Lost Paradise

Chapter 2

The trees swayed in the rhythm of the whistling wind as the waxing crescent hung low in the ink-spilt sky. Ella clutched her birthday card close to her chest, whispering the words she had already implanted in her head: "Beware of the time, the time of age." Shivering in both fear and coldness, she closed the window just so that only a sliver of moonlight could be seen from her bed.  She glanced at the clock nailed above her night lamp that was currently off, and found herself staring at the hands ticking by second after second. Her mind went back to reality when she heard a chair screech from the flat below, in what she guessed was the sign of Mr. Stone's arrival from the bar after work. The time was now 12:23 AM and she realized that she was still unconsciously squeezing Aunt Stella's letter so hard that her knuckles turned ghost white. Letting go with a brief sigh, Ella collapsed onto her mound of blankets, imagining it was snow, soft and fluffy...

Gasping for breath, Ella gave a violent start and crawled onto the floor. "Oh, it was only a dream," she mumbled, remembering herself sinking to the bottom of the sea, drowning. Yet, she still felt like she didn't have enough oxygen in her. She trudged downstairs to drink some water and stuck her hands in her pocket to find a crumpled piece of paper. Aunt Stella's card. Placing it on the table, she hesitated. The ink seemed to glow bright yellow, but maybe because I'm just tired, Ella thought. Shutting her eyes, she reopened them to find that letters disappeared and the grandfather clock struck one o'clock in the morning. She felt the house shake like her thumping heart, and abruptly, she couldn't feel her eyes anymore, as if they were too numb with pain. Ella banged on the wooden floorboards, tears dripping down from her cheeks. The pain was starting to get worse, and she felt like her eyes were on fire. "Make it stop," she cried, squeezing her eyes tighter as to ease the stinging sensation. She heard her mom sprint downstairs, yelling words that Ella could not process. Realization hit her; she had just turned 13 and the time was 13:00 PM. What is happening, she thought. Then her mind went blank.

***

Ella could not see; only darkness consumed her view, until she realized that she was staring at a bandage wrapped around her head. Unrolling it cautiously, she winced at the bright fluorescent lights glaring into her bloodshot and dry eyes. She abruptly sneezed, and heard footsteps approaching her. As Ella looked around, she saw grayish-green curtains surrounding her bed and smelled a faint scent of antiseptics and disinfectants- a hospital. However, the air seemed to be filled with tiny visible dust particles, making her feel nauseous. "Good afternoon, Ms. Lowell. How are you feeling?" a deep voice greeted. A man appeared from behind the curtain and smiled patiently. Ella interrogated, "Who are you? Why am I at a hospital? Where's my mom?"

"Please remain tranquil-

"How am I supposed to keep calm when I feel like regurgitating?"

"Listen, Ella Lowell- I am Doctor Wayne. Your mother is paying for the medicine; she brought you here at around midnight because it seemed like you were experiencing a lot of pain in your eyes. She said you passed out a minute later and that was when an ambulance was called, driving you here. We scanned your eyes a few times and it seemed like you had injured the internal part of your eyes severely. However, after an hour, they seemed to get better so I decided not to perform the eye surgery and instead, let you rest for a while."

"So that explains why I'm seeing floating molecules everywhere?"

There was an abrupt pause before the doctor cleared his throat. "I'm afraid that this piece of information is entirely new to me. Perhaps it is because you have not yet recovered; I have already checked multiple times for any problems and your eye sight should only be slightly blurry until they recover."

Panic engulfed her; this wasn't ordinary? Ella couldn't breathe. She trudged towards the corridor, but Doctor Wayne quickly stopped her by elongating his arms so she could not get past him. "Get my mom, what is happening?" The color from her face was draining away. A few seconds passed; the clock on her drawer read 3:51 PM. A strained-looking lady entered the room accompanied by the doctor. "Ella! Do you feel okay?" Ella's mom inquired, squeezing her daughter's trembling hand. "I don't know. Why can't I see normally? There are dust particles everywhere. Please, help me," Ella stuttered, hopelessly, as she clung onto her mother's jacket. "It's going to be just fine, dear. Let's go home and you can have some peace and tranquility to yourself. You must be exhausted from today. Thank you so much doctor for your help and kindness, have a great day," and with that, her mother dragged Ella out of the doors of the hospital and into the public where a cool wind whistled past them.

"Look! Don't you see the specks of dust? Mom!" cried Ella, pointing at the air. "No, Ella. We need to give your eyes some rest, all right? Let's just all be silent for today. All the commotion has given me a migraine," Ella's mother muttered in response, leaving her flustered and flabbergasted. No one, not even my own parent believes me, she thought, kicking the sidewalk in vexation. Her eyes were aching from watching all the particles swirl in the air. Was this really how serious air pollution was? Why could she suddenly see microbes? - it didn't make sense. There was a long period of silence between the two until they finally arrived home. Her mom unlocked the door and Ella sprinted past her towards her bedroom, falling onto her bed. Letting her mind wander, she slipped into oblivion, where a long dreamless sleep awaited her.

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Thank you so much for reading chapter 2 of "Lost Paradise"! I hope you are enjoying the story so far and please leave a vote and comment down below for any suggestions to improve this :)