Free Rushed by Brian Harmon Page A

entirely.  But the sun still shined brightly in the sky and nothing more sinister than the architectural deathtrap waited to claim him. 
    Eighty feet above the surface of the water, the bridge was clearly the product of an evil and deranged mind. 
    Gingerly stepping out onto the planks, he felt it immediately begin to sway beneath his weight.  The crows took flight, apparently smart enough to know the makings of a disaster when they saw it. 
    It was frightening as hell.  Yet even as he eased his weight out onto it, he realized he had done this all before. 
    In his dream. 
    At least he knew he was going the right way.  Now he only hoped that he wouldn’t get out over the middle of this gorge and suddenly recall that his dream ended with him plummeting to his death. 
    Although heights generally didn’t bother him much, it was already clear that he was going to make an exception in this case.
    Not feeling any giddy urges to run out and jump up and down, he stalled a moment by studying the transformed landscape around him.  But this turned out to be a poor decision as he had barely surveyed the trees behind him when he caught sight of a creature watching him from the cover of the brush. 
    “You’ve got to be kidding me…” Eric breathed. 
    The thing was still too far away to see clearly, but it resembled a cross between a coyote and a deer.  It had short, powerful-looking legs, a long neck and a blunt tail.  Its head looked too large for the rest of its body and it appeared to be covered in blotchy, gray fur.  It was clearly far more agile than the nightmare livestock he’d observed while passing through the barn.  Even as he watched, it stalked closer to him, one paw after the other, oversized head low to the ground. 
    The thing was not even remotely familiar.  For some reason, it had not been there in his dream.  He’d set out across the bridge without seeing anything more frightening than the bridge itself. 
    He didn’t like that the creature was new.  New was bad.  New was unpredictable.  New meant that he couldn’t rely solely on his dream to get him through this ordeal.
    Obviously, he was done procrastinating.  He turned back to the unpleasant task at hand, gripped the thick cables and began making his way across. 
    Almost immediately, he was impressed by how utterly terrifying the experience was.  The whole structure swayed beneath him, tilting him left and right with each step, threatening to tip him over the edge and send him speeding toward the water below with far less poise and grace than an Olympic high diver and at least as much noise as a terrified teenage girl in a Halloween haunted house. 
    About a third of the way across, he risked a look back. 
    The creature had advanced, but it wasn’t stalking him across the bridge.  Instead, it was busily sniffing the path where he’d walked, studying his scent. 
    Maybe it wasn’t interested in a snack.  Maybe it was only curious about him. 
    Or maybe it just liked to smell its food before every meal. 
    He sensed that this was neither the time nor the place for reckless optimism.  He turned his eyes back to the planks in front of him and continued across the bridge.  The closer he crept toward the middle, the more the bridge moved beneath him.  He could feel every faint breeze that blew past. 
    Glancing back again, he saw that the creature was sitting at the end of the bridge, watching him. 
    It was probably waiting for him to fall.  That would save it the trouble of catching him.  And the impact would likely tenderize his flesh nicely.  Yummy. 
    Or perhaps it was just waiting for his clumsy ass to reach the other side so it could cross without him shaking the bridge to pieces from under them both. 
    Carefully and far too slowly, Eric made his way past the middle of the bridge.  He could hear the planks creaking, threatening to snap. 
    He didn’t like this at all.  His heart was racing.  His hands ached from