The trees pierced the air, casting you into their shadow. Every now and again, something skittered through the bushes, but you couldn't catch a glimpse. There was no path - your only option was to brave the foliage hoping to find shelter soon. It wouldn't be pleasant, but staying on the beach would get you nowhere.
After a few minutes of fighting past the thick overgrowth you were already drenched in sweat. It had already been hot on the beach - the sun bathed the island in warm light - but now you felt as if you were melting. The air was thick and damp and despite the shade, there was no escape from the tropical heat. Worse, there was no sign of anything servicable for a shelter - much less any indication of civilization.
Just as you considered turning back towards the shore, you suddenly slipped. The ground beneath you vanished without warning. No sound escaped you, as you fell downwards.
But as soon as you started falling, you stop, only barely catching yourself from tumbling into the dirt. Catching your breath, you looked around. The hole you fell into was not all that deep - maybe three to four feet - but rather large, nonetheless. The walls of the small pit were smooth. The ground itself, on the other hand, was completely covered by furrows and lines, the earth rough. It didn't look like someone had dug it, but you couldn't explain how a hole like this could have emerged on it's own.
Getting up, you climbed out, ready to continue your march. But just as you get yourself out of the hole, you almost slipp again - into a series of smaller impressions. Five, in fact, very close together.
A gear turned in your head. Hadn't you seen a shape like this somewhere before? You looked back at the large pit, then again at the ones infront of you. A suspicion formed in your mind - but that was impossible... was it?
There was only one way to find out. Grabbing a low branch you pulled yourself up a nearby tree, climbing upwards until you could see the holes below. You blanched as you saw them from above - now you recognized the shape for sure!
The ground had been crushed in by a gigantic foot! That's what the holes were - a footprint. Large enough that you could fall in it and not even realize, what it was. It was longer than you were tall! The smaller holes, undoubtedly dug by gigantic toes, could easily fit your head. But worst of all, on their tips were small, sharp and angular prints that you hadn't noticed before. Still, you knew what they were.
Clawprints.
For a moment, you were simply stunned. You had never heard of something this large to exists - except dinosaurs of course. Had you somehow stumbled upon the sanctuary of an extinct species? No, the footprint looked far to human for that. But that made even less sense!
You looked upwards. It was hard to visualize, but you tried to imagine the size of this creature. If you were right, whatever it was would reach over the canopy by a lot - and the trees weren't exactly small.
Your eyes wandered over the jungle. For the first time you noticed a lot of the higher branches broken off and lying on the ground. Almost as if a path had been cut through, only by blunt force. Then, suddenly, you got an idea!
You scanned the 'path' intently, keeping your eyes to the ground. You didn't have to search for long. Only a few yards a head, you could see a big part of foliage flattened. Then another footprint. Clawmarks on the roots below.
It was a trail.
Your mind reeling, you leaned back. What should you do? Whatever it was that roamed this strange island, it was obviously dangerous. You were barely the size of a rat to it. Finding shelter was now more important than ever - and more complicated. Sleeping out in the open was out of the question, for sure.
But then again... the prints looked human. Very human, in fact. Maybe, whatever the giant creature was, was also intelligent? It wouldn't be all that surprising, now that you knew that something like this could even exist. As unlikely as it was, maybe you would find help. Or, at least, the giant would surely have mountains of food that you could scavenge.
And most importantly, you were curious. You knew it wasn't sensible, but something inside you was desperate to get at least a glimpse of the creature - after all, you were certain no one else had ever seen something like it...
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
