the scene horrified. Running at first then slowing to an exhausted pace, he stopped only at nightfall to sleep in the crook of a very tall tree.

Rising in the morning, as if from a dream, he searched his mind wondering if there was something he could have done. Vivid images returned to place him, though still panicked, at rest with any such heroic notions. He decided to return home and inform their families of the tragedy. Having gone far from the river however, the way back itself proved to be a long journey. A half day into the walk his mind again plagued him with unreasonable doubts, only to be silenced by the memory of her horrible scream. With a shudder he moved on.

Daylight started to dim. He noticed the pale form of a young woman walking ahead along the same path. With an effort he quickened his pace and though gaining, seemed unable to catch up to her. Several times she glanced back. Alerted to his presence, fearing an unknown stranger perhaps, he imaged that she started walking just a bit faster. Not wishing to be rude but feeling a need to hear the voice of another, he started to call out, yet held back. Instead, taxing the last of his weary legs, he seemed again a bit closer. “She’s finally wearing down,” he thought. Surely her features could be seen much more clearly than before.

He saw her on the bridge before realizing he was once again at the river. She was half way across when his hands first touched the wooden frame. Slowly, uneasily, he took a few steps, then halted. Starting forward, as if having decided upon something, the man stepped with determination.

It was then that the jaws of the bridge dropped in upon him, surely as the crocodile’s had on his wife. The girl, by then at the other side of the river, glanced back once, and walked quickly away.