Stay Real

Chapter 1

I felt like I was hungover - I could feel, see even, the bright light behind my closed eyelids. I could - feel the sand against my back and the stinging pain was still felt from my whole body.

Naturally, I opened my eyes,  and immediately wished I didn't.

It was the desert that we were driving past yesterday when we were returning from a field trip to a farmhouse somewhere far from civilization. Civilization has never felt so far away - and the desert has never been so red.

From what I could tell, we our bus had tumbled down a cliff and landed in a gorge. It was chaos all around me. Parts of the bus that have been broken off were on the cliffs. Most of the bus was at the bottom of the gorge, like a half of it just torn into half.

But the fact that I was in a state of shock wasn't because of the state of the bus. My friends. As far as I could tell, none of them had made it, for I could see bodies lying lifelessly under the bus. But the even more gruesome sight was that some of my classmates had been impaled on the parts of the bus as we tumbled down. Their eyes, once full of mischief and wonder, were now open to only an chasm of endless gloom. It was already their end, when their journey had barely started.

I was in shock - I mean honestly, what would you do in a situation like mine? My mind was whirling and I found it hard to form a coherent thought.

How long have I been unconscious? How much time has passed for their bodies to rot? How much longer till it was my turn to resort to the same fate? I shakily stood up, my bones cracking along with it from the lack of use.  I took a few steps, which may have seen over-dramatic to an outsider, but to me, it was because of pure shock, both physical and mental. My legs felt like jell-o and I collapsed onto the rocky ground. Sand particles rose up from the impact and I coughed from the dust. My cough sounded weird because of my throat, which was as rough as sandpaper.

Dehydration.

I stared at my surroundings for a bit, trying to arrive at peace with my seemingly already decided fate - death. The sun was hanging, blindingly, in the air, and there was a hum in the air from the heat. Perspiration beaded down my forehead and I was beyond uncomfortable.

I mean honestly - put yourself in my position and how do 'ya think you'd feel. Super great right?

Yeah, same.

But, how was I even going to survive out here. It's not like I prepared to crash and fly while packing my luggage preparing for the excursion. It was supposed to be a getaway from the pressure of society but now it is anything but.

I looked around me. Amputated limbs, decapitated heads, scars and foreign materials embedded in flesh. This was all caused by a split second mistake that led to a whole lot more than a split second impact. The smell of rotting flesh filled the air but the gagging sensation didn't come like it did before. Who knew? I was already desensitized and on my way to becoming a barbarian. Seeing blood didn't bother me as much as I thought it would and loose limbs hanging around didn't disgust me as much as it should

Go figure.

I don't even know if I wanted to survive out here, maybe I should just lay down and let death take me.

The heat was paralyzing, my throat was parched, sweat was pounding down my back like a waterfall.

Lying on the rocky ground, on top of the blood-stained terrain, I felt a wave of calmness wash over me and I closed my eyes. I could literally feel the life draining out of me. I'm honestly not being dramatic.

With no anchor holding me on to reality, I was quickly slipping away. Letting out a sigh from my parted lips, I let death slowly claim me and take me away from this cruel world which would do nothing to make me stay.

"Raquelle?"

Or maybe not.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: I KNOW I KNOW THIS IS SUPER SHORT. But my results haven't exactly been all rainbows and unicorns so my school is basically taking up all my life with remedials.  No promises but I'll try to update sooner.

MUCH LOVE TO ANY OF Y'ALL THAT HAS STUCK WITH ME EVEN AFTER LIKE THE MILLIONS OF YEARS WITHOUT UPDATES. LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE TIME SPENT WITH Y'ALL (sorry for the caps)

:-)