Within the Forest

The Wake

~I wake to the smell of cooked vegetables and fish.

    My stomach growls like a lion. I groan. Ugh, I'm starving. I look around. Where am I? I'm in a room with wooden walls and floors and a window to the right of me. An unlit candle on a wooden shelf, and other than the bed I'm laying in, a small, dusty table in a corner is the only piece of furniture in here.

     It all kind of reminds me of grandma's house. Maybe I am in grandma's house. Maybe it was all a dream and I'm at grandma's and I didn't get shot and I'm not trapped in some hell-hole and I'm perfectly fine. But a jolt of pain through my leg snaps me back to reality. I cry out in pain. My wound. It wasn't a dream and I really do have a hole in my leg.

     I hear someone coming. It's the girl. Now that I see her properly, she's really quite beautiful. She has long, curly, brown hair and copper skin ,but the sun shining through the window makes her look like gold.

     "You're awake," she says with a grin. "Good." She hands me a plate of carrots and salmon. "Eat up. You're gonna need it."

     I take the food. "Thanks, for everything." I look at my leg. It's wrapped in bandages and the wound doesn't hurt too much anymore, except for the occasional jolt.

     "No problem," she smiles. "By the way, I'm Zora Olivia, but you can call me Zoe."

     I shake her outstretched hand. Up close, I can see that her eyes look like gold, too. "I'm Ryan, but you can call me Ryan."

     Zoe giggles, "Well, Ryan, you better be careful next time you're out there in the Zone."

     "The Zone?"

     "That's the part of the Ring you were in."

     "The Ring?"

     "This place that we're all in. It's shaped like a ring. Hence the name, the Ring."

     "Oh"

     "And unless you want to die, you have to be careful."

     I laugh,"You sound like my mom." My heart stops as soon as I say it. My mom. I'm stuck in here while my mom is out there. I can't lose her. I can't let her lose me. We just lost Dad a few months ago and I won't put her through that again. I have to find her. I can't lose her. I can't.

But, is she looking for me?