Strangely Familiar - The Stolen Fate | On Hold

Prologue

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

***

The first time she felt something, it was barely recognizable. She could not distinguish between reality and dream.

Where was she?

Her brain could not answer.

Something was going on. She tried to picture it.

It felt like she was flying and plummeting into an infinite darkness. She drifted, moved, and dropped, but the ground below her remained out of reach. She seemed to be falling and yet remaining suspended in the air. Gravity had a hold of her; she longed to surrender.

She wanted to but couldn't. Another force was pushing her away.

Two opposite forces were breaking her apart. It was bone-crushing. She wanted to scream and pull her smarting joints together.

Her voice was lost.

Before she could comprehend further, she felt her subconscious closing doors for her.

***********

Her eyes were heavier than her head. Unknowingly, she tried to open it groggily. It felt like her eyelashes were fixed to the skin under her eyes. They felt stuck.

She tried to flex her facial muscle, but nothing happened.

"... get her out..."

The voice was somewhere nearby.

".... gone... "

"... it's raging."

It was audible but only just.

"... dangerous..."

"... to help..."

The voice sounded familiar, but who were they? The noise grew slow and ethereal. Though she made an effort, they were illogical. The voices manifested as visions. All she could make out were the waves moving back and forth. Her mental sketches were made up of hues, patches, and tones. Soon colors, patches, and shades occupied her mind space forming doodles.

Confusion.

Was her mind playing tricks on her?

She aimed for clarity. She wished to inquire. She was curious as to what they were discussing.

She felt her bare conscious state slipping into oblivion.

************

The next time her brain registered something, it was the coldness in the atmosphere.

It was freezing.

Was it winter already?

.... cold... too cold... her nerves were freezing...

Was she even breathing? She could not feel it.

She was locked in an instant.

Her brain sends signals to her body to keep herself warm. She tried to move her limbs but felt nothing. She couldn't feel her body. Panic ignited in her.

Her brain shut off her consciousness again as if sensing her restlessness, and she slipped into an eternal void.

Falling... once again.

************

It was the draping of something soft under her arms, firmly clenched under her fist, the first thing she felt after a long while.