Mia was caught in the deep mire of vicious nightmares. Thick green liquid oozed from every surface, sticking to her, pulling her down. Trapping her feet and slowing her progress towards her goal.
Even realizing that this must be a dream, there seemed to be nothing to do to escape it, no way to modify it. She was screaming with no sound, running with no speed, crying with no tears.
Sucked ever more firmly into the slime that crept up her shins and dripped from the sky to splatter across her hair, her arms, her face.
Shivering violently, she could feel it begin to burn her skin like acid.
She'd never felt so cold. So hopeless.
The screaming effort of every muscle and the utter lack of progress in any endeavor were at such odds that she began to break under it.
Pressure on her mind was all that held it together. She could see nothing there, but nonetheless she felt it like an anchor on her soul. Like a pull she never had to look for.