The Heart Of The Glade

Her

Breathe. Breathe! I think. My lungs wouldn't work; they were stiff and heavy.

'You have to breathe!' I mentally scream at myself. Finally, my whole body leans forward and I cough up the liquid within my lungs, gasping for precious air. The life comes back to me and I become aware of my surroundings.

It's dark. Only silhouettes of things close by me are all I can see, like my hands and a box by which I sit. The floor is metal and as I reached out my hands to feel my surroundings, I notice that the walls and ceiling were too.

'Wait. Ceiling?' I think. 'The ceiling shouldn't be right above my head.'

I only have to crouch to be able to touch the metal ceiling. And that's when it hits me.

"Am I in a box?" I say out loud. My voice sounds as if I've never used it before, foreign and raspy.

Suddenly, the box launches skyward and I fall on my hands and knees, hearing the sound of rustic chains and grinding metal as the box lifts higher into the air. Because of the sudden movement, I hear a deranged squeal from the opposite side of the box. An animal noise. Too close for my comfort.

I back up to my corner and pull my knees to my chest, covering my head with the hood of my hoodie. That's when I realize I don't remember putting on a hoodie. I don't remember climbing into this box. Or the animal with which I share it. In fact, I don't recall anything that had happened before this. Nothing. My mind is a blank sheet of paper.

My breathing becomes raspy and my head starts spinning. I don't know where I am, why I'm here, or where I am going. I don't remember my life before my lungs starting working, my family, my friends, my own name. The fact that I even remember what those things and people are is a miracle to me. I feel like I've been reborn.

The box continues to lift as I continue to panic. Hard. My breathes are now so quick and uncontrolled that they come out as whimpers. Nothing makes sense and I loose it. I simply loose it. My breath becomes steady and my body stiffens, my arms still wrapped around my knees.

My mind goes black.

Completely black.