Amnesia

Awakening

I regained conciousness slowly. Unbearable pain ravaged my body, my arms specifically. This searing, roaring sensation, as if my body had been set aflame.                                                                         The sleeves of my white robe were ripped and shredded, exposing my bloody arms. My head was pounding, almost as if someone were driving a nail into my skull. I ran my hands up and down hoping that my wings were intact, but they weren't there.  All  that remained were bloody patches of flesh that stung whenever I touched them. It felt as if someone had simply ripped them straight from my back. I pondered for a moment, wondering how I got into such a predicament. I had no recollection of how I got here, or what I was doing, or even who I was.          Everything had been wiped from my memory, leaving me a clean slate.

 It took several attempts to get myself off the ground, seeing as how my legs ached and my arms were as durable as twigs. Looking around, I noticed a boulder that I was laying next to.It was stained with some of my blood, so I naturally assumed it took part in my injury. There were trees ubiquitous, in every direction. I was most certain that I was in a small clearing amidst what seemed like a vast forest. Luscious green grass, sprinkled with patches of varicolored flowers, lay at my feet. I was lying in branches, twigs and leaves. I looked to the above to see the murky darkness that is the night sky, and a gaping hole in the canopy above. Presumably, I fell; but from where? And how? A raging tempest of questions swirled in my head, like a great storm rocking a small boat.

   Nothing would get accomplished if I just sat around biding my time, so I started pondering ways to escape the forest. Perhaps if I set some branches ablaze, I may be able to send smoke signals through the hole in the canopy. Sadly, there were many a complication with that plan. Firstly, I haven't the slightest on how to start a fire. Secondly, the nearest person was most likely more than a stone's throw away. And lastly, it was impossible to tell whether my rescuer was pure or not. Then I'd merely be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. There were many complications with that idea, so I started thinking up a new one. I could possibly learn to adapt to the surrounding wilderness, but I don't think I'd make any progress. Considering the fact that my arms were naught but useless, and there's absolutely no way I'm dining on insects. Not now, not ever. Just the thought of those repugnant maggots were enough to cross that idea out. I didn't have a plan, nor food or water. It seemed the only rational thing to do at this point was to simply tramp in a continuous line and pray you get to the light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case, the light at the edge of the forest. When one ponders such matters, they arrive at the conclusion that the forest had to cease at one point or another. So I embarked on my peregrination, seeking the rim of the woodland. I treaded onward in an unwavering line, halting only to take fleeting interludes. I walked, and walked some more. But no matter the distance I traversed, I was merely wandering aimlessly in the dark. Throughout the time I was walking, I heard queer noises echo throughout the forest. They sounded like low, hellish, screams and roars. It seemed as though there were fiends abound in this place, and I wasn't going to be present to ascertain how many distinct kinds there were.

After hours upon hours of walking, I had still not yet reached the rim of this damned forest. I hadn't even found a pond to drink from, or a berry bush to indulge in. My legs were battered and bruised from traversing the asperous forest floor. I was ready to give in to the wild and allow the fiends to make pigs of themselves while they devoured me. So that's what I did. I allowed myself to be recumbent and awaited the arrival of the most loathsome and unprepossessing fiend to come happen upon me and take me away. However, at the very moment I abandoned hope and invited quietus, I heard a strange and unusual sound. It was the sound of branches breaking, or someone treading on arid autumn leaves. I listened closer, and then I realized. It wasn't either of those things. It sounded like fire, a campfire. A campfire meant people, people meant help, and help meant salvation. I got up and searched for the origin of the fire, and soon enough I saw it. Off in the distance behind some shrubbery was a warm orange glow. Feeling succor wash over me, I made a beeline towards it without thinking.