You have to take the risk. Its dangerous to run down a trail you've never been down. There could be something waiting for you or the persian could catch up to you.
You jump down the steep hill. At first you keep your footing but then you trip over a root of a tree and tumble down the hill. You hit branches and rocks as you slide down the hill. You land at the bottom of the hill onto a rocky gravel bar. It knocks the wind out of you. From all the abuse from the fall you pass out.
You wake up a short time later. You lay still and take in your surroundings. Your loud fall probably attracted some attention. You hear something crunching the gravel bar behind you. It stops about ten feet from you. You also hear some soft croaking. Whatever it is it sees you and is wating for you to do something.
You could make a run for it and hope you are faster. You could stand up and face it and hope to scare it off. Or you could play dead and hope it's not interested in dead food. What do you do?
