The Boy Who Made Flowers Sing

19 | Falling

Elena stood at the edge of the cliff. She looked down at the stream and the waterfall crashing against the sharp rocks. She looked above herself to see an owl circling around her. She looked ahead of her and saw a deer on the other side. Elena frowned and wondered why she was standing on the edge of a cliff. She tried to step back but her body was paralyzed. Her father was standing behind her.

"Elena, come back," He said, reaching out his hand towards her to grab it.

"I can't move dad," Elena said. "I'm frozen."

"No you're not," Her dad assured her. "Come on, you can do it."

Elena tried to move her legs, but they seemed to be glued to the ground.

"I'm trying," Elena explained as she struggled to move.

Why couldn't she move? Elena turned around to face the water under her. She peered down and felt like she was falling down. She pulled her weight back up but still couldn't step back.

"Come on," Her dad said again, extending his arm as far as he could.

Elena frowned as she saw his figure blurring. He kept ushering her, but she couldn't budge. Elena started crying out of frustration as she tried to grab his hand.

"I'm trying!" Elena said through her tears.

She looked back at the deer across the water staring at her. It had piercing, riveting eyes.

"Grab onto my hand, Elena," Her dad assured her, his voice dampened by the sound of the waterfall.

She reached as far as she could, but it was useless. It was as if she was completely paralyzed like she didn't know how to get her legs to move. She grunted trying to give it her all as she reached for her father's hand.

"Elena, come on," He said softly, reaching out to her as far as he could. "Elena."

His voice faded and all of a sudden, Elena saw the rocks below her getting bigger. She realized she was falling. She tumbled down to the water while she heard her father yell her name. Elena felt like her stomach fell out of her as she saw the jagged rocks coming closer and closer. Then, everything was pitch black as she hit the water below, her father's faded shouts heard from up above.

**********

Elena awoke with a cold sweat and a pounding headache. She sat up and tried to catch her breath. She checked her watch for the time. It was about 1:00 in the morning. She unzipped her tent to see everyone was asleep. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and decided to wash herself down by the nearby stream. 

She quietly made her way across the campsite, careful not to flash her light at anyone's tent. After washing herself, she made her way back to her tent and sat inside. She thought about her nightmare and her father calling her. She saw her hand was trembling again and tears started slipping from her eyes. Elena couldn't stop thinking about the nightmare. She didn't dream of her father often, but when she did, it was frequently a nightmare. 

Elena's body was shaking uncontrollably still. Her clammy hands reached into her backpack for pills that would help calm her down. After a few minutes, she felt relief and fell asleep again.