Mind Garden

7

A dark forest swamped in fog with leaves splayed out in an attempt to hide the path lies ahead. Every inch of shrubbery is drenched in moist air and dripping with water. Mud sodden paws of animals crunch over sticks, finding their way to their nests and holes. They seek safety in the midst of an oncoming storm. The few slivers of visible sky peeking through the canopy show a quickly greying blue. Daniel moves down the path blindly, his senses drowned out by a loud siren wailing in his head. It stops. A scratchy humming echoes past him. Everything goes still.

His eyes snap open.

~*~

It's Saturday. No worries of leaving the house or his friends telling him how to interact with Ash. It's his day to draw, sleep, wait, and enjoy his silence. His silence.

Daniel throws the thick wool blanket off himself and drags his body up. His t-shirt is drenched in sweat from a nightmare. The material clings to his skin like a child to its mother.

He decides on a shower, stripping down and turning on the cold water. He steps inside and lets the water fall around him, droplets gliding down his body. He closes his eyes and waits for the fuzzy feeling to overcome him. He blinks rapidly. It doesn't go away. His eyesight closes in, gray and dark encasing him. His head spins in every direction.

Daniel stumbles backward, his head hitting the side of the bathtub on the way. He loses everything.

The cold water runs over his body still, twenty minutes later. No omens come knocking. Daniel's just come to his senses, sitting up to survey himself, look for any fatalities besides the massive throb in his head.

He finds his way to his feet and out of the shower, turning it off. His feet have lost all common knowledge of walking any faster than barely an inch per ten seconds. Daniel eventually makes it to his room.

He doesn't remember getting up that morning or leaving his bed, or even thinking about a shower.

But here he is, sitting on his bed; naked, shivering, and confused.