Chapter Five: Snake Valley

Not five minutes down the trail, Cody regretted deciding to go walking at all. It must have rained a few days before, because the land was unstable and he had to move from one section of the path to another much faster than he would have cared for. Also, it must have been mating season for the snakes, because he had seen at least three moving through the leaves. Lastly, the rain must have eroded the sides of the creek beds, because they were steep, and Cody doubted that he could climb back up if he fell.

Poison oak doesn't sound so bad right now.

Despite all the dangers to this trail, Cody kept on walking/jumping his way thorugh Snake Valley.

Everything was silent. It felt unnatural, especially because he was not only outside, but he was also walking in the middle of forest. The only sound was an occasional gust of wind that rustled the leaves, and even then only the ones at the very tops of the trees. It was still, silent, and something felt wrong.

Suddenly, the ground gave out under Cody's feet. While pondering the silence, he had gotten too close to the edge of the path, and had triggered a minor landslide. He was falling down the rain-steepened edges of Snake Valley and could find nothing to stop himself.

Slowly, after rolling to a stop at the bottom of the bed, he saw that Snake Valley was much longer, deeper, and wider than he had thought. It was at least a forty foot climb back on to the path. This time, Cody did not sigh. He shouted.

"Damn! If I hadn't come to this stupid camp, and gone on this stupid walk, and taken this stupid trail, I wouldn't be in this damn mess!"

"But Cody," a female voice said while laughing, "that is how it was fated to be."

Cody spun around. "Who followed me? Jessica?"

Again, the female laughed. "No, not Jessica. Turn around."

Cody slowly turned to face the original direction, and saw a beautiful woman with him in the creek bed. She seemed normal, except for the fact that each of her ears ended in two sharp points. Before he could notice anything else, she pointed at him. A stream of mist flew from her finger, and Cody sighed as he fainted and collapsed.