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Everything smelled like smoke and ash. It was black, tar that surrounded her as she trudged blindly through. She didn't know where she was going, could barely recall her name, but she heard the call all the same, followed it to the light shining at the end of the tunnel.
Was this death? She wondered. It didn't hurt as much as they claimed it would. It was almost peaceful, except for the faint smell of ash in the air, like someone had lit a massive fire before her eyes.
Only it was dark here, nothing guiding the light. She was confused. Her vision was normally exceptional. Now, nothing.
The light grew brighter still as she trudged along, and she let it take her, let it consume her in its heat and glory when she finally reached what looked like the sun.
It reminded her of someone's laugh, but she could not remember who.
❧
She ended up in a garden, somehow. Asphodels, her favorites, danced at her bare toes, the silkiness of them kissing her like butterfly wings on her lips. She walked idly, aware of the people surrounding her, walking in their own meadow leisurely. They were dressed in gowns of white, in tunics of assorted colors.
There was no sun here, but it was warm against her skin, the air, and she never thought she'd feel that again. Didn't know that it was something she could feel again.
She walked aimlessly, more so for enjoyment rather than the need. She could have sat, if she wanted, but there was something comforting about this garden, this community of people who rarely spoke. Only existed.
She wondered if this was death.
She quite liked it.
❧
There was no time here, only endless hours bound by no one. She could do nothing, but she mainly spent her time with a boy named Ezra, building him flower crowns with her asphodels and his chrysanthemums. A tangle of white and pink and blue--like cotton candy, he supplied one session.
"Like cotton candy," she repeated and almost wept at the smile on his face, boyish and innocent as it was. It reminded her of someone long lost, she thought, and she had to turn away before Ezra could see the tears on her face.
This was a place of relaxation, a place where death came and embraced the inhabitants comfortingly instead of with anger and malice.
She was lucky to be here.
Even if she was starting to remember why she was here.
❧
Sometimes, if she was not paying attention, shadows flitted in and out of her vision.
Most of them were too garbled to resemble anything, but she swore--swore--that one of them was a wolf, tall and imposing as she walked with Ezra.
