Myths: The Folklore Trilogy

Chapter 3-In Which My Life Gets Infinitly Worse

The first thing I noticed was the smell, which was strange to me, because usually smell is not the first thing you notice...ever.

It smelled clean and sterile, like a doctor's office. I pried my eyes open. Everything was fuzzy. I blinked a few times. I didn't recognize anything...

I heard someone shout, "She's awake!"

I sat up slowly. My vision cleared, and suddenly I felt fine. But I still didn't recognize where I was. There was a sink in the corner...and a red box on the wall...and a man in a white coat talking to someone at the door...

Oh. I WAS in a doctor's office.

At the sound of the shout, the man turned toward me. He rushed over and tried to persuade me to lay down, but I ignored him.

"No, you don't understand, I feel fine, I really do!"

The woman he was talking to stepped into the room. "You really feel fine? No dizziness, headache, nausea?"

I shook my head. "I feel great."

My mother rushed over to me. She must have been the one who shouted. "Are you sure? You were out for a long time, sweetie. From what I heard from Ms. Pinelis, this may be the longest one yet. At school you only fainted for a few minutes at most..."

I sat silently. I didn't really know what to say.

The woman stepped forward and began examining my face. She was a tall, intimidating person with long, jet-black hair. She tilted her head a little. "Sierra, how many times have you fainted today?"

The question took me by surprise. "Uh, four I think."

She smiled and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Then I think you should lie back down."

I was confused and opened my mouth to ask her something, when I froze.

I had time to think, "How did she know?"

Then the pain hit. Hard.

It was definitely worse this time. It was as if someone set millions of needles on fire and began jamming them into my skin and twisting them around. I tried to scream but suddenly all the air was sucked from my body and I jolted, gasping for air. I heard a scream in the distance...but then something slammed into my gut, and the world was dark.

Light. I could see it, feel it, breathe it. I was beauty. I was vivacity. I was light. I laughed. I could sense it, creativity and imagination, swirling through my body like smoke. I was more abstract than concrete, values that people hold dear. I laughed again, full of joy and love of life. Suddenly I ran forward and jumped into the air. My heart soared, and I followed it.

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I could hear someone laughing. Laughing? It was a weird, almost crazy laugh. I opened my eyes slowly. My stomach hurt. And I was shaking. My vision cleared. My mother was hovering over me, looking scared. "Sierra? Sierra honey are you ok?" I was about to open my mouth to tell her I was fine, and then realized that it was already open.

Oh. I was the one laughing.

I shut my mouth quickly, but all that did was make me giggle. I tried to swallow it down, but that made a half-strangled cat noise, which made me laugh even harder.

Suddenly I felt a cool object on my forehead. A wave of calm ran over me, and the laughing slowly ceased. I sat up fast. My mom was looking at the black haired lady. "What was that..." She said warily.

"A device to calm the reaction," she said putting something in her purse. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with people in her condition, you know."