MIZPAH, tmr | minho

𝖎. the glade

THE GLADE

Drowning.

That was what was happening.

She was drowning.

The girl was choking on water that had made its way into her lungs. Coughing and wheezing, she tried to breathe but it was too difficult. It felt as if an angry storm had crashed into her lungs, constantly whirling.

Alone, she thought, I'm going to die alone.

But just as the girl thought she was going to pass out, she stopped drowning. The water had disappeared, and she began to choke and cough, attempting to get rid of the remains of any water in her lungs. She placed her hands on the floor and breathed deeply, her chest slowly rising and falling with her shallow breaths.

It was dark. A blanket of anxiety covered the girl as she looked around her surroundings, she noticed was in a metal box with iron barred windows that locked her inside like a lonely prisoner. It was like a lift – an old mechanical lift that she was trapped in.

She was trapped in it, nowhere out and the metal box lift kept hurtling upwards with no intention of stopping.

She pushed herself into the corner of the lift, hands gripping the wire tightly in case the wild ride would ever reach its destination.

The box was rather spacious, with barrels and bags in that kept rolling around the floor as she shot upwards. The floor that the girl was sat on was wooden, but wet from the water that almost drowned her. The roof of the box had slight holes in but apart from that, there was no room for light to enter.

The girl was surrounded by darkness — engulfed in it if you may. She could hardly see what was in front of her or where this mysterious box was leading her.

Maybe I'm having a strange nightmare, the girl thought as she frantically looked around for a way out, I just need to wake up.

So, the girl began to slap her forehead in a desperate attempt to wake up from the nightmare she was experiencing, except she wasn't waking up. She was still trapped in the box. She began to think and then she realised her mind was blank.

Why can't I remember anything? The girl thought frantically as she pulled her knees to her chest, I don't even know my name!

The girl then began to think about everything and anything that she could think of. She could remember learning how to ride a bike — but she couldn't remember who taught her, the faces were just blurred and blank, as if they had been altered. It was the same for everything else. She remembered learning about planets and animals and maths and English, but she couldn't remember who taught her.

My family... The girl thought, Why can't I remember my family?!

That was the last straw for the girl. She broke down and began to sob loudly, each cry causing her chest to shake. Tears streamed down her cheeks like a waterfall, and they wouldn't stop. They kept falling and falling, like rain on a wet day.