In Between a Moment and Forever

Prologue

Selina: moon, sky, heaven

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

I blink once. Then twice. Again and again. I keep blinking until the blinding white fades from my eyes. My head feels like it's stuffed with cotton, so light yet so suffocating. For half a second, I can't even breathe. When the air returns, I let out a slow exhale, and suddenly, I'm aware of everything around me.

        The bright green leaves flutter about, dancing in the gentle breeze like fairies at a secret ball. Sunlight smoothly streams through the gaps of the branches. I can feel it on my face, touching my skin ever so softly, like the tender caress of a lover.

        Where am I?

        I'm sitting on a cobblestone path. It's kind of warm, baked in the heat of the sun. I groan a bit. Surrounding the path are trees. Only trees, nothing but evergreen glory. I turn a little bit, but it hurts my neck. I must be sore. There's a train track that runs horizontal to the path and through the trees.

        Selina. My name is Selina. I'm twenty years old.

        I stand up and brush my knees. My back makes an aching crack as I stretch it out. My mind goes blank, and I begin to panic. A minuscule yet rapid throbbing aches in my chest and stomach as if it's building up to take away everything from me. I can't remember anything else. I can't remember.

        When I look to my left, there's a small, lonely building. It's a homely, brick cafe judging from the chalkboard menu by the glass door. Wooden planters hold forget-me-nots by the dusty windows, and it makes me wrinkle my nose. I guess I must be allergic to flowers. Nevertheless, it's a welcoming sight. I swallow back my anxiety.

        I can't. I can't get out of control. I take one deep breath and bite my lip. The first step is hard. It's scary. I don't know who I am, or where I am, or what I'm doing here. Suddenly, I'd rather sit back down, huddled up and alone. It seems easier to be just one pebble among the many stones on the path. But something isn't right, so I inhale deeply one more time and approach the building.

        My hands shake when I reach for the door. I stare at it for a while. It's really pretty. The stained glass reminds me of church. Maybe I'm Catholic? I shake my head and go inside.

        It's empty. I'm greeted with ghosts and the air inhabiting the tables and counter. "No," I hoarsely whisper. It's the first thing I've said, so my voice sounds weak and raspy. The lack of reply, the absolute dead quiet: it all sinks in. I'm absolutely alone. There's nobody here, and I'm all by myself in the middle of nowhere. "Wait. No, this isn't real," I stammer out, and then my chest begins to hurt, and I feel hot tears running down my face, and my entire body starts to hurt, and I just want to go back to sleep and never wake up again.

        And then, right when everything is about to go to shit, and I can feel myself losing it all, someone walks out from the back to the counter. He's glancing at the ground before he looks up and notices me. I hiccup, feeling so incredibly relieved, and I rush to the counter. His golden eyes widen, and, for a second, they look so so sad. His mouth opens the smallest bit, and he looks at me real closely while his dark eyebrows knit together.

        He's about to say something, but I beat him to it. I hold onto the counter, balancing myself and holding my body steady. "I don't remember anything," I gasp out, the words flying out faster than I can think. "I don't know anything, I don't know who I am, or where I am, or what's happening—"

        His shoulders relax and he closes his mouth, but he still has that small, sad shock on his face. He frowns and stares at me like he wants to say something.

        Finally, he talks: "You're dead."