The Story That Chose Me

Chapter 2 ~ The World Beyond

My eyes snapped open.

The only thing I was aware of in my hazy mind was the great flood of sunlight I seemed to be soaking in. Lying on my back and looking straight up, I noted how the sky seemed extra blue that day, an added sparkle twinkling vibrantly. Cotton like clouds dotted the endlessly reaching heavens, and, as my head cleared, I began feeling the wind sweeping over me like a blanket.

Did I just mention wind?

This was strange, I thought to myself, there wasn’t supposed to be wind here, was there? Something was wrong. It danced around to edge of my waking mind, but I couldn’t quite grab hold of what it was.

Tiredness dripped off me as I sat up, suddenly feeling strangely rejuvenated. I had been doing something previous to this, hadn’t I? I hoped it had not been important, because try as I might, I just could not manage to remember anything from before the moment I woke up here.

It was curious. I felt as though I had awoken from some sort of eternal dream, though I did not know what I had been dreaming of. I knew my name was Neyra Clemons, but other than that, I couldn’t recall anything.

Despite my apparent amnesia, I felt like my body and mind were light, as if a huge weight had just been lifted from my shoulders. I had no idea what said weight had been, but I also had no desire to remember. Perhaps that was what I found strangest about this place, the fact that I didn’t want to know anything.

I suppose I should have been more than worried, waking up in a strange forest with no memories of how I came to be there, but I was not. An unusual calm and peace filled me, completely annihilating any discomforting feelings welling up inside of me. And anyway, who was I to say I had never set foot in this strange world before? Perhaps I had been here several times, and it was my memory that actually failed me.

I hastily stood to my feet. Spinning around, I took my surroundings in. I was in a clearing among a large forest, which stretched farther than my eyes could see. Every colour radiated far brighter than I thought possible, each shade seeming to glow and sing on its own, joining in a harmonious dance that never seemed to end. The very ground beneath my feet appeared to cry out as well, and in my mind it felt as though the trees were more alive than I was.

The strongest sensation I discerned was from the air. There was something about it that stroke far into the recesses of my being, coursing through my entire body with each breath. It was light, unburdened by anything. For reasons I couldn’t understand, it made me feel alive, as if it was no longer just air I breathed in, but life itself.

With nothing to weigh down on my heart, I felt overwhelmingly free. Any lingering desire to remember the dream that had escaped me vanished with the breeze, leaving nothing on my mind. The only thing I could focus on was the fact I felt so overjoyed I was afraid I would not be able to remain grounded, but instead my lightheart would fly me into the sky.

I was so absolutely enraptured in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to dance or sing, to shout out an expression of how marvellous I felt. If I did nothing, I knew I would collapse under this bliss, my heart exploding under the pressure. I needed with everything in me for the world to hear my joy, my soul demanded it.

I lifted my head and shouted into the sky, arms wide open. Hearing myself only made me giggle, which soon turned into rolling attacks of laughter. Spinning myself around as if dancing with an invisible partner, I only laughed more, content to remain forever in my state of ecstasy.

Somewhere along the way my legs gave out, and I tumbled down onto the ground. Lying there, I looked back up at the endless sky. My exhilaration seemed to settle down, leaving me feeling full of unexplainable contentment. For a long moment I remained there, as still as I could, looking out onto the great expansion above me. Taking slow, deliberate breaths, and closing my eyes, I tasted freedom.