Your little sister (Max) and mom have been having a hard time. You decide to move to Hawkins to help out, and while giving up California and your senior year might be hard, there is a boy across the trailer park who just might make it worth it...
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Your memories are vague. Despite the shock of realizing that the kicking is coming from inside the house, you pass out once you lay back down. Eventually, sirens and flashing red lights pull you to the surface, but you struggle to stay there. You hear a commanding voice screaming out instructions, and for some reason it reminds you of the color pink. But you're soon bundled up and strapped into something. Your head jostles, and you groan because of all the things that might be wrong, that seems to be the most likely candidate. But then a man in a dark uniform tells you to take a deep breath, and, by the time your finish exhaling, you're sinking down to the depths of unconsciousness.
The next time you surface, it's because there is a flash going off in front of your face. Cold hands touch your skin and tilt your head to expose your throat. You blink your eyes open for a moment to see a large camera far too close to your face. Unfamiliar voices speak quietly, but when there is so many of them, the noise seems to roar in your ears. When the flash goes off again, you scrunch your eyes to avoid it. You're not ready to surface. It's soft but cold and smells strangely.
At last, the voices fade and hands that are finally warm smooth your hair out of your face. "Honey? Can you come with me to the bathroom?" a kind woman asks. Without opening your eyes, you nod. Your throat feels as though it is burned. Or bruised. Or both. Nothing really makes sense, so you let her lead you to the bathroom. You don't open your eyes at all, holding on to her as the world seems to tilt despite your closed eyes.
She settles you back in the bed which has grown cold. You shiver, and she returns with a toasty blanket that she settles over you. "Now, honey, if you need anything, you just press this button right here, okay?" She places a remote in your hand and puts your thumb over the large button. You nod to acknowledge her. "And, if you need to get up, just press that, okay? I don't want you fallin'!" You nod again. "Okay, you sleep now. Things will be better in the morning." She soothes a hand over your head once again, and you take comfort in her words.
It doesn't take you long to fall asleep. You hold on to her words. Things will be better in the morning. Bodily functions relieved, warm, and comfortable and finally dark, you sink down for the third time, grateful that it is quiet and you can dream.
***
The path in the woods is different. Sturdy wooden planks which comprised the path are ripped up and lay scattered about. Once verdant trees are dying and sloughing to the ground with decay. The peaceful wood is gone; what remains is a wasteland. Roots clutch out of the stony ground. There is only shadow with no light.
You hurry along the path, dreading what might be waiting for you at the end. The clearing remains, but there is no fire and there is no crowd of children. Well, there is one girl. She wears white pants and a thermal shirt with flowers on it. She's covered in dirt and blood. Her buzzed head reminds you of a cancer patient. She sits on the ground, hands clasped over her knees while she sobs 'no' over and over again.
