A Collection of Short Stories and Poems
William “Bill” Pratt
(Xlibris NZ, April 22, 2015)
I was splashing in the swampy water, with the rain coming down in bucket fulls, I was trying to locate which was north or south , but the tall trees blocked out the what light there might have been, and with the rain pouring down over me , getting down my neck of my jacket, and no hat on, I was totally wet through. I tried to keep to the narrow pathway, but it twisted and turned so much that I stepped into the swampy water a few times .I was lost, unfortunately. I had been in the swamp , it seemed like for hours, I had no idea how I had got here, the last time my memory remembered anything was driving across the bridge , oh my goodness, it is coming back to me, the middle of the bridge was washed away!, and we plunged down into the swamp!. No wonder I am floundering around in the swamp in the middle of the night.Where is the car, Is a question? I can not see it. How did I get out of the car, is another question? Where the hell am I, is the third question? No one is going to miss me, until I dont turn up for the meeting at Tamauranui, Then they wont have any idea where I might even be, what a predicament.I try to look at my watch as the luminous hands should tell me what time it is, but I find the face is all broken, not much help there. I flounder along and come across a giant of a tree, I look up and see the trunk disappearing into the murky gloom, but I am so tired, I sit down and lean against the trunk , I feel like going to sleep, as my head falls down on to my chest , my mind says, wake up, dont go to sleep, stay focused, have a small rest , but get up and keep working things out. My head aches and when I feel my head I find a large lump on my forehead, no wonder I am in lala land. After what seems like a few hour the rain slows down to a steady drizzle and finally it stops, It becomes lighter , as though the clouds are slowly going away, hopefully I may be able to see something soon, It must be nearly morning. I see a line of fence posts , but when I look closely, the tops of the posts disappear under the water, I wont be following them thats for sure. On the other side of the fence in the distance I can see what looks like an old barn, it looks quite run down, I dont think it will be any good to me. anyway how do I even get over to it. I have run out of time to finish this story, just as well it is fiction!.
