The Power Of The Elements

Chapter 5

I opened my eyes and saw the glimmer of green and orange in the trees, softly blowing in the silent breeze. The sun delicately touched my face, feeling smoother than a baby's hand. This is heaven. My head rested upon a rock and legs still dangled at the edge of the riverbank  to be slightly underneath the water. I let out a little yawn and got up to stretch. This is serenity. This is peace. This is heaven. The breeze tickled my back and the chirping birds greeted me good morning.  This is like a dream. This feels so right. This is heaven. 

I turned my head to explore my newfound home. I had to turn away immediately, the sight was too painful to see. It was like knives stabbing into my eyes and getting deeper every moment until it extended down to my heart. Like I was looking into the eyes of Medusa and was shortly going to turn to stone. However, that was just the sight.  It is what it meant that confused me. The pain of grief that was overcoming my body was nothing close of what was to come. That I knew. At that I winced. I looked at my hand and turned it in the sunlight. It was completely normal. Impossibly unharmed. Impossibly made possible.

I was looking at an empty area where the clubhouse once was. No debris. No ashes. No smoke. Nothing. I was not in heaven.
I was not in a peaceful circumstance. I was in hell. I was in real life.  A question shortly arose in my head, where were the others?

I began to shout their names and roam the all too familiar surroundings. I felt my heart rate increase as I realized something wasn't right. How was I alive? How was I unharmed?

I couldn't be dreaming because if I was the clubhouse would still be there. I felt a mountain load of stress overcome me. Was I dead?  The confusion that was my thoughts could not even be defined. I began to walk in circles.

My breaths quickened and I ran my hands through my hair.

I walked towards the clubhouse and I couldn't even see any trace of it ever being there.

"Lani! Peter! Pele!" I shouted. The nonexistent response brought tears to my eyes.

"Hello?!" I cried. "Anyone?!" No answer. No signs of them.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. What was going on? What was happening? Was I dead? I wanted to know answers. I hit my face and felt the sting of the blow. I once heard you couldn't feel pain in heaven. So I was in fact on earth.

If I was alive then the others must be too. I was on fire and now I am not burned. I should've died from the intensity of the flames' heat. And here I was walking in the peaceful woods without any idea of what was going on.

What was I to do now? I have to find the others that is a must. I walked around and searched through the brown crunchy leaves and skinny twigs. I looked behind the trees, anywhere and everywhere, knowing that even  through this uncertainty, I was certain I didn't want to be alone.

My patience was wearing out quickly and my thoughts began imagining the negative. They disappeared just like that clubhouse. They are gone. Or am I the one that is gone?

I could not take it anymore I screamed at the top of my lungs. The sun went away and the clouds darkened. The birds stopped chirping and the flock of them flew away. The wind got stronger and the trees violently shook. Then the ground started to creak and crack like it was breaking under the weight of nature's stress. I closed my eyes and tried to keep calm. This might be a dream... This whole messed up 24 hours could just be a crazy ass nightmare. I will wake up in my room and everything will be fine. A okay. 100% normal. A regular day.   

"Adrienne." My eyes jolted open and silence