Green Eyes - Chapter 2

Before, I lived in a nice house, my family was comfortable, I had good grades in school and a wide group of friends. My life was perfect. But then everything I had ever known to be true, stable and solid was thrown upside down. My whole life changed forever; nothing could ever be the same. In that one day, three days ago, my world was hit by a hurricane.
It was a Thursday. I was just eating breakfast when I first heard the screams from down the street. I dropped my spoon and it clattered onto the table, spilling milk and cereal down my top. I froze. These weren't “I've seen a spider” screams. They were loud and filled the air with fear, a fear that ran deep through my veins and made me shiver uncomfortably. I left my food and went to the window, looking out down the street. Not only were there people running down the street, there was smoke and burning debris littered the normally pristine road. I stood, shocked, staring at the destruction. Nothing had ever happened like this. I was brought back to reality as someone, something, opened fire on the house next door. The sound of bullets spraying across their windows was loud, louder than I would have thought. But what would I know? I’d only ever seen violence in movies. The screams were getting louder.
I turned and ran upstairs, into my brother’s room. He was only six. He lay in his bed, in a deep sleep. I picked him up and ran into my parent’s room. They told me to run, grab as much food and warm clothes and run into the forest, run as far away as possible. I didn’t know why I was running, why they kept my brother but something told me they were right.
And run I did. I passed screaming kids lying on the pavement with blood pouring out their arms, I passed dead bodies and burning houses, but I did not stop for anything. I ran until my legs burned and sweat ran down my face even in the cold air, I ran until I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. By nightfall, I was deep within the forest and the snow had begun. Lightly at first, just a few small drops of sleet in the cold night air. By morning, the ground was covered in a thick blanket at least a foot deep. I didn’t stop. I had stopped running and instead was walking, preserving my energy before I collapsed. I'd eaten as little as possible, but supplies were low to begin with. A loaf of bread, a bunch of bananas and 2 bars of chocolate. I’d been rushed and I didn’t think straight when I packed. And now, I pay the price. My stomach