The Sixth Generation

Battles & Tears

Darkness surrounds me, ebbing at my being. I feel like I'm being suffocated, but it isn't bothering me as much as one would think it should. I go to look around, to walk, to move, but I can't. I have a strange feeling that even if I could look around, I wouldn't see anything.

It's like I'm just here as nothing.

Nothing is happening. It's honestly pretty boring. Suddenly, a buzzing noise fills my ears—almost like a bee flying by. Then, that humming noise gets cut off by a loud scream.

The shriek makes my body jerk abruptly and my arms wrap around something tightly. I feel it press against my chest, my heart beating rapidly. Finally, something I can feel.

"Camila," I hear a faint voice say, its familiarity pulling on my heart and mind. "I can't breath."

The pressure on my chest then disappears, leaving me alone. My heart beat is the next thing to fade. I can't feel anything anymore.

"Camila!" The voice returns, sharper this time. "Let go! I can't breath!"

Suddenly, like magic, my eyes snap open. Light floods into my vision and the pressure on my chest returns. The lingering scent of vanilla fills my nostrils, making me smile faintly.

"Please..." Lauren's voice pleads, fading out.

I realize my arms are wrapped tightly around my wife's neck, disrupting her normal breathing. Her arms hold my legs to her waist tightly and my body is relaxing on my back.

I immediately let go of Lauren's neck, placing my hands on her shoulders instead. She violently coughs, taking a deep breath afterwards.

"Stop trying to kill me." Lauren coughs, filling her lungs with a few more breaths.

"I'm sorry." I lunge forward briefly, placing a swift kiss on her cheek.

"It's alright," Lauren chuckles yet I can still feel her heart beating erratically while my chest is pressed against her back. "One second you were sleeping on my back and the next you were choking me."

"Crazy dreams, I guess." I suggest, shrugging my shoulders limply. It is a fact that my dream was crazy.

"Oh, jeez." Lauren shakes her head. "I don't even want to know what your dream was about. Keep the details for the stars."

"I will." I hum, smiling.

My eyes float over to Charlotte who is happily jumping about and smiling at anything she can get to look at her—or to not, doesn't matter to her. We are still walking through the jungle, various spirits rushing around us.

With my legs dangling from Lauren's hands, I hold onto her shoulders tightly while I rest on her back.

"Where are we going?" I inquire, leaning forward to gaze at my wife's side profile. Her eyes twinkle with the light being cast down from above the trees.

"To the cave so we can leave." Lauren responds, stepping over a large rock so we don't trip. "You still have the crystals, right?"

In response, I shift my body so my pocket is pressing against Lauren's body, the crystals' edges poking her skin gently.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lauren says. "Since I can feel them now. Thank you."

"Anytime." I grin goofily, shifting my body back to comfortably rest on my wife's body. I sigh contently, letting myself melt. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Camz." Lauren replies, her tone softer than the clouds in the sky—which I can't see at the moment since there are none in the jungle, but that doesn't matter.