Everyone was there

Part 1

Huge, flashing orbs of white and red dance in my vision. I see blurred, panicked faces with open mouths but no sound comes out. It's as if I'm in some kind of zone where my brain blocks out all my senses in order to protect itself. I don't feel anything. I just want to go home and sleep...Everything goes black.  

Faces.So bright. Leave me alone, please.  

"...We've got internal bleeding, three broken ribs, a broken leg, and possibly head trauma. We need to get some oxygen over here, pronto."  

And then all is quiet for a long time. 

"Mommy! Look what I made for you," a six year old me said holding out my greatest accomplishment, a finger painting of our family, to my mother, always so demure in character. 

"Wow, Alice! That's amazing! Are you sure you made this by yourself?" my mother asked teasingly while looking at the picture. We were standing in front of our orange house, holding hands with huge ears and matching grins. Even Uncle Charlie was there. 

"Yes! I'm sure, Mom! I made it!" I said. 

"I'm just kidding! I know you made it! I love it, thank you very much, Alice. I shall keep this forever!" 

"Yay! I knew you'd like it." 

"Why don't you go show Daddy now?" 

"Okay!" 

Occasionally, there are beeps and clicks and distant noises. I don't see. It's just black emptiness. Sometimes, there's a soft presence that's just outside my reach of darkness. The shadow stays there a while and then goes and then comes back again. I hear things but can't make sense of them.  

My white ears perk up and I sit up on my hind legs to scout for danger. I hear a rustle in the leaves. I stay still for a split second to see the muzzle of a wolf, sniffing, and then I sprint away as fast as I can. You can't call it running, it's more like twisting and leaping. My legs and arms burn and my ears are high to detect any noise apart from my quiet escape. I hear my predator crashing through the woods after me as I speed up for dear life. I see a piece of blue between the trees and I turn my agile body towards it. The distance between myself and his teeth shortens and I begin to panic. The patch of mysterious blue is so close; I sprint towards it. He's closing in on me. I'm almost there! The wolf jumps to tackle me as I leap right through the blue! Yes! I made it! I fly through the blueness, ecstatic about my freedom. Then, the blue turns darker and darker, more and more menacing and I try to fly back, anything but that charcoal abyss. I scramble, twist and turn, but it's useless. I keep falling and falling and falling...