Wind

• • F I V E • •

"Why were you following me?"

"I don't know," I mumbled.

A long pause.

"Get out of my truck," Joshua finally said.

I didn't move.

"I said get out."

My fingers fumbled with the seat belt. Finally, I depressed the red button, and it released. I reached for the handle of the door. It swung open with a creak. As I stepped out, my right foot slipped on the side of the truck. I tumbled to the ground and landed on my hands and knees.

Pain coursed through my arms like tiny shards of glass. The ground was soaked. It seemed like a good place for a nap. I closed my eyes and let my arms sink into the mud.

"Get up."

There was a firm kick to my side, right against my ribs. Sharp pain pulsed through my body. I opened my eyes and looked up.

Joshua glared down at me. He bent over and grabbed me by both arms, right above my elbows, and yanked me to my feet. He examined my eyes, first my right, and then my left.

My eyes crossed as he looked at me. My vision doubled.

"You aren't going to remember a fucking thing, are you?"

I mumbled incoherently in response.

"Come on, I need you to help me with something."

• • •

Joshua and I stood behind his truck. There was something in the bed. It was big. It was covered in a tarp.

Lightning flashed. The tarp was blue.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Dogs howled and cried. Clouds covered the sky.

The tarp billowed in the wind.

• • •

The tarp lay folded up haphazardly on the ground next to me. The wind roared, threatening to carry it away like a blue-canvas sail on the sea. I stepped on it with my foot. It whined and bucked, trying to escape. I imagined that it was a cape.

"Harper!"

Joshua was in the bed of the truck. There was a crate next to him. The crate was larger than me. It reached up to Joshua's shoulder and was nearly twice as long. It was three feet wide.

Joshua spat and blinked his eyes repeatedly as icy rain showered us. "Help me get this down."

• • •

My hands slipped and the crate dropped an inch before I caught it again. Splintered wood sliced into my palms, but I couldn't feel it. My entire body was numb.

"Don't fucking drop it, Harper!"

There was another bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder. Deep red stained the wood in thin streaks where my hands had slipped. I ignored it. I gained a better grasp, pressing my palms into the wood. I strained to lift the heavy weight.

We kept moving.

• • •

Rain pelted the tin roof above. We were inside, but the wood was still slippery.

I went down stairs. One step after another. Each step felt like an eternity. The smell of earth and dust and mildew filed the space like a fog.

"Do you have it?"

The crate bumped down the steps. i blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the dim light. The smell of damp rot and mildew grew stronger with each step, suffocating me. I felt like I was going to throw up. My head spun, and I shut my eyes and saw deep red. I stopped where I stood. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to sleep.

"Get a grip!" a voice shouted. I thought I recognized the voice, but I couldn't place it. "If you let go, this is going down on top of you."

My mind pulsed in and out of consciousness. I imagined I was climbing a ladder. I imagined clouds. I imagined flying, soaring, a great wind carrying me away like the last leaf on a tree when autumn turns to winter.

"Harper!"

I opened my eyes and stared in front of myself, trying to focus. In the distance, dogs cried. The roar of the wind combined with their voices in a sickening howl.

"Don't let go!"

I didn't let go. I pressed my hands against the crate, and I continued down the stairs.

• • •

The seat of the truck was wet. Heavy rain echoed off the roof like gunfire. Wind whistled through the tiny cracks where the seals of the windows didn't quite fit.

"Don't follow me again."

I nodded.

"Stay out of this."

I nodded.

I opened the door of the truck and stumbled out. My clothes were covered in mud. I was soaking wet. My arms and my back ached. My jeans stuck to my legs, and my sweater clung to my body like a glove. It was torn at the wrists and shredded. My hands were bloody. I was freezing.

The truck's engine roared to life, and it splashed through a puddle, splattering me with cold, muddy water. I watched as it sped away out of sight.

I didn't know where I was.