Hunted

The beast prowled the corridors, searching for the remaining hunter. It seemed as though the tables had turned and the four who had been sent to find and kill him were now down to just one. He had devoured the others, savoring the taste of their flesh. The ravenous monster would not be satisfied until the last remaining assassin was in his belly.

The hallways were dark, illuminated only by small round lights. Clyde, the sole survivor of the expedition, was not sure how to proceed. He and his fellow hunters had split up, thinking that they could corner the beast, but were gravely mistaken. The monster was more cunning than they had ever imagined, and his three friends had been devoured with little effort. Clyde knew that he was now the last hope, but could not decide which was more important, victory or self preservation.

Clyde headed south, down a long straight passage. He could hear movement from behind him, but was not sure if he was being chased or if the creature was just aimlessly cruising . He followed the lights, hoping that he would get one more shot at avenging his friends. He had decided that he would kill the beast, or die trying.

He made a right turn at the next entrance and continued following the lights. The noise behind him began to grow louder. Clyde looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of the creature coming up behind him. He watched as it’s jaws opened and closed, cutting a path straight for him. That is when something strange happened.

Clyde all of a sudden lost all of his energy, and his skin began to turn blue. He was weak and had no control of anything. He felt like he had just become a ghost of his former self. He ducked down another hallway, hoping to elude the predator until he could recover from whatever had overcome him. The monster turned down the same passage. Clyde now ran as fast as he could, but the monster was moving much faster, closing the gap. Clyde turned again, this time picking a hallway with no lights, but it seemed hopeless. He was going to be devoured, or at least, that is what he thought.

As fast as the sudden weakness had overcome him, moments earlier, his strength and color returned and a new feeling of bravery arose in him. Why was he running? He was the hunter. Clyde stopped in his tracks and did a 180, facing the monster head on. He was not going to let this bastard defeat him. He ran toward the approaching jaws and lunged himself headlong into it’s path. The monster never knew what hit it. Game over.

*******

Billy Thomas put another quarter into the Pac Man game. He wondered how much money that he would have to spend before he could make it to the second level.