3 The Boulder Man

Sophie stepped back and weighed out her options first.

Should she call the hospital first?

Should she call the sheriff?

Or should she call the funeral service?

Ugh!

"But I still need to deliver these jellies!" She stomped on her feet as she got confused on what to do first.

She looked around but no one aside from her, her bike with jellies and this lifeless man were there.

What if she became the primary suspect of the first ever murder case in their village?

What if it was a set up all along?

What if the killer was still around and was waiting to attack her too?

What if she died there too?

She held her neck like she was choking and started having much weirder thoughts in her mind.

"This can't be!"

Sophie went back to her bike and grabbed something from her purse.

She stepped back again and vigilantly examined the surrounding.

"Is someone out there? Come out now and I'll fight you head on!" she bravely coaxed towards the quiet forest swinging her pen.

Idiot!

What can a mere pen do against an armed man if ever there is one hiding in there?

Whatever! She heard sometime before that a pen can also work as a weapon.

"Come out now!"

She waited. Her arms still swinging in midair as if she was someone who mastered a little martial art.

God! She didn't even know Kung Fu.

Five minutes had past and she was still alone with the boulder man.

She rolled her eyes and climbed back to where the man was lying.

"If there's a god, please help ME live. I don't want to die here." She uttered before she touched the side of his neck and felt his pulse.

She blinked and felt his neck again.

He's still alive!

He looked at his exposed chest and saw it slowly moved up and down.

The boulder man is still breathing.

"I better call the sheriff."

...

Alistair reached the end of his rope but was still unsure how deep the ravine was. He clung to one of the branches near him and tested its strength. Once guaranteed that it could hold his weight, he swung in a swift motion and shifted his weight onto the branch.

He pulled down the branch to test it further and smiled when it seemed steady to be his new anchor.

He took out a shorter rope from his satchel and tied it around the branch while the other end around his waist. Then he untied the first rope around his waist and tied it tightly around the same branch.

It's a good thing that he brought another rope with him.

The stream down the ravine must also be nearer as the sound of water flowing becomes stronger.

After testing the rope's durability, in one swing, he jumped down the ravine again.

He rappelled down the cliff once again as the rope tightened around his waist.

"Just a few feet away, Alistair. You're close to your freedom."

Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he hit a large rock bulging in the middle of the cliff. He avoided it and swung to the left side of the cliff. He continued climbing down when he heard something cracked from above. He moved slowly but the crackling sound continued. It must have been the branch bending due to his weight. When he made another move pushing down, he heard a loud cracking sound and a swinging branch fell on top of his face.

"Aw! Sh*t!!!"

It hit the side of the ravine before it fell just right above him, a few inches suspended above his head.

He thought of grabbing it on his arm but they might end up dropping a hundred foot down the stream. He swung to the other side to grab anything around but there was nothing there. Besides, he couldn't see anything apart from the little flicker of light from a village a few miles away.

He was still lucky he got another rope tied to the tree on top of the cliff that he could hold onto while still suspended in midair.

He rested for a while thinking of ways how to get out of his freaky situation.

If he untied the rope on his waist, he'll go totally guide less and with one wrong footing he could crash down towards the stream below. He could be injured or dead.

If he stuck with the rope, the branch above him will fall and crush his head, ultimately killing him.

He chose the former.

As he started untying the rope on his waist, he heard a loud snap from the top of the ravine.

In an instant, his rope loosened and the next thing he knew, he was falling fast like a ton of bricks onto the stream.

Before he hit the water, he saw a flickering light from the top of the ravine and shadows of two man.

"Damned!"

…

"Thank you, Doctor."

Sophie returned inside the room after the doctor checked on the unknown man whom she found two hours ago in the forest.

She looked at his miserable condition. A huge bandage covered his head and almost half of his face. His casted left leg was elevated and tied to the bottom end of the bed due to some fractures he sustained because of his fall. His right arm was in a cast too.

"How pitiful. What really happened to you, boulder man?" she asked the sleeping man thoughtlessly.

She sat on a chair beside his bed and took a closer look on him. Her elbow leaning on his bedside, she dreamily stared at his sleeping face.

He got bushy brows and thick eyelashes like that of a hot-tempered emperor. The type which seemed bossy and very demanding.

Hmm…

His nose is pointed like that of a hawk. They say that people with this kind of nose are unafraid to stand out as the odd one. Very independent people, they live their lives on their own, who do not get themselves easily influenced by others and happily chase and live their lives and dreams.

"I wonder if that applies to you, too."

Her eyes turned to his shapely thin red lips. It was as moist as the morning dew.

How was that even possible?

She winced as she noticed her fingers giving light and soft feather-like brushes over his soft manly lips.

She held her hand firmly.

"What are you doing, stupid hand?" she tapped her hand and reprimanded herself.

But her hand disobeyed her and gently traced his strong jawline. An early growth of rough stubbles made him more attractive.

Wait!

She tapped her hand once again.

"What am I thinking?" she kidnapped her own hand and hid it on her back. She gazed at his calm sleeping aura.

"Not bad, boulder man. Not bad."

She continued gazing at his handsome face until she fell asleep on his bedside.

"Let me dream for a while…just for a while." she whispered before her eyes shut.