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The air rippled with the sound of my breath, positively shuddered with each intake, quaked with each release. In the still silence of the forest, that sound could mean a lifetime. I clutched my berry basket, hardly daring to move. But I had to, for I would get punished for being out in the forest when the animals turned dangerous at noon. Four small, shriveled blueberries rolled around at the bottom of my basket, causing quite a loud racket. Holding my breath, I took one tentative step at a time. Each tree stretched above me, threatening to be a government spy and swoop down to take me away. The government would kill me if they found out I was out in the forest this late. In 2291, the government found every minor detail in a person’s life a prospecting crime to kill them for. Mine was being out in the forest so late, when the animals became the government’s eyes. Almost there, just one more step after another, that’s it, go on. And there it finally was. The bush that had an abundance of berries, the one that I had thought was a government spy because it was so lush. I now picked my way over to it, careful not to tread on that one spot with the bright dirt on it that was so obviously a trap from the government. As I made my slow progress toward the bush, I realized how far away I really was. That bush was a lifetime away, trapped in another world where fruit grew big and ripe, where animals were just animals, and where quietness wasn’t a good thing. I began to go a little faster. And then a little faster, and a little faster, and a little faster. Soon I was hop-walking up to it. Faster, faster faster, have to get there before the sun struck noon, this is do or die. Now I was jogging. Even faster, the sun is chiming, have to get to the bush. Now I was sprinting, tears rolling down my face. The sun struck the second time. Hurry up, almost there! And that’s when I made the single biggest mistake of my life. I tripped. The ground came up to meet me with a crack, my head hit a rock, and suddenly the world was spinning and all fuzzy around the edges. I got to my feet, staggering around like a – well, nothing staggered around like I was just then, because nothing was stupid enough to trip. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Bad idea. The world was now dancing in front of me, some parts disappearing and then reappearing in a completely different place. I cried out with the pain. The sun chimed a fifth time. My head was bleeding. I held my head in my hands and blinked a few times. That seemed to do the trick for now. At least I could focus. The sun chimed a seventh time. I looked up, and saw a large figure lumbering towards me from some part of the forest. As it came closer, it roared a great, low roar, and I realized what it was. A bear. Of course it was a bear, at noon, when the animals turned. It was now only a few feet away. There it stopped and surveyed me. The sun chimed a ninth time. I needed to get out of here, now. But somehow, I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed with fear, the shriveled blueberries in my basket rolling around pathetically, with nowhere to go and no purpose anymore. The sun chimed a tenth time. I tried to get my legs to move but they stayed right where they were, determined to get me killed. The sun struck the eleventh time. The bear stepped a little closer and cocked its head to one side, curious at the sight of me. Obviously I was too scrawny to eat. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I found that I was pleading with the bear, begging it not to turn murderous and to just lumber back on its way to wherever it was going.
The sun struck twelve.
At first the bear looked normal, still cocking its head and wondering what is with this girl just standing here, petrified. And then it froze, its head rotated back to upright in a mechanical manner, and the thing I dreaded happened: its pupils grew, they covered the soft brown eyes and the living being trapped inside it, they covered it with black ink, stained it with their darkness. I was now staring at two black, shining eyes, filled with a coldness of not living. Its jaw opened mechanically, and a bone-chilling child’s voice spoke in a singsong manner, “You are not welcome here.”
And then it pounced.

Please comment if you'd like!

... I like it!

I know it's kind of dark and twisted and confusing, but it's supposed to be mysterious!

... I like the other one better. I get the plot in The Day The Sun Died, but this one... eh, not so much. You're a good author!

I really like it. It is mysterious and a good short story. You have enough facts to make sense and that is enough. Well done.

Aww, thanks!

I really like it!!