>•~Falling Upwards~•<

Chapter One: Helping Hand

(Sometime after...)

~???~

A hand,
A helping hand,
Twisted out,
To be covered in thorns.

Thorns.
Your thorns,
Dig so deep; hurt so much;
Why do I fear pulling them out?

~*~

Pain.

That is what I feel. That is what covers me, similar to a blanket. However, this blanket holds no good. This blanket does not relate to the type usually considered to comfort a small child, of which I am not. No, it pins me down. Struggling, I am, to lift this off of me.

The weight of it is unbearable. All my senses; all I am, has been pulled deep into some dark abyss. I feel as though I am falling. I am falling, somewhere unknown. I am falling into a world no one can truly comprehend. Only I can, but even I am not able to make this out.

Who I am, or rather, who I was, has slipped off. A sandy breeze strikes through me. This helps to rake my thoughts out, so I am nothing more than one of these grains of sand, all just hustling by.

Slowly, my pinned-down blanket slips off. A heavy pressure no longer clouds over me. I feel... almost lighter? Yet, a bitter pain still stems its way all throughout me. It has rooted itself deep into who I am, and will not cease to release its grip.

Slowly, I can feel myself again. Perhaps, what I was. I am no longer sure who I was, or what I am now. I open my eyes and immediately, an excess of light streams right to my face. My head now pangs with additional pain. All seems numb, compared to the need I have to accomplish something.

So, I push myself up. Sand has whirled through me, and covered me. Everywhere, I see sand. From where it clouds my eyes, my nose, and stings at all of the bitter cuts which cloud my body. The sand continues to travel from my puny body, to cover this vast land I find myself in.

'What...?' I manage to think; my head only slowly unmuzzling itself from the delirious state I was in.

  A large cloud has passed over me. From the shadows it casts, I realize just how hot it was before. The sun's fire had burned so much, that it did not feel hot anymore. It felt cold.

  Not only I relish in the new shade. The rest of this valley does too. The sand, which had seemed to scream out, as it reflected the light it held in all directions, now lay asleep. Peace has come to it. Even if this peace would only last another moment before the sun came back.

  So, it did. Perhaps my thoughts summoned it again. Perhaps I am loosing it. I laugh. I laugh harder, and harder. Maybe I am dreaming all of this, and none of it is real.

  I stare dead at it. I feel my eyes torching up, from the sun's flames licking at me. I want to scream. I want to yell at it for bringing me here. What my old life may have been like, well, I do not know. All I know is this sandy bowl I sit in, as everyone here inside it bathes in fire.

  Except, I am the only one here. Not only that, but I cannot find my voice. Whatever was left of it had perished in my weary laughs. My throat is parch, and my stomach shrivels up like a raisin in the sun. I am that raisin.

  I grow more tired, and fall back down. Maybe I will just fade off. That would be a fun idea. After all, who am I? Why do I exist? What is my purpose here?

  I give into the strong urges to rest. My eyes slam shut. I am left in relief, just as the sand here was when the sun was covered by that singular cloud. Darkness comes to carry me off from whatever world I found myself in.

~*~

  Claws rake my ears, with the sounds of something, or rather, someone, coming towards me. I find my strength to push myself up. First I put weight onto my arms, and then try to sit up. My weak body can hardly manage, and I fall down.

  "It's alive?" I hear this "someone" murmur. Possible excitement is laced in, I will go with calling "someone" as just "someone"'s tone.

  'It?' I think; anger wretches through me.

  From the pain from the previous day, to "someone" calling me "it", I am far from happy. Also the lack of food. Also water. The sand around me must be having a laugh.

  I take note of the pretty sky. The hot sun, which had strongly contrasted with the bright blue sky, is now gone. Instead, a stunning dark sky has taken its place. Dotted on it, are little stars. They seem so happy. I want to be a star.

  I begin to close my eyes again. Maybe when I wake up again, I will be a star. Maybe that is where the dead go. I smile to myself. However, my hopes are crushed, when that "someone" whacks me with a damn stick.

  "It's dead?" Stupid "someone" says now.

  If I had more strength, I would whack him. He stares down at me, with messy possible brown hair covering his head. I stare back at him, at those stupid dark blue eyes. The audacity. He did not let me just fade off from my pain.

  "It's alive?" He says again.

  I take a long, deep breath. With all my might, I force out my singular, enraged word. "Yes."

  Maybe if I were stronger, I could have told him that I am a girl. I am not an "it".  Seriously, does this guy not have any social skills? Firstly, he does not let me die, and secondly, he keeps calling me an "it"!

  He smiles, and sticks out his hand. "Oh good. I was worried; you are in pretty bad shape."

  I reach for his hand, but suddenly am forced to pull my arm back. A series of coughs come out through me. Too much sand had clogged up, and my throat is already burning — Without having no water.

  "Someone" helps me onto my feet, after he saw that I am incapable of taking his hand. I look down; a bit upset at my state. I still cannot find the words to say sorry, nor the words to tell him I am a girl, but I just hope this will do.

  Once I am finally on my feet, that pain shoots, and throbs its way back up through me. This pain, which had been subdued while I was lying down, roots from my abdomen. I bend over, and let out a small cry. My hands quickly find their way to the spot, and when I pull them back, they are covered with red.

  We, myself and "someone", both let out a gasp. All I can focus on, is the red on my hands. It shimmers, like a jewel; like a ruby, in the moonlight. Each little star reflects in the small puddle which has begun to form at our feet.

  That is when I notice a knife, which has been soaked in the same red material that has drenched my hands. Right beside where I used to lay. "Someone" chatters his way to me. I cannot make out a word.

  I feel dizzy, and start to rock back and forth. The world starts to spin on its side again. He holds me still, so I will not fall back down on my spot in the sand. Nausea is at stake, on top of what feels to be lightning dashing through me, from the spot where I had been...

What happened to me?

Who the hell am I?