Prompt: Diverted Flight

Into the trees, you crash and spin
the limbs cut ribbons into your skin.
You claw at the branches, your fingers rubbed bare
but there’s nothing to grab onto but air.

The ground rushes toward you at impossible speed
bright roses greet you, immune to your needs.
Their blood-red blossoms bow and sway
already prepared for your inevitable grave.

A sharp pain pulls against your chest
bones snap and your lungs protest
Your fall has ended but the pain only spreads
too late it comes, and you’re filled with dread.

Your parachute caught up high in the trees
You’ll soon be a dead man swaying in the breeze.
Saved from a fall that was sure to kill
The ground won’t finish you, but dehydration will.

You reach for your dagger to cut yourself free
but frown as your vision blurs; you can barely see
A few broken ribs are the least of your fears
regret fills you as you realize this is real.

A voice in the distance sparks up some hope
but your breath cannot seem to escape your throat.
Something slick slips silently from your fingertips,
the knife hits the earth, a curse on your lips.

They’re searching for you, down far below
but you can already feel yourself letting go
A gust of wind, and you’re lost in the trees,
and all because of a poorly timed breeze.

The knife will be found long before the body;
the fool who leaped without researching his hobby.

Want to read more Drabbles? Click here.

I post a new Drabble (almost) every Wednesday at Noon ET. Click Follow on the right to get weekly updates.

Originally posted on Typetrigger. Fiction in 300 words or less. Please pardon typos or grammatical errors. See sidebar for copyright information.