10 Feet Down (Original Version)

Chapter 26

When I was little, I scraped my knee pretty bad while playing on the playground at church. I thought it was the end of the world because there was so much blood dripping down my leg and my knee was aching and bruised and swollen. I cried a lot and was so scared because of how much blood there seemed to be. I was also sad because some of the blood had gotten onto my Sunday dress. But once my wound was cleaned up, band aids were put on, and my dress was wiped off, I felt a lot better. My tears dried and I went right back to playing like nothing had ever happened.

I wish I was that little girl again who thought the end of her world was only a scrape on her knee. She didn't have anything else to worry about besides going back out to play with the other kids on the playground. She wasn't phased by anything.

Right now, I feel like I'm walking inside my own consciousness. Everything around me feels light and fuzzy. I am surrounded by complete darkness. I walk through the pitch blackness, my steps echoing in my ear, and goosebumps rise up on my arms. I feel so cold that I can see my breath in front of me. I look down and there's a thin mist around my feet. As I walk aimlessly with no sense of direction, my footsteps sound hallow. I don't know how long I walk in the darkness or how long I've been inside here.

It's silent besides my own steps, but then muffled sounds come from overhead and they keep getting louder and louder. I put my hands up to cover my ears just as I start to feel pain course throughout my body. I cry out loud in agony and the sounds get even more overpowering like they're right next to me. I bend down, trying to wrap my arms around my whole body, and fall to my knees groaning. The loud sounds are relentless and bursting my eardrums. My body feels like it's being set on fire, burning and pain everywhere, like thousands of needles sticking rapidly into my skin. I start seeing bright flashing lights in front of me and my head feels dizzy from the strobing lights that are moving too fast for me to keep up with. Everything gets blurry, disoriented, and exaggerated. It's now very overwhelming and I can't even think anymore against the heavy noise. My mind is full of hallucinations and psychedelic colors. I scream at the top of my lungs over the excruciating pain and crescendo that consume me.

My eyes shut, my body falls, and everything goes silent. I feel myself falling down, drowning into a black vat of endless chaos.

Then there's more darkness and I am still cold.

I don't feel like I ever hit solid ground, but I feel like I am now laying on something soft. I can hear someone talking again, this time it's not muffled and distorted. There's soft murmuring, some shuffling of feet, and then I hear a door close. My eyelids feel extremely heavy, but I slowly open my eyes, the bright overhead lights are blinding to me. I look at the plain white ceiling above and then slowly turn my head down. I am laying in a hospital bed and an IV drip is in my arm. My vision appears a little blurry and my mouth is dry like cotton. I blink my eyes rapidly to get rid of the blurriness. A sharp pain comes to my head and I clutch my head, letting out a groan.