The Mudflats by Fear359 (f, qs, grim?) Kelly woke up and looked around her room at all the boxes she still needed to unpack, and she swore under her breath. "God, why did we have to move to Anchorage for, anyway?" She knew the answer to that question. Her father was offered a job up here, and the money was good, so he moved his family to the last frontier of Alaska. Kelly begged and pleaded to stay back in Flordia. She had already made plans to stay with her best friend Kathy but her parents said "No". And now she was stuck in the land of long cold winters and snow so deep that it seemed like it would never leave. Thank God it was summer, if you could call it that. It was 66 degrees outside, a heat wave. Kelly had to laugh at that one. She got out of bed and jumped in the shower. When she got out of shower she got dressed and thought, that she would go see this city called Anchorage. When she got downstairs her mother was getting ready to go for a job interview and asked what Kelly was going to do today. "Well, Mom, I thought that I would go see the sights of the city. Maybe check out the mall or go see a movie. I really don't know." Her mother said that she was sorry that they had to move, "but your father needs to make more money so we can send you to college. I hope that you understand that he is only thinking of you." Kelly knew that her father loved her and that he wanted to send her to a good college, but it still hurt that she had to leave all her friends and come here. "I know, Mom. It's just hard, that's all. But I'll be alright." Her mom gave her a hug, and with that she was out the door and gone, leaving Kelly in the house all by herself. Kelly got a glass of milk and a couple pieces of toast and thought, 'What the hell am I gonna do today? At least I have a car, that's something. At least I can drive around and see this city.' So she grabbed her car keys and walked out the door. When the cold air hit her she got goosebumps and said, "Yeah, right! A heat wave!" and she went back into the house and went upstairs. She put on a pair of blue jeans, a long sleeve shirt and her favorite Nikes. And she went back downstairs and was on her way. Anchorage wasn't that bad, she thought. At least it was big, and there were things to do. She stopped at one of the malls and did some shopping, had lunch and even met a few boys. At least Alaska had them, so it wouldn't be too bad. She had been driving most of the day and wanted to just take a walk and feel the sun on her face like she used to do in Florida. So she stopped at a gas station and asked the man inside, if there was anywhere that people could take a walk and be by themselves. The man told her that the best place to hike or take a walk was "Earthquake Park". "Earthquake what?" Once again the man said, "Earthquake Park. The big quake in the 60's ripped it up pretty good, and that's where it got it's name from." Kelly thought, 'What the hell!' and asked for directions to the place, and she left. When she got there she couldn't believe it. There was a story of the whole thing, and as she stood there and read it she just could not comprehend it. "An earthquake did this? Oh my God! I hope that it doesn't happen while I'm here!" And with that she took off down the trail. It was so beautiful she couldn't believe it. The ocean was so close that you could almost touch it. There were people walking their dogs, running, roller blading, and just walking. She just wanted to be by herself for a while, so she sat down on a bench and thought for a while. When she looked up there was no one around and then she got up. When she looked to her left she saw a small trail going through the trees. So she took off down the trail. It started to slope downwards, and the ground was getting soft. Kelly almost fell twice before she got to the bottom of the trail, and when she did get there she saw the two cutest little baby moose that she had ever seen. In fact they were the very first two that she had seen. She knew that their mother couldn't be too far away, so she thought that she would get off the trail and wait for them all to leave, so she could go on. Well after about 20 minutes the two little ones were still there, and Kelly was starting to get upset, so she picked up a rock and was going to throw it at them, but then at the last minute thought, 'Better I'll just go back the way I came,' and started to go back up the hill, when she heard this sound. So she turned around, and there was the mother moose just looking at her. "Don't worry, Mom! I'm not going to hurt you or your babies. I'm just out for a walk." Kelly felt stupid for talking to the moose, because she knew that the moose did not understand. Then without warning the mother moose came at her full speed. Fear kept Kelly from moving, and then it clicked in her brain. "Kelly! Move, or you are gonna die!" Kelly jumped off the trail and started weaving in and out of the trees, trying to get away from psycho mother moose and find her way back to her