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That morning, I awoke and reached over for Agatha, expecting to find her clutched in my warm arms. Instead, I found empty space.
I figured she must have gotten up to go to the bathroom. It was light and we’d overslept.
I stumbled over to the edge of the clearing and took a leak.
I groaned and leaned my head back. I peered up at the sky and rolled my neck.
It’d been a long night and the cracking, snapping bones in my neck showed how uncomfortable I must have slept during the night.
I dreamed about Agatha, and each time I opened my eyes, I was pleased to find her wound tightly in my arms.
She was so soft, so warm.
It was only when I did up my fly and turned to head back to our camp that I noticed the line etched into the sand and rose up the steep incline of the nearby sand dune.
The blood froze in my veins.
I realized immediately what must have happened.
“No…” I said out loud.
I should have headed back to the camp to grab my trusty bed pole cudgel but I didn’t want to waste time.
Every second counted.
I wondered how long it’d been since the creature had snatched her.
Was I too late?
Was she already buried deep in the belly of the creature?
I sprinted up the incline and found, to my terrified eyes, that the line continued further.
I bolted further up the incline until I reached the top, praying I would see her when I crested the next rise.
I got to it, not slowing or stopping, and once again, saw no sign of her.
I followed that line, and with each shallow horizon I crossed, I drew closer to the sand dune’s peak.
A cool mist descended over the sandy mountain as the heat of the approaching new day mixed with the cold air from the previous night.
The cold dampness rasped in my throat.
Running up the sand dune alongside me were tiny black beetles. They had special shells that could capture moisture from the air.
I shot up one rise after another until, finally, I saw what I was looking for.
Agatha.
Her body was bound tightly by the long vines.
She didn’t struggle, didn’t try to escape.
It was a good thing as her body would have been crushed to nothing otherwise.
After chopping at the vine and setting her free, I had taken her place and entered the stomach of the enormous beast.
But I knew something Agatha didn’t.
