And We All Fall Down

Chapter 1

                                                                     "Ring-a-ring o' roses,
                                                                     A pocket full of posies,
                                                                          Ashes! Ashes!
                                                                        We all fall down"  

"Run! You have to get out of here!" A hand dragged her through the forest, avoiding the trees at an impossible fast speed. Her long floral skirt seemed to be weighing her down as she tried to keep up with the male figure.

Snarls, growls and a loud explosion came from a gun in the distance, making them force their weary bodies to move even faster.
They were coming closer.
Fatigue

Involuntary, they slowed down just a bit.
She looked back.

They were in plain sight.
She tripped.

Her companion almost went insane with fear as he tried to move her.
Then he saw the blood.
It ran down her leg.
They were closing in on them.

He flung himself at them, "Ruben! No! Save yourself!" She screamed in an accent I didn't recognize.
Only then as I saw the lifeless body on the cold, hard ground of the male called Ruben, did I realize that the frightened and bleeding girl on the forest floor looked so much like me. Only as I saw the shadows of her pursuers surround her, only as I hear her scream echoing throughout the forest, only as I saw the helplessness in her hazel eyes, did I realize that we were the same person.

..............................................................................................................................................................................

I woke up to the sound of a deep Mexican accent screaming into my ears," Senorita? Senorita! " I jumped at the shouting as it made contact with my eardrums and slowly opened my eyes. I raised my hand to my cheek. My face was dripping wet with sweat and my thick, curly jet black hair did not help with the heat.

I blinked a few times before I saw the face of a Mexican man staring back at me with crazed eyes. He looked frantic and frightened, with his eyebrows pushed up together. He looked like a driver. Wait, what? A driver? I looked around as I realized I was in a taxi. My eyes widened as I stared into the eyes of the native cab driver and he stared back at me. I had almost forgotten, I suppose to be going to her house.

"I go hospital now senorita?' I felt like I could cut his Spanish accent like butter. I shook my head slowly, not trusting myself to speak. It was that dream again. I took out rag and began to mop my face.

That dream.

Why wouldn't it just go away and leave me alone? Well it was the first time in years. By pure chance I happened looked up to see the driver's eyes in the rear view mirror, staring at me, analyzing. "You sure you okay, senorita?" We slowly moved onto the high way, the car jerked us both slightly as we hit the asphalt. "Oh I'm fine... Just a dream".

I sighed as I pulled my damp blouse away from my skin, promising myself to change when I reached my destination. Suddenly cold, I began to rub my arms and absent mindedly began to stare out the window. I watched as we sped by the millions and millions of trees on both sides of the road. The sun shone on the them making them look like huge golden needles sticking out of the ground. Yet between the trucks of the trees seemed dark, wet and inhumane. I instantly disliked it.