A Long Five Minutes

A rebel by the name of Eric was fleeing a group of pursuing guards, and managed to hide in a nearby cabin that he found when running through a forest. He had been sending messages between rebel groups for months now and had managed to evade detection from the authorities up until a day prior. He had no idea how he was discovered, but for him, that was something he could think about another time. As of right now, he badly needed a place to hide from the pursuing guards who wanted him dead.

“If they capture me, I will be lucky to be hanged,” thought Eric to himself, “I will more likely be fed to dogs who will tear me apart piece by piece.” “Not to say the obvious, but I would very much like to avoid that fate.” As he entered the, he had the good fortune that it was unlocked as he fiercely looked around for any place he could hide.

As he looked to the left of him, he found a sink and just from looking at it, he could tell that the cabinet beneath it had enough space for him to hide. “This will have to do,” said Eric, “I will need to wait until reinforcements arrive.” Eric had been told earlier that rebel forces were coming to rescue him, and in his mind, he just needed to remain hidden for a few minutes so that they could save him while he was still alive.

Eric then quickly pushed everything in the cabinet to the left side, so that he would have enough room to hide. “Hopefully this will be enough for me to last until reinforcements come to get me,” thought Eric, “otherwise, I will be dog food the moment the guards find me.” Eric huddled into the cabinet and was barely able to close the door with him inside. It was only seconds later when a guard with a ferocious-looking war hound arrived looking for him.

“Are you here maggot,” shouted the guard, “there is a large bounty on your head and I intend to collect every coin by bringing you to justice.” “After that, you will be a delicious meal for our hounds. They haven’t eaten in days, and to them your flesh will be like a delicacy to them.” The guard cruelly laughed as he made the announcement with Eric biting his hand to prevent himself from shouting in panic.

“What am I going to do,” said Eric to himself, “I guess that I have no other choice, but to sit still and hope that my friends know where I am.” The guard then walked around the cabin looking at the cupboard and tables, assuming that they would be the first place that Eric would think to hide in. The guard then muttered as his first attempts in finding the rebel proved fruitless as all he found were rusty pots and pans.

“I will tell you what,” said the guard, “if you come out right now, instead of killing you, I will let you rot in a prison cell for the rest of your life.” The guard said that while laughing the entire time, making it hard for anyone to take that statement seriously. Eric, of course, knew that he shouldn’t believe him and remained quiet as the guard continued to stomp around, trying to find Eric by throwing around chairs and pans.

“Alright, so you don’t believe me,” said the guard, “find I promise that I will let you live in a prison cell for the rest of your life.” “So that you would believe me, I will place a hundred gold coins on it. If I do not do that, you can have them.” Again, Eric was unconvinced by the words of the guard and continued to remain quiet as a mouse while he frustratedly walked around the cabin.

“Fine, you want to play this way,” said the guard, “you asked for it.” “I will bring in my dog, and I promise you, he won’t be nearly as forgiving as I am.” The war hound had been tied to a post outside of the cabin. The entire time it was outside, it had been barking and trying to chase anything and everything that had moved from the birds to even leaves that had been moved by the wind.

The guard then untied the dog and brought him into the cabin. It had a coat of fur as black as night, and had a bark more terrifying than any roar that Eric had heard, including lions and wolves. “Have fun with the dog,” said the guard, “I will be here to enjoy the show. The hound then began sniffing everywhere in the cabin, starting with the door and began to make its way to the back of the cabin. Eric was in the middle area, and began to sweat as he could see the dog begin to move towards him.

“Please,” thought Eric, “this cannot be the end.” “Even in my worst nightmares, I don’t think I could envision anything as bad as this.” The dog began to make its way to the cabinet where Eric was, but luckily for the rebel, the dog was distracted by a mouse that was scurrying by, causing it to chase it and maul it into dozens of pieces when it had captured it. Eric was able to see what had happened to the mice through a hole in the cabinet, and his entire body began to shake as he witnessed the nightmare inflicted by the war hound.

“That’s enough for now,” said the guard, “go back to looking for the rebel.” The guard then grabbed the dog by the collar and pulled him off the mouse carcass, and then pointed it towards the area where it still hadn’t searched. The dog then obediently went in that direction and began to close in on where Eric was. Eric began to chew his shirt in an effort to avoid screaming.

Finally, when the dog reached where Eric was, it confirmed to the guard that he was there. “Finally, I am going to enjoy tearing you into a million pieces,” said the guard with a nightmarish laugh. As the guard approached the cupboard, however, arrows began to fly in his direction as three of them managed to hit him in the head with two of them hitting the war hound. Eric sighed in relief after hearing that.

“I knew that one day,” said Eric to himself, “my luck had to improved and it finally did.”