《Escape》莱芜道府

1、Chapter 1 Haunt

　　When I woke up, I thought I was in a heap of ruins. But soon I realized that it was not actually a ruin because the surrounded scene didn't seem like the traditional concept of “ruins” that people usually talked about. In fact, it was an unimpeded sweep of hills.
　　I tried many times to stand up but in vain, and found myself lack the capability of walking around for a while, let alone passing through the seemingly interminable hills. A sudden fear struck me. Since I had barely waken up, I didn’t even know what situation I was in, but one voice in my mind told me that the way out wouldn't be easy.
　　I was almost beaten by that voice. Just think about it, what if there’d never been a way out? What if I couldn’t hold on until I find the way? And most importantly, I didn't remember why and how I came here. Was there anybody out there watching me struggling my life as an experiment? Or just for fun I shook my head, hoping to forget all the horrible thoughts that frustrated me.
　　At that moment I thought about my children at home who were still waiting for me to bring food for them, and they would surround me like fluffy little puppies, telling me how much they missed me during the day. Suddenly I seemed to have the courage I need. “I must go home, and I’m not going to die here!” I told myself again and again.
　　I calmed myself down, and I knew the first thing I should do was to make sure if I was wounded or not. I checked myself carefully, and found several bruises on my ankles, and that was all. The only thing I was worried about was my spinning head. It seemed as if I had lost my cerebellum and therefore lost the ability to recognize directions. But apart from that, the bruise on my ankles was all I got. The result gave me much confidence that I knew that once I recovered from the dizzy spells, I would definitely get away from here.
　　Now that I knew my situation, I felt much more relaxed. The next thing I did was to find out where I was. I looked around, and found four black hills around me. The hills weren't tall, and if I stood up I could see the top of it. However, one interesting thing was that the four little black hills looked just the same. It seemed to me that each of them was more of a huge and accurately made brick than a natural hill. That was just a guess, but when I saw the foot of the hills, I was almost convinced that the hills must be something man-made: there was a ray of light breaking through the rifted ground on the bottom part of the hills, shining continuously towards the sky. I was certain that there must be something special—or dangerous—under the ground, no wonder people would make so many black hills, serving as the function of a cork, to prevent those things from coming up on the ground. I was shocked, but soon I refrained myself from thinking deeper and deeper because I knew the story parents always told their children that curiosity can kill. Now that I was in an uncertain situation, I would definitely not bother myself with something more dangerous. All that I needed to do was to find the way out.
　　After sitting for a while, I felt much better, and I knew it was time to set off. I stood up slowly and looked around, but what I could see was an endless stretch of these strange hills. I walked towards that endless end for about forever, and at the moment I almost lost my courage, I saw a vertical cliff in front of me. It seemed that the cliff was covered with a layer of mirror on its surface that it could reflect my face clearly. At that time I had only two choice, the first was to go back into the endless hills and find other ways out, which was almost impossible for I had no idea if there was another exit or not, and even if there was another way out, I was afraid that I couldn't cope with the labyrinth-like route. So apparently, I had to choose the second one, which was to climb up onto the cliff.
　　The smooth surface wouldn\\\\\\\'t scare me away, because it was not so difficult to climb for such a small creature like me. What I needed to do was to keep moving my legs and hands, and the hope of getting away encouraged me a lot that I didn't even feel tired.
　　Suddenly, as I climbed up, a harsh glare of light reflected on the cliff’s surface. I stopped at once because that light was so familiar to me, even if I couldn't recollect my memory yet, I still felt a sense of happiness as the light flashed on the surface. There was an instinct inside me to chase after the glowing light, but I knew it was not a proper time to get closer to it, since I needed to go up. I put my hand on my forehead, hoping to relax myself, but meanwhile, I suddenly got my lost memory back.
　　It was that light, that glowing light, which attracted me when I was on my way home as usual. But that unusual light was so attractive to me that I couldn't help flying to it, and then… then I lost my consciousness and fell into this creepy place! That light, whatever it was, was not a good thing. I withdrew my eyes from it, took a deep breath and kept climbing.
　　Several minutes later, suddenly, I felt a slight tremble from below the cliff. There was a sense of horror hanging over my mind because somehow I knew there would be something bad happening, and sure enough it did. Slowly the cliff began to topple over, as if it couldn't withstand my weight anymore. I looked back, and saw the ground getting closer and closer. I suddenly realized that I would be smashed within 10 seconds, and I must find ways to get out as soon as possible.
　　I looked around and found that it would take about two minutes to climb onto the top of the cliff, but the way to the left edge of the cliff was not that far, since I started my journey from near the left side of the cliff. I instantly decided that I should go the left way to the other side of the cliff in case of being smashed by the ground.
　　There was nothing in my mind but a voice saying: quicker! I moved as fast as I could, and soon I saw the edge of the cliff: it was just a hand away! But unfortunately the cliff was faster: I could feel the ground on my back, and there was no time for me to get to the other side! ‘I’m going to die here.’ That voice kept reminding me the desperate situation, and at that moment I almost lost all the courage and faith in this world.
　　So I let go.
　　I jumped from the left side of the cliff into the endless bottom, hearing the sound of the wind and my heart beating, and… and then I stepped on the ground, safely.
　　The cliff finally toppled over on the ground the instant I jumped. The huge sound was stunning, but for me, it was an agreeably bell ring, telling me that I had survived.
　　I dared not stay here or look back, so I ran away at once.