Blemish

Her eyes opened and her neck ached. She remembered nothing but the last remnants of a fleeting dream. An argument? A fight? The harder she tried to remember the quicker the memory fled. She was left staring into a white, ethereal world. She laid her head back and it hit something hard and rough. It scratched her scalp through the hair. Tree.

She remembered, now. She sat down at a tree to think, or avoid thinking, she couldn't remember. I must've fallen asleep. But how? This is no sleeping position. She pulled herself up from her sitting position and stretched, discovering many more sore muscles. The world was a wispy white. She could see the tree behind her and the grass continue for a few more steps, but beyond was lost in mist.

Why did I come out here? Where did this fog come from? Am I near enough to the lake? Could the lake cause fog this thick? What was I avoiding? Was I avoiding something? Why can't I remember?

She began to rub her sore muscles. As the pain began to subside she remembered that it worked because nerves that pass on touch sent the signal faster than nerves that pass on pain. Why did I remember that, she wondered. Stupid.

She still couldn't remember the concrete. All she did was feel. She felt as though she was mad before. Anguished, tired, exhausted. Emotions. No thoughts or memories, simply emotions. Thank you Mr. Amygdala for provided emotions with no attached thoughts or memories. Again, she cursed herself for recalling trivial information. Stupid.

She couldn't orient herself. She knew where the tree was. But she couldn't remember what side of the tree she fell asleep on. She didn't know which direction was which and the permeating fog was preventing her from seeing any landmarks. I can take a chance and just walk, she thought. I may choose the right direction and end up home. Or I could walk into the lake. Her short-lived hope died with the admittance of the somber thought.

She thought of sitting back down and waiting for the air to clear. I've been out her a while, she thought. If I waste more time I'll end up spending the night out here.

She couldn't go anywhere and she couldn't sit and wait. She found herself circling the tree, wider circles with each pass until the tree was barely visible at the focal. She didn't stop there. She found herself skirting the edges. Taking a few steps out 'til the tree was out of site; closing her eyes and spinning to disorient herself. No matter how her conscious self wanted to give up the tether and go out into the wild, her subconscious self knew how dangerous it would be to abandon the the single constant she had here. She couldn't confuse herself. Every time she found herself returning to the tree.

She found herself shivering as the cold came in. She knew she would have to make a decision, to prepare for night, or to choose a direction. She started rubbing her arms to keep warm, but it wasn't enough to keep her teeth together. Stupid! Why did I come out here?

She began blowing on her cold hands and rubbing them together vigorously, recalling that it was the preripheral extremities that lost flow the quickest when the body was threatened with cold temperatures. Stupid. Why did I remember that? She stood there breathing and shaking and she heard a noise. The noise repeated a few more times. Off in the distance she saw a shape. It moved. She saw the pattern, the noise would repeat a few times, then the shape would move closer. Noise. Move. Noise. Move.

It wasn't moving directly towards her. It seemed to be following a concentric pattern like she did with the tree. The shape would move, but not close enough to become clear in sound or sight. She found herself following it, keeping equal distance between them with every new movement, or at least she thought. She must have gotten closer to it. After a few rounds of noise, move, noise, move, the shape stopped. It turned and faced her. It seemed to pause, considering her. It then ran.

She didn't know what to expect. But it didn't matter, she didn't have time. Before she knew it she was wrapped up in arms and lifted off the ground.

"I found you! I'm so glad I found you."

The shape placed her on the ground and she saw who it was. Him.

"You," she said. Suddenly the dream, the reason she came out here, what she was avoiding, all of it came back.