Novel & Cerita I M Already Standing On The Ground

Then, all at once, the ground beneath me cracked. I didn’t even have time t o scream. I just fell. Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000156 EndHTML:0001910851 StartFragment:0000000469 EndFragment:0001910843

I should not have worn these shoes. That’s the thought running on repeat while I’m standing in what can only be described as a biological crime scene. I am acutely, physically aware of every millimeter of the dirt under my feet but I am not going to look down because looking down is losing and I have already lost enough ground today, literally. The farm looks different in person than it did on my phone screen at one in the morning. A not so bad kind of different. Clayton is still at the safe edge of the mud line.

Today was the day. I sat on the edge of the bed, my bare feet touching the cool marble floor, my hands trembling as I pressed them to my chest. My heartbeat felt too loud for such a quiet morning, as if my body was trying to remind me that this joy was real, that it was happening. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly, deliberately, grounding myself in the present.

Where… am I? I try to stand, pushing against the uneven floor beneath me, but my legs fail me. My left foot slips on something jagged, and I collapse back with a sharp cry as my ankle smashes against the solid floor. "Ah!" I groan, teeth clenched. Gingerly, I reach out, brushing my fingers across the cold, rough surface I hit. It's a large and oddly shaped stone. A rock? My fingertips trail along the cracks in the ground, and suddenly it dawns on me...

“Love eating dirt. It’s my new hobby.” He barks a laugh and offers me a hand. I take it and let him haul me up. “Lesson two,” he says. “If you end up on the ground, don’t stay there long. Ground is where you die slow.” “Great,” I say. “Love that for me.” We circle. He shows me a few basics—how to keep my weight lower, how to pivot instead of planting my feet, and becoming an easy target. How to use *their* movement instead of trying to muscle anything.

With shaky hands, I reached for them and stared down. The very solid ground I was standing on grumbled under my feet when I saw not one, but two faint lines on two sticks, while the other showed one word, boldly. PREGNANT "Oh, fuck!!!"

“The ground is uneven.” I nodded, focusing on my footing. Thunder cracked overhead, making me jump. The path the maid led us down was barely visible, more animal trail than proper road. Tree roots jutted up at odd angles, and the slope grew steeper as we went. I was watching my feet carefully when the ground suddenly gave way beneath me. My stomach lurched as I started sliding down a steep embankment. I grabbed for anything to stop my fall, my fingers finding a thin branch.

Rhea jerked her chin toward an open patch of dirt near a stack of practice mats. “Boots off,” she said. “Let’s see what we’re working with.” I toed my boots off and set them neatly beside the mat. The ground was cool and slightly damp under my bare feet. The dirt felt realer than the polished stone floors in the house, honest in its roughness. “Stand how you think you should,” Rhea said. “Don’t overthink it. Just show me.” I set my feet apart, one slightly back, knees bent a little, hands lifted halfway like I’d seen the others do.

I lay sideways in the dirt, needing to stay grounded, feeling the world fleeting around me. “Rest, mate. I’ll handle things from here.”

This time it’s one of the guys who snarls at me. “I told you, I just need fo-” My legs finally give out and I land on the ground with a heavy thud.