Lost

Chapter 3: Alive and Alone

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Salma forced her eyes open. Everything seemed foggy and  swam in and out of focus. Through the blur, all she could make out were dark shadows and a bright, shinning orb that hung mid-air.

An Orb?

Her eyes drooped close. Salma felt uncomfortable, like she was sandwiched between lots of weight. Although drowsy and exhausted, her confusion forced her to push open her eyelids again. She blinked a few times to clear her vision.

Through the haze, the fan-like branches of the tree above came into sharper focus. A slow, puzzled frown knotted Salma's brow. Her brain was sluggish and senses dull. The stars peeked at her through the needles of the pine tree. As her lazy gaze fell over the moon, Salma figured it was night time. The feeling that something was not right started kicking in.

Was she out under the open sky? Her mind finally processed the question.

The moment the problem registered in her brain, her senses became much more efficient. The moonlight seeping through the trees penetrated the dark, helping her make the dull outlines of her surroundings. Her ears started picking sounds, but the night was still and all she heard was an owl hooting in the distance. She also began getting more feelings knocked into her system; that was bad. All she felt was pain. Intense, agonizing pain in every inch of her body.

It took Salma sometime to realize she was sprawled over something prickly. Sharp bristles pressed into the soft tissues of her palms. Moving her hands just a little, Salma felt twigs and leaves. She realized her bedding consisted of a thicket of bushes. Surprised, she attempted lifting her head for a better look around.

She winced at the crick in her neck. Her head had been hanging lower than the rest of her body, causing her neck to painfully stretch all the way back. Forcing her stiff arms to move, Salma tried to prop up her elbows as her head threatened to fall back. Leaning again her elbows was a mistake. Pain spiked through the joints like electric shocks shooting straight to her fingertips. Wincing, she quickly slid them back to resting position.

What in the world happened to me?! Salma thought, alarmed.

Her head bounced back, causing a few broken twigs to pinch against her scalp. Salma felt like her skull would detach from her neck any minute and roll all over the place. Shutting her teary eyes, she clenched her teeth in pain.

Why am I hurting all over? She wondered silently as tears rolled out of her closed lids. What happened to me?

After a couple of torturous attempts, Salma somehow managed to sit. The mere effort of sitting darkened her vision and she felt dizzy. A startled cry escaped her lips when the fragile twigs snapped under her weight, making her sink to the ground. Her heart pounded against her chest. Salma sat frozen for a while, waiting for the dizziness to disappear and her heartbeat to stabilize.

Looking around, Salma saw hundreds of trees and plants illuminated by the moonlight. The ground she was sitting on was covered in a number of ferns and grasses. She was still clueless as to her whereabouts. Nothing of her surroundings seemed familiar. She was terrified not knowing how she ended up there, all on her own and knocked out.

Something fluttered above her. Salma's head shot up.

"Ouch!" she gasped, her hands slapping against the sharp pain shooting through her neck.