𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 , ᵍᵒⁿ ᶠʳᵉᶜᶜᵉˢ

02

IN WHICH Esme wakes up.

𝘉𝘜𝘛

WHERE does she wake up?

𝙄 𝘼𝙒𝙊𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙀𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙊𝙁

something pricking against my back.

when I sat up, I realized that the spikiness was grass.

grass? that didn't feel right. I don't think I fell asleep outside.

I look all around me, and I had realized that I was surrounded by greenery.
there were trees, flowers, grass, dirt. . .

I didn't exactly know where I was.

I scratched my head a bit and got up onto my feet, and tried to wrack my brain of my last location.

it was fuzzy, and when I tried to think it gave me a serious headache.

my right hand was clenched tightly, and I didn't even know that I was holding something until I opened up my palm to reveal a gold ring, a beautiful cut diamond lay in the center, and two smaller diamonds on each side of the bigger diamond.

I awe at the piece of jewelry for a few seconds and tried to place it around my finger, but it was much too big.

something told me this ring belonged to an adult, and/or someone I knew.

I patted down my torso and looked down at my attire, searching for a pocket of any kind so I could put this ring somewhere safe.

I was wearing a white linen tank top and linen bloomers, something that would usually go under something.

there were no pockets, so I just held the ring in my hand, and made sure it wouldn't fall.

then, I tried to find a way out of this forest.

my attempts at escaping were futile, but I was slowly getting closer and closer to a water source.

I slid down a rocky slant and padded over to the water, and then jumped back in surprise at my reflection.

this version of me was not familiar, I don't think this is what I used to look like.

I don't exactly remember my face, but I'm sure it didn't look like this. . .
like it was. . . strangely animated.

I feel like I haven't had long black hair before, either.

moving aside this less concerning detail, I loop the ring around my pinky finger and cup my hands together, dipping them into the water, and drinking a bit of it.