(Day 1: The Forest)

Broad Setting description: *Daytime (Sun rise)

 *Unnatural, otherworldly forest

 *After rainfall

NB: First person POV (Thoughts only)

*Plop*...*Plop*......*Plop*

*Gasp* I open my eyes only to be greeted by the trunk of a comically large tree. 'Where am I?' The light of the sun peers through the leaves, shining on my skin, spreading its warmth across my partially naked body. *Plop* The sound of water dripping enters my ears, but it fails to get my attention as I'm distracted by what my eyes are seeing. 'A forest.' I quickly turn my head to the left and then to the right. 'It's just trees as far as my eyes can see, in every direction.' 

*Plop* I focus my ears for the first time since opening my eyes, finally acknowledging the dripping water but, 'There's no water in sight.' *Woosh* The cold breeze brushes against my body causing me to shiver involuntarily. I wrap my arms around my body only to feel my, 'Skin?' I look down, 'No clothes? Where did my clothes go? I clearly remember wearing a...wearing a....' I place my hands on the sides of my head, massaging my temples as I try to remember what I was wearing, who I was, anything, but I couldn't.

*Plop* The water drops, and my mind is cleared. My mind is no longer in turmoil and all my confusion is replaced by a goal, 'Healing?' I look over my body once again but I don't see any injuries, nor did I notice any scars. 'Why did healing come to mind? Why do I need to heal when I don't have any injuries?' I look around once again, this time focusing on the minute details of the forest. 'The leaves are blue, the trunk and branches are white.' I touch the trunk of the tree that first greeted me when I opened my eyes. 'Soft.' I turn my head to the left, looking out into the endless expanse of trees, only for a golden glint to catch my eye. I turn my head to the right and to the back of me, looking for a similar glint but there was none.

"Curiosity killed the cat." That phrase came to mind the moment I thought about going to the golden glint. I don't know how but somehow, I not only remembered the phrase but also what it meant. I leaned against the soft trunk of the tree, contemplating my decision as I kept the golden glint in my sights. *Plop* The sound of water dropping once again entered my ears, calming my mind, prompting me to head towards the glint without much hesitation. As I slowly walked towards the golden glint, the variety of plants and trees increased greatly. The trees no longer just had blue leaves and white trunks and branches but instead had leaves, trunks and branches consisting of colors I had never even seen before. On the leaves were patterns that seemed otherworldly and the characteristics of the wildlife fluctuated the closer I got to the glint.

In one step the leaves would shrivel up and die, in the next step the leaves would be revitalized with different shapes, colors and sizes and in the next step there would be no leaves at all. Reality was changing rapidly but my brain struggled to keep up, it struggled to process the information that my eyes rapidly consumed and my thoughts became muddled. *loP* My mind became calm again, but with each step I took, *oP*, the sound of the dripping water became more distant. The calming effects helped fight against the rapidly increasing information but as the sound faded the effects weakened. Hot, warm, cold, freezing, warm, cold, hot, the temperatures changed rapidly as I got closer to the glint, close enough that I could finally see what that golden glint was. It was, 'A fruit?' Dark, I couldn't see it anymore, Bright, my eyes squinted instinctively, the fruit is in my palm, no it isn't, where is it, here, there, the fruit, the fruit, the fru-, *P*. For the final time my mind was cleared. I could now see the fruit properly as it hanged from a rope connected to a rotting branch of the tree.

'Wait, how do I know all these words. How can I describe everything I'm seeing?' As I'm thinking, my hand unconsciously rises, pulling my body into the domain of the fruit. 'Now that I think about it, how can I even remember how to think? What's the point of these useless body parts like the hole in my face that I can't remember how to open? Why am I even here?' *Plop* The sound of dripping water, a sound that I had almost completely forgotten, enters my ears. My mind had been calmed and I could now think clearly. I look at the fruit and I somehow recognized it as, 'A peach? A golden peach? Is this really the answer? Is this really the way to escape? The way to be free from all of...what am I thinking?' I place my hand on my chest over where my heart would be and clench my hand. 'What is this feeling in my chest? Why do I feel so tired(?) all of a sudden? Argh, it hurts, it hurts so badly. My heart, it's bleeding. I need to stop the bleeding, it needs...healing?' *Plop* 'What?' I check my body, looking for any signs of injuries or blood near my chest but I find nothing.

I turn to the fruit again only to see a golden apple tangled in the ropes where the golden peach once was. 'I can't keep asking questions anymore and I don't want to feel pain anymore so even if this isn't the answer, I have no choice but to reach out for it.' I reach out my hand to touch the apple and as my fingers are about to touch it I feel something pulling me away from it. Suddenly I'm pulled away from the apple, away from the tree it was tied to, away from the fruit's domain. My body was pulled with such force that I could even feel my bones being crushed. I crashed through the trees as my eyes were assaulted by the myriad of colors that the plants changed to as reality twisted around me. All the wildlife I had passed, all the colors, all the varying characteristics, everything, I experienced it all once again in a moment. The information my eyes gathered were too much for it to process in so little time. My mind was about to break, I was about to di- *Plop* 

*Gasp* *Cough* *Cough*

"Y-you're alive? You're alive! yes, Yes!, oh my god, you're alive!" I open my eyes only to be greeted by a humanoid figure with a cracked mask on her face. The Crack slowly became larger and larger until it fully broke off, revealing the face of a person I knew well, "Mo-" Before I could finish, she hugged my tightly, holding my body close to hers as she cried out in joy and in sorrow. "W-what did I d-do wrong huh? What d-did I do, f-for you t-to want to k-kill yourself, huh?!" I widened my eyes in disbelief. "I-i w-what." As I said that I felt a stinging pain around my neck. I take a look at where I'm at. 'Water dripping from the roof, a tipped over chair and rope tied to a rotting piece of board on the ground. 'On the ground?' I look up at the roof only to see a spot where the rotten board would fit perfectly.

"Argh." I feel a stinging pain in my head. "Are you ok?" She weakens her grip on me. "It's ok mom, my head just hurts a bit." She looks at me with a look of guilt, tears glazing her eyes. "I'm sorry. As your mother I should've kno-" "No!" I stop her abruptly. "No...it's all my fault. I chose not to tell you. I should be the one that's sorry. If only I weren't born, you wouldn't have to be going through thi-" *Slap* "Don't you Ever, ever, say that again. You hear me?" She places both her hands on my cheeks and fixes my head towards her. "You are the best thing to happen to me since I met your father. He had such high hopes for you and your future and I believed that you'd achieve whatever you wanted to achieve because you always seemed so happy doing the things I thought you loved." She looks downs as her tears drop to the floor. "How could I be such a fool? How could I be so oblivious to what you were going through? I was naive to think you wouldn't experience this like I did because you grew up differently than I did." She looks up at me with even more tears in her eyes. "I'm a failure as a mother. Please, please forgive me."

I try to ignore her gaze but I can't. The built of pain, anger, sadness that I felt, that I kept hidden away all released in that moment. With no words, I hug her tightly whilst closing my eyes simultaneously and I feel her grip tightening in response. "I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry." We stay there for a while until I feel her figure start changing and my body getting groggy. I open my eyes only to be greeted by..."Mom?" I look at what I was hugging. 'A pillow?'

"Goodmorning. Come downstairs and get your breakfast. You've got to get prepared for school." I sit up as she says that and she smiles at me before walking out of my room, closing the door behind her. I get up to look at myself in the mirror. 'Ugly as always.' I look out of my window and my eyes are bombarded by the sunlight. 'Bright'. I quickly pull my curtain before sitting in my bed. "Haaah...so it was all just a dream."