The brightness

Chapter one

All she felt was cold.
The world was pitch black.
She could have sworn she was with her sister Claire.
Her hand felt empty and weightless.
Only moments ago she was just holding Claires hand and spilling secrets about their moms new boyfriend Jerry.
Talking about unimportant things.
Where could she have gone?
The last thing she remembers was leaning towards the sky trying to feel the sunshine on her freckled face.
Her mouth tasted like ash.
She felt around looking for a tree or a wall that she could press herself against so she could try and get her emotions under control.
Her mind was a whirlpool of thoughts, drifting in and out of existence.
He heart felt heavy.
Where was claire?
She reaches her fingers out and touches something smooth, and wet. Mud.
She's outside.
What was she doing?
She sniffs and smells something burning, and something else. Gasoline.
There's gasoline on her clothes. Is she burning? No.
Something else is burning.
Something far away.
She tries to stand up.
Her leg screams in pain.
She falls back down.
She flips on her stomach and starts crawling forward.
Her head hits something.
She touches it whatever it is.
It's a tree.
She doesn't know how she knows this. Her brain just gave her the word.
A tree.
She sees an image of a tree in her head.
The bark on the tree is rough and full of indents.
She lays her cheek on the tree and breathes.
It smells like plastic.
Plastic? That's not right. She smells it again. Yes. Plastic, but her brain is saying thats not what a tree is supposed to smell like. What's happening? She holds onto the tree for balance and tries standing again. Her leg doesn't hurt as bad anymore.
She's able to stay standing.
She rubs her eyes. Why can't she see? She walks forward holding her hands in front of her. She hears something.
Her brain shows her a word. Water.
The thought of water makes her notice the dryness of her throat.
She licks her lips and follows the sound of the water. She walks slowly. 5 steps. 10 steps. 25 steps.
She leans on a tree to catch her breath. The pain in her leg is getting worse.
She breathes in, and out.
She continues walking. 164 steps. 165 steps. Wet.
Her foot is soaked in water. She made it. She kneels down and touches the water. It's moving steadily between her fingers. A river.
She cups her hands and scoop some water into her mouth.
She spits it out. It doesn't taste right.
It tastes like.. plastic. How? She stands up and winces.
Why is this happening to her?
Her leg hurts. She decides to continue walking.