Thump

I stand in the dark.  Gasping breaths, my own, the only sound besides the drip…drip…dripping of the water smashing onto the cave floor.  My mind races and I twitch with every drip…drip…drip.  I fumble around in my pocket, suddenly remembering my savior.  Clank!  Skitter…drip…drip…drip.  I get down on my knees and feel around.  The flame is my hope, I can’t survive without it.  Clink.  There it is.  Click…click…Please work…click.  The orange glow barely reaches my eyes.  I regret ever finding it.  Clank.  It’s dark again.
My screams are choking me, but I don’t want to make a sound.  My hope is lost; my back hits the wall and the stone scrapes my skin.  I close my eyes.  Drip…drip…splash.  Light bathes my eyelids.  Am I saved?  Crunch.  The darkness returns.  Drip…drip…swish.  Growl.  Drip……drip……snarl.  The drumming of my heart overpowers my ears but I can still hear it.  Scrape…thump…scrape…thump.  Ba-bump…ba-bump…scrape…thump.
Why me?  Ba-bump.  Why now?  Scrape, thump.  I shouldn’t have even been there.  Ba-bump.  It’s not my time.  Scrape.  What is this thing?  Thump.  Why must death haunt me like this?  Ba-bump.  Was this what happened to the others?  Scrape.  What sick person would do this?  Thump.  Is it even a person?  Scrape…ba-bump…thump.  I should be home.  Scrape.  What made me go there?  Ba-bump, thump.  I should be with my family.  Scrape…I…I can’t…this is just a dream; a horrible nightmare.  Thump.  I’ll just wake up at home and I’ll…I’ll…scrape, thump.  Ba-bump…ba-bump……ba-bump………why….