car. After about 5 minutes she jumped behind a very thick tree and waited. She had to stop; she was out of breath and very tired. Kelly looked from around the tree and the moose was still there, so she picked up a very big stick and stepped out from behind the tree and let it fly. It hit the moose right on the head, and it just stood there and just looked at Kelly, and she thought, "Oh great! A stand off!" Then the mother moose came at her again. "Oh, Christ! Not again!" Kelly bolted like the wind with the moose right behind her and closing fast. The woods were thinning out, and Kelly knew that she would have to find cover, or the moose would get her for sure. When she got to the break in the woods she was looking at the inlet of Anchorage. The tide was out, and this was her only means of escape. So Kelly ran down the small slope and took off like a bat out of hell. When the moose came down the hill it watched her run for a minute or so and then started after Kelly again. 'The tide had been out for about two hours,' Kelly thought, because the mud had a very thin layer of dried mud on top, but with her running on it, it was cracking and she kept falling in the mud. Kelly had to hit the brakes real quick, because in front of her was a very wide gully. It was about 15 feet across, and 9 feet deep. When Kelly turned around the moose was less than 30 yards away and closing fast. The mud wasn't that deep, and she had lived in Florida and had been in some real soft clinging mud in her time. And she thought that she would run down the gully and come up on the other side. So Kelly went down in the gully, and when she got to the bottom and tried to come up on the other side she found that the side of the gully was cold, wet, clinging mud. The more she tried to climb out the more she sank into it. Then she heard that cry again, and when she turned around the mother moose was just standing there looking at her. Kelly knew that she was dead and just waited for the moose to come down and finish her off. But the moose did something that Kelly was not expecting: it turned and walked away. Kelly stood there and just cried, and after about 5 minutes she knew that she had to find a way out of this pit. The mud was soft but not that bad, so she figured out. The ocean was to her right, and so she went left, hoping that would lead her back to the park. The more she walked on the more the mud gave way. It was like walking in glue, Kelly thought, and she knew that if she stopped she might get stuck, and that would not be good. She thought that she had been walking for hours, but it was only like 20 minutes when she came a turn in the gully, and when she came around it, there was the park about 50 yards away. "Thank God! This nightmare is almost over!" She started walking again and then, without warning, her left foot sank in the mud, and she couldn't pull it out, no matter how hard she tried. Kelly could feel the suction of the mud clamp down on her leg, and to get a better grip she put her right foot down about a foot behind her. 'I don't need to get the other one stuck too!' So when Kelly pulled at her left foot it finally came out with a very sick slopping sound, and then her right foot went in, and she got very pissed and had to find somewhere to put her left foot. So she took a chance and put it behind her and began to pull on her right foot. It took about 5 minutes to get her foot out but she got it back. Now Kelly stood there thinking, 'How in the world am I gonna get back?' Then she got an idea. 'If I climb the side of this gully far enough I get over that soft spot.' So she started climbing the sides of the gully. The mud was soft and clinging but all Kelly wanted was to get home and take a hot shower. She had gone about 20 feet and thought that the worst of it was over, so she slowly started back down. And when she put her right foot down to test the ground her left foot slipped on the silty ground and she came down harder than she wanted to, and her right leg went in up to her knee. Then her left leg followed. As she tried to get herself out she found that the mud was slowly sucking her in. That's when she forgot about everything and started pumping her long strong legs for all it was worth, but it only drove her in deeper. The muck had Kelly up to her chest. When she knew that she wasn't going to get out without some help she started calling for help. "Somebody, please!" Kelly tried one more time to free herself from her quicksand trap. She put her right arm in the mud to pull her leg free and then the other. But as she tried to pull her arm back out she found out that it was stuck, too. Now crying beyond control, Kelly knew that it was only a matter of moments before she would be gone, sucked in by an inlet of soft deadly mud. Kelly tilted her head back and looked up at the sky for the last time, and she knew that she didn't want to come to this stupid state called Alaska. And with that last thought on her mind she sank all the way into the mudflats.