Moments of the Beginning

I know I said I wanted something dramatic to happen, but I didn’t mean I wanted to have a near-death experience in Hell…

I’m not sure how long I stayed there, lying on the ground with my legs drawn up to my chest, feeling like crying but also too scared to make a sound. The suffocating feeling made me want to stay like this forever, because the world outside of my body was probably going to be even more terrifying.

Finally, after who knows how long, I felt the heavy darkness start to lift from my body. It was a very slow process, but it made me feel calm enough to sit up and finally open my eyes. It was still mostly dark, but as my eyes adjusted, I realized that quite a bit of this place wasn’t dark at all. Instead, the crusty, slightly purple, dirt plain that surrounded me was actually lit up by four crescent moons, each skewed at a different angle in the sky: one was turned like a smile, another like a frown, and the last two were upright but facing opposite directions. The laws of physics clearly did not apply here though, since only random patches of the ground were lit up, as if they were under crescent-shaped spotlights. I couldn’t figure out what the pattern for this was though, if there even was any.

To my left, maybe around 500 feet away or so, was a large forest of shadowy trees that stretched out as far as I could see, almost like the wall of some desolate fortress. The trees were also very tall, so if I’d seen them in my regular world, I’d probably think they were Redwoods. There were also many...somethings...that kept darting in and out of the forest, and somehow my intuition told me that those were flesh-eating beasts that should definitely be avoided. I couldn’t exactly see them, but I could still feel their existence by the deep chill in my heart. I also saw numerous large, red-rimmed eyes blinking in and out of the darkness, so I decided that my first destination was any place other than that forest.

As I walked away from the trees, I soon came across a river full of silver...water? No, it didn’t seem like water, but instead something more viscous (was that the word?). If a gently flowing river could be made of melted silver, then that would be how I would describe what I saw now. My reflection was surprisingly clear, but it had a distinct silver tint.

As I moved my head closer for a better look, I saw the reflection of someone else next to my own. I flung my head back immediately, but whoever it was had already left, and of course, without a trace.

Were they friend or foe? How could I really know? Still, my intuition told me that they were not trying to hurt me and that I should go look for them. But, since I didn’t know where they had gone, I decided to follow the river instead, especially since I couldn’t see any other major landmarks around.

After many twists and turns (many of which also made no sense...how could a river end up in a figure eight?), the river ended up flowing into a small pond nearly completely surrounded by fir trees that were so packed together I wasn’t sure if even a bird could fly through their branches. The water in the pond was mostly dark and murky, but the area nearest the river still had a bright silver sheen. My intuition told me that I’d see that mysterious person again if I looked into the melted silver, and so I did.

It took a few moments, but I felt like my heart had stopped when I finally saw the reflection of the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. She had a thin face and long, straight hair that was parted in the middle, with a few strands of hair falling into her wide eyes. She gave a faint smile, her eyes lighting up like they were made of stars.

I turned around, this time reaching out to grab one of her hands at the same time. She didn’t resist and widened her smile as she met my eyes. I saw now that her hair was the purest of whites and her eyes a very saturated violet. My intuition told me she was “pale,” though in reality my eyes saw that her skin tone was slightly brown, much like my own. I guess my intuition wanted to express something like “pale as a ghost,” because she most definitely seemed to be someone not from this world.

“Who are you?” I asked in a whisper.

“Hmm...why don’t you tell me who you are, first?” Even her voice was beautiful, the sweetest melody I’ve ever heard. I felt compelled to follow her every command.

“I’m--”

Just then, a sudden burst of thunder snapped me away from my thoughts, and I looked up to see shimmering pieces of what looked like glass fall from the sky. I quickly looked back down so they wouldn’t get into my eyes, but a few shards ripped down my arms, and I let go of the girl’s hand and fell backwards, catching myself just before I hit the ground.

And then, it seemed like time itself had stopped.

Oh. Wait.

I’m dreaming.

None of this is real.

That’s why my “intuition” has been so loud. That’s why I’m calmer than I should be even though this place is so terrifying.

With this realization, I immediately felt the tug that let me know that if I focused hard enough, I’d be able to wake myself up. But, of course, I didn’t want to wake up until I found out more about the mysterious girl that had given me the prettiest smile I had ever seen. Was love at first sight real after all?

But, even though I was only in a daze for a few moments, the love of my life had already started skipping away from me. Her back shone with blue feathers for a moment, blue feathers that seemed to be made of flames, but her wings were quickly extinguished by the rain. I immediately ran after her.

“Wait, can’t we talk? Who are you?” I called.

I heard her giggle as I ran closer to her, and I was very, very, close to touching her when I suddenly tripped over a tree root that seemed to have burst out of nowhere. However, instead of falling onto the ground, a hole opened up beneath me, and there was a flurry of leaves and vines that obscured my vision and suddenly I was pulled downward into what looked like an open mouth surrounded by fangs. It reminded me of a Venus Flytrap, except, well, it was entirely dark indigo without any traces of green, and the “fangs” looked very, very sharp.

Although I knew my mind was about to wake me up from this nightmare, I still felt the terror that came with the feeling that I was about to die. I could feel so vividly the vine that was wrapped so tightly around my leg and dragging me down into the throat and stomach of this strange and vicious plant-like beast.

Well, at least I didn’t lose any teeth this time.

These anxiety dreams are really getting to me.

Maybe the Universe is telling me to stop being such a mess.

As I plunged into the darkness, I felt spikes scratching my entire body, and the pain felt so devastatingly real. Wasn’t I supposed to have woken up already? I was basically on the brink of “death.” Why was this taking so long?

Unless...was this actually...

Just then, a set of small, bright purple lights invaded my vision and started flickering rapidly, setting small pinpricks of afterimages in my eyes every time I blinked. I didn’t know where these lights were coming from, but they made the whole situation seem even more dangerous, and I still couldn’t push through the barrier that would allow me to wake myself up. I was really starting to panic now. Was I actually going to die for real?

This wasn’t fair. I’d barely even gotten to experience life. And now, I’ll just die being known as the girl who was forever a disappointment to everyone around her.

Right as I was starting to mumble my final apologies to the world, my vision was swarmed with various shades of brown that consumed the indigos and blacks that I had been engulfed in until now, eventually arranging themselves into some sort of gritty texture. And when my eyes were completely consumed, I found I was finally able to properly open my mouth, so I screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

Universe, I’m sorry I doubted your power.