wandered off, his
face already turning scarlet under the sun.
Maya
set off. The sun struck down even hotter and brighter as the day wore
on. Even with her face and head covered she could feel sunburn
blooming on the exposed parts of her arms. She moved into the welcome
shade offered by the foliage.
She
was hungry and thirsty and the privets opened up just a few feet
ahead. She duck walked to that opened area and found she could stand
so she did. The hedges grew in long lanes, she walked down them,
going deeper and deeper until she stopped at a tiny little circle
that was wide enough for her to sit down, open her pack and spread
out her lunch.
Privacy
had been is short supply the past few days, she dug the sandwich and
chips and bottle of soda out of her bag and began to munch while
reading a novel she had tucked into the front flap. Totally engrossed
in the book she never noticed the shadow that fell over her until it
was too late.
Her
skin prickled with awareness and she looked up, her mouth opening to
utter a polite excuse for her laying down on the job but all the
words died on her lips and tongue. It was not one of the members of
her party looking down at her but a creature.
She
screamed and tried to scramble away but she was grabbed by her upper
arms and lifted first to her feet and then an inch off the ground.
Fear surged through her and she opened her mouth to scream again but
fear squeezed her vocal cords down so that only a tiny dusty croak
came out of her wide open mouth.
The
thing…her eyes scanned its features in disbelief. Two horns
curved up from the forehead and a face, human in its symmetry and
shape looked back at her but the horns curved back from a head that
was covered not with human hair but with coarse black hair that was
oddly reminiscent of the hair of a bull.
It
was hands that held her arms. She looked down at the muscular chest,
also covered in the hair, and the broad shoulders, wondering if this
were all a joke. The arms that held her were bulged with muscle and
she found herself staring at it in an odd mixture of revulsion and
enthrallment. Below the flat abdomen that rippled with muscle lay
lean hips, and long legs but that was not what fascinated her and
almost stopped her heart.
The
half-man, half-bull thing was totally nude and its penis was huge. It
jutted out, throbbing and full, in a large curve that made her feel
faint. Her eyes yanked away in desperation only to land at the ground
below them. That was when she saw that while the upper limbs had
human hands the lower limbs ended quite decisively in hoofs.
She
began to fight, her feet connected with the hard as oak shins and she
twisted frantically in the creatures grasp. She managed to tear
herself free and she fell to the ground. Sobbing she made it to her
feet and began to run, heedless of direction.
The
hedges closed in over her head and she fought against them. Every
time she turned a corner she found herself faced with a choice in
which way to turn. Confusion fogged out coherent thought, she ran
into blind corners and abruptly ended lanes, turned around and ran
back to the nearest intersection only to find herself lost again.
Tears
flew down her face. Dust spurted out from under her feet and her
heart pounded against her ribs, a stitch worked its way into her
side. Fatigue settled over her and she became desperate. She shoved
at the thorny hedges, hoping to bypass the constant running back and
forth but the stickers scratched her arms badly, pain and blood both
shocking her back to her senses.
She
took a deep breath and stood still, surveying the footprints on the
earth. She could see three sets of her own footsteps, which meant she
had been running blindly along the same lane for quite some time. She
lifted her watch, the hands had stopped and she felt an irrational
irritation at that.
She
found her cell phone in her pocket but there was no signal or even a
time available on its face. A growl of frustration rose in