All Chapters of Retrograde: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

"Jack, slow you down far up ahead." They are walking through an umber-brown, ancient forest. It reeked of age. Its woody incense was from centuries of snapping branches crashing to the forest's floor and rotting silently. The composting, organic smell rose in waves like a vapor. Every sprawling tree we passed under reminded me of a watchful guardian, a silent sentinel of the groves. Jack and Rick decided to venture deeper into the tangled heart of this ancient forest. “I hope to find Nicole.” The deeper they went into the woods, the more it revealed its dark secrets to them; the sounds of the unknown creatures surrounding them as it echoed like a surround sound system playing through an open room, hardened leaves cracking like crushed chips in a sealed packet. The further Jack and Rick went, the more mystical and spellbinding it became. Massive roots spread-eagled the ground, twisting like the great backs of sea dinosaurs. The foliage became thick and lush, f

After sunrise, it was a sunny morning in the heart of the Rain Forest.Rick was still tired; he built himself a hammock using a sheet; as he lay down in it, he was sipping from his cup of coffee. Rick had the displeasure of seeing this dangerous creature as it slithered from branch to branch in the tree above him. The deadly serpent was about 6 feet long. It was yellow on the belly and black on the back, and at times, it stuck its forked tongue out and wobbled it in the air. Its movement was as effortless as flowing water pouring itself across the leaves, limbs, and branches. What mechanism of action produced such seamless movement? He did not know what to do, but it was remarkable and striking. Sometimes, it launched on frail limbs that miraculously did not crack under its considerable weight. At other times, it lifted half its body into thin air as it reached for another limb. The snake effortlessly bridged significant gaps that humans with hands and feet would

Waking up, Angela could feel the oak beneath her fingers, the grass beneath her feet, the sun upon her face, and the blazing summer heat. She can smell a storm on the horizon and the moisture in the air. Although she cannot see the clouds, she senses it’s there. She wonders where she is, how she will survive, and look upon her body for tools to stay alive, realizing that she is naked, her skin bare and exposed, alone in the forest; she ponders where are my clothes are and remembers drinking her shots, She saw the path before her and tread in her bare feet, amid the oaks and redwoods, the branches, sticks, and leaves, hearing the sounds of water; the storm was closing fast as the dark cloud folded into a thick foggy cloth around her towering, trees reach to the sky, as lighting flashed brightening up the dark sky. Would lightning strike her down like some wrathful god or crush her beneath a fallen tree in a place where a fairy trod? Where are the nymph

Not all goes as planned; Angela being lost in the woods made her more independent and fearless. She won't forget this experience; as a survivor, her only survival was the flames; she was cold, tired, and hungry.If she is going to spend days out here in the woods, she would have to get enough resources to survive. And there is no giving, or else the perpetrators would get away.Darkness reveals its deepest secrets, which could be a question of life or death. Being cautious, Angela stood up and started collecting wood, anything higher than a meter; she then built a fence around her with a two-millimeter spacing; this was not to protect her from snakes since it was not solid fencing. Any animal could get through it; however, it would give her sufficient time to escape and keep her out of sight of the wild animals in the world. "I would have to go hunting first thing in the morning,” she thought since there was no radiance of light. There was no sign of life. She lo

The road was a smooth black river, the soft wheels floating so effortlessly along and so as the truck made its steady way along. The scenery took on an almost meditative quality, the light igniting the hues of each tree as Angela drove the truck. The shadows of the trees gave shade.The older man had stopped breathing; it felt like hours had passed as the sunset and the sky darkened. Maybe she should not have killed the older man yet, and that can swerve off the road. Angela was confident those guys were dead.She felt sleepy behind the steering wheel as she tried to keep her eyes open. After all, she had barely slept last night; with the thunderstorm and calamity which followed at sunrise, clouds started to thicken. What if she had passed the house? And she would be driving blindly into the middle of nowhere?Angela decided to stop the truck on the side of the road. The dead body of the older man had stiffened. She had to get rid of the body and try to find a m