Part One - @michaeladamparis/escape-from-the-noh-an-original-story-part-1
Part Two - @michaeladamparis/escape-from-the-noh-an-original-story-part-2
Part Three
They awaken in the early morning, cradled in the knotted, mossy arms of a sweet chestnut tree.
Its thick trunk has been stripped bare of bark, scraped throughout the night from the chittering claws of the Noh, the fruits of a futile effort. Safe in the crook of the chestnut tree, Sofia and Ryan fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Sofia yawns. She feels another’s stare, and looks up. Ryan’s almost gray eyes seek her own, the pupils wide, waiting.
“Did you sleep well?” he asks her, holding her closer still.
“I don’t think I ever slept so sound.” She offers a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry if I avoided the tree’s bark for your chest.”
He smooths her hair. “I slept like a baby.”
Sofia remembers the stirrings in her during the night, his breath against her breast and neck, the feel of the hair along his body. And the awful chittering of those creatures throughout the night, which faded away as she melted into his embrace.
She looks to the ground below, and it is clear of the Noh. “They’re gone.”
“The night has sent them to another place.” Ryan traces his hand along her neckline, over a tarnished necklace. At the end of the necklace is a tiny heart-shaped pendent.
“There is a picture inside,” Sofia says lightly, her eyes closed.
Sofia senses Ryan squeezing the pendent open. She opens her eyes and sees the image of a man behind broken glass, a gaunt man with a dark, furry mustache.
“Is it your father?”
“I do not remember.” Sofia closes her eyes once more. “But I want him to be.”
Ryan squeezes the pendent shut again and sits up, his legs dangling off the branch. He slips to the ground below, and offers a hand to her.
In the past, she would meet other runners, but always lost them to the night. In the panic of the chase, they would often dart into different directions, and life was such that there was never turning back to follow. Sometimes – sometimes they were not lost to the night, but to the Noh.
She takes Ryan’s hand and falls into his arms. His breath drapes along her neck as he sets her softly down onto loose, brown leaves.
They walk for a time, finding a dirt road with barren, open fields on either side. Old, wood posts mark the ground at intervals, with scraps of rusted wire bridging them or coiling recklessly to the ground. “Do you think this road leads to a farm?”
Ryan’s eyes take on a different gaze. “Food. Real food.” He sighs. “I don’t think it does. The farms moved out a long time ago.”
“Deluvia is a farm city,” Sofia says. “They have all sorts of wonders, I’ve heard.”
“A farm city?”
Sofia notices his tone of disbelief. It does sound strange, she realizes, but the phrase is what others have told her. “It might be nothing, just a rumor.”
Ryan stops in his tracks, and Sofia follows his gaze to something in the road, about 50 yards ahead. She continues without him and notices the object moving as she closes distance. “It’s a snake!”
“I know!” Ryan shouts back to her.
Sofia finds a broken branch and pokes the snake with it. It slowly writhes but doesn’t flee. “I think it’s hurt.”
“I don’t care!”
Sofia smiles. She pushes the snake again with the branch, gently, noticing it’s brown scaly texture and black stripes down each side. It stops moving.
“I think it’s dead,” she says, dropping the branch. She sits down upon her knees and touches the back of the snake’s head. It’s surprisingly cold to the touch. She retrieves her hand back to her chest and walks around it.
“It’s dead, now!” she shouts, motioning him to follow. She waits.
“Can you move it?”
Sofia stifles a laugh. “It’s just a dead snake!”
Ryan stands there on the road.
Sofia takes the branch again and picks the snake up, moving it gently to the brush. After she drops the branch, Ryan trots over to meet her. He kisses her on the cheek, surprising her.
She realizes she would have moved the snake even if it were alive.
“Let’s go,” he tells her, taking her hand again.
She looks back at the snake, wondering if the Noh will later eat it, although it’s already dead.
Go to the next chapter:
Part Four - @michaeladamparis/escape-from-the-noh-an-original-story-part-4
To be continued (later installments of the 8-part story are coming soon.)
Start at the beginning:
Part One - @michaeladamparis/escape-from-the-noh-an-original-story-part-1
Part Two - @michaeladamparis/escape-from-the-noh-an-original-story-part-2
"Escape from the Noh" is a short-story that is a combination of sci-fi and horror. As a writer, I enjoy deconstructing genres to see where I can mix them for a synergistic effect. I welcome feedback and will be publishing my 300,000 word epic novel "The Messiah" on Steemit in 2017.
Facebook page: (https://facebook.com/michaeladamparis/)
My Blog: (http://www.michaeladamparis.com)
Thank you all for your support and encouragement.
Image Credits: stevebidmead | veeterzy | creativemusingsoflediar | MAKY_OREL
