Devoted To You

nineteen

"Mother & Father" -Broods

     A whimper left her, her head thumped with an awful feeling as she kept her eyes closed from the pain. She was no longer standing but crouched down, a palm rested on her aching forehead as she tried to control her breathing. 

     It was bright all around her, she could feel the sun's rays on her back and top of her head, she felt the breeze of spring filter around her, as if it was telling her to open her eyes and stand. This confused Wendy for it was supposed to be winter. 

     At that moment all she felt was warmth. 

     The aching subsided once she calmed herself down, her face no longer flushed with worry, and her heart had stopped thumping wildly in her chest. With a few blinks, Wendy's pale green eyes had fully opened and what she saw made her fall back on her butt, the shotgun clunking to the ground next to her. 

     A small gasp left her when she didn't feel Colorado's snow beneath her but warm and fluffy grass, the greenest thing she had ever seen. Looking around, Wendy found herself in a similar-looking forest in a mushroom circle. 

     A whimper left her as she hurriedly crawled out of it. Terrified that if she sat in it any longer, something else would happen. She gulped down the horrible feeling in her throat, telling herself not to cry as she brought her knees closer to her chest. 

     "No, no. Where...Where am I?" Wendy whimpered to herself.

     There were no birds chirping or any sounds of life around her. Wendy instantly felt the dark cloud loom over her as a sob of hopelessness left her. She didn't know where she was and although it looked beautiful and felt inviting, it still wasn't her home. 

     Before she got too worked up, she rubbed at her eyes, cleared her throat, and then stood to her full height, slinging the shotgun back over her shoulder. She looked around the mushroom circle first, finding nothing but the forestry around her that looked like Earth itself but completely healthy and lush. 

     Other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary.

     It was when she turned to the left did something catch her eye. A shimmer in the grass just a few feet ahead caught her attention. Wendy looked around fearfully before taking cautious steps, the gun swinging at her hip.

     Crouching down in the grass was a shard of a mirror. Wendy sighed, she didn't know what she expected to find but she was still disappointed. A hand raked through her long curls in frustration before she stood again. 

    "Okay, Wendy. Think."

     She listened to the wind around her, trying her hardest to focus on the stillness and how it whistled through the large trees around her. Trying to listen for anything that can indicate any walks of life. Maybe she could find someone to help her get home.

     Just a bit away was another shine in the green grass. Without any hesitation, Wendy went to it to find another piece of mirror. Thinking it to be a sort of breadcrumb trail, she followed the direction the shards were going in. Only to find more pieces or reflected junk along the way.

    A silver spoon, pieces of tin, anything that would reflect itself in the warm sunlight was heading in a direction that could be Wendy's savior. Someone could have been making a trail for help she all but hoped. 

     It didn't take but a few minutes for the sound of wind chimes to reach her ears once again. Although it was peaceful, a sudden pang of hurt shot through her heart from remembering what happened when hearing the sound before.