Blue Fire

Jane's head hurt terribly. A dull thumping pounded through her temple. Oh god, she must be dead. Her eyes opened slightly, bright light streamed in, and her brain screamed for her to shut her eyes again. She obeyed. She was aware other parts of her body were in pain as she tried to move her limbs. The lower part of Jane's body was submerged in water; it lapped gently around her waist. Her head was pressed against the dirt. Not sure where she was, Jane forced open her eyes. Despite the pain, she looked around. She was in a cave, the ceiling reaching a few meters above and about five meters wide. Her right leg throbbed; it must have been bruised during the fall. Oh god, she had fallen. Last night. She must have been unconscious all night in this underground pool.


Drawing herself to her knees, Jane slowly crawled towards the light of the cave's entrance. Cripes, she must have a concussion, her head throbbed more as she finally came out of the mouth of the cave. "Have to get back to the van," she told herself. She'd use her mobile phone to call for help. Jane glanced briefly around. Nothing looked familiar. How far had she fallen, she wondered. Should she go up or down the hill? She couldn't think.


She slid her legs around until they came out in front of her. The pain in her right side was bad. She whimpered and lifted up her shirt slightly to see if she was bleeding. A huge purplish, yellow bruise marred her whole right side. Jane was no medic but had seen enough hospital TV shows to know she was injured internally. She needed to get to a hospital. She wasn't sure how much more of this pain she could take. But she had to. Jane needed to keep going, didn't she? Her life depended on it.


"Friggen wallabies!" She muttered. Never again would she try to help a hurt animal. Cursing the wallaby gave her a bit of strength. Bracing herself, she stood up. Pain shot down her side. Whimpering, she grabbed onto the rock beside her. Jane made a decision. Down. She was going down. There had to be houses somewhere at the base of the mountain. She had seen them driving up. Any climbing would probably make her injuries worse.


Jane waited for the pain to subside before taking several steps forward; she reached out to grip onto a nearby tree then spied the next tree she could hang on to. A white one with blue leaves. Taking another two steps, Jane reached out for it. "Aauugh!" the pain brought tears to her eyes. She panted and waited for the pain to ease.


White tree, blue leaves? What? She looked up at the odd tree she now clung too. At no time in her life had Jane ever seen a tree like this. The bark was soft beneath her fingers, the bristle-like leaves a silvery-blue. Wow. Had she discovered a new species of plant while lost in the great Tasmanian wilderness? The headlines flashed in her mind.


Fat cleaning lady finds new exotic Tasmanian plant before dying of exposure


"Friggen, brilliant!" Jane muttered aloud. "Come on, girl." Talking aloud gave her some more strength to keep going. "Live to get on the front cover of National Geographic," Jane launched herself forward once again.


The game of grab and hold onto a tree, rest then keep going tired Jane's body quickly. She was not as fit as she would like to have been. Her cleaning business had done wonders to help her lose weight, as cleaning involved lots of physical labour. Jane called her jobs exercise routines. She had lost ten pounds from her former self. It was a great motivator to keep on going at it. Jane had dropped two dress sizes, going from a size eighteen to a fourteen. But she still felt fat, unattractive. She had given up hope of ever being skinny the day she first tasted chocolate. She was too addicted to chocolate biscuits, yummy lollies, coconut balls, and chocolate crackles. Gaawwd, at twenty eight would she never grow up?


Jane braced herself again. Trying hard to ignore the pain ripping through her side and the throbbing in her head, Jane pressed on.


The thought of the food had made Jane's stomach rumble. Oh great! Now she was hungry? Her mouth was dry and her throat parched. What time was it anyway? She looked down at her wrist watch. It wasn't there. The darn thing must have snapped off in the fall.


A noise caught Jane's attention. She froze, stilling her breathing in order to hear better. She listened. Nothing. Hairs pricked up on the back of Jane's neck. Someone or something was out there.


"Hello? Oh god is there anyone there?" Her gaze darted round hoping for signs of something, anything. Jane couldn't take it any longer. She cried out in despair.


"Help!" She croaked. "Please, someone help me!" She yelled louder on the last word. Then stopped, listened…. nothing but the sound of her heart pounding in her chest. Footsteps. Someone was there! Relief flooded though her as she sagged against the tree. She called out again. Another moment ticked by.


A wave of dizziness hit Jane. She groaned, dropping her head down. She heard footsteps on the leaf-covered ground. She couldn't raise her head. Trying madly to combat another wave of dizziness, Jane lost her grip on the tree. She fell. She was falling. But the impact of the ground never came. Someone had caught her, hadn't they?


Jane felt safe. Yes, she had been rescued. Someone was talking; a deep, rich, husky baritone. She opened her eyes slowly, wanting to see the owner of such a vibrantly masculine voice. She looked up at her dark and devastatingly handsome rescuer. Piercing dark eyes; black eyes like the depths of the night. They were unlike anything she'd ever seen before. I'm delirious, she thought. But what a nice delirium to be in. Jane could fight it no longer; exhaustion and pain were taking their toll on her battered body. She again slipped into a dark unconsciousness.