Are you okay!” I might have been out for a second or two—I’m not really sure. There was just that endless sensation of falling, and the bone-jarring impact, and then everything finally began to focus again, all blurs and slow motion. I tried to move but couldn’t. I felt like something was trapping me—something huge and alive—and sucking me down into a bottomless hole. The first thing I saw clearly was Tyler sliding down the embankment after me, and I remember thinking in some weird corner of my mind that it was a miracle he was even staying on his feet at that crazy angle. The next thing I saw was his face above mine, and he looked scared to death. “Marlee—can you hear me? Don’t move!” I wanted to tell him there was no danger at all of that, I was stuck fast. But my immediate concern wasn’t the weeds or the slime or even the throbbing in my head, it was suddenly remembering that slithery thing I’d seen earlier. “Get me out of here!” I yelled. “I think I saw a snake!”
