"Prairie Abyss" by Sci3nce

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Prairie Abyss
Demetrius V. Archibald

(Sci3nce)

Summary:
A man wakes up in an infinite grassland completely unbeknownst to him. He is left to rely on his strength and wits to survive nature's tight grasp.

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I woke up in what could only be described as pitch blackness. All light was absent from view, my very own hand was, as far as I was aware, non-existent. My head throbbed with pain, coming, then going, periodically.
I pressed my hands against the soft,

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moist soil, carpeted by a blanket of grass. My hands slipped amongst the cold, wet dew, almost losing my grip and failing to complete a task as simple as rising up.
My eyes began to adjust to the inky blackness, until I could make out my remote

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surroundings. Several rocks and leaves scattered across the swarth, and a night sky shone overhead with not a single star in view.
Far from my standpoint was a beam of light shooting down from the heavens. I got my bearings and stepped cautiously

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towards the light. It led to a large area of illumination, a woodlands lit brilliantly by the stars.
I looked back to where I was, in between densely packed trees, leaves obscuring the night sky from view.
It looked to be about 5 AM, from what I could

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tell.

Chapter 2
Faraway

I began to realize just how harsh and unforgiving mother nature was. My pounding in my head had stopped and I had fully regained my sanity, and my situation

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seemed much more apparent to me; and it was dire. Dawn had already broke, and my hunger was great. My throat was dry, and with every step I took I grew one moment closer to death.
It was right after I walked through a thick bush when I found a plain,

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covered in plants sprouting from the ground. Several unfamiliar white flowers blossomed from the ground. With what little options I had, I plucked one and ate it. It tasted sour, but bitter. As much as I didn't want to, I knew that my life depended on the

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vile plant. So I ate them, until only four remained in the ground. My hunger was satisfied, but I began to sweat in anxiety, worried of what tragedy the flower would bring upon me. Was it poisonous? I had not a single clue.

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I eventually found a stream, and I used the same tactic as I did for the flower; go for it, regardless of fear.
So I sipped from it. The water was cool and smooth, incredibly refreshing.

Chapter 3
No Way Out

It soon became

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my aspirations of leaving the grassland were short lived. I didn't know how I got there; I didn't know how I would get out.

Before night fell, I made a camp, rather, a pile of leaves as well as a metal pot I'd found half-buried in the dirt.

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I knew that I wouldn't be getting sleep that night. The overwhelming feeling of being watched by the forest' eyes overcame me. I looked around, paranoid, for hours.
I'd just about collapsed from exhaustion when I heard a rustling in the bushes.

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I got up in an instant, my eyes jolting open as I looked around me, readying my pot as a weapon.
The rustling came closer, as the crunching of leaves grew louder. Finally, the bushes leaves were spread apart, and I raised the pot, not daring to look.

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I heard a few quick steps strafe left of me, as whatever the figure was dodged my attack.
I now held the pot with two hands, barely able to keep my two feet planted in the ground via my sleep-deprived haziness.
A light shone from the figures hand. Fire.

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I soon realized that I was looking at only a small wicker, that of a lighter, held by a smooth, gloved hand.
I looked up at it's face. His face. It was another human, about two inches below my face.
I was seeing a living corpse. Blood stained its pale,

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white face. It's rotted black lips, its messy black hair, pointing in all directions.

The lighter turned off, and I was once again met with blackness.

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End of part one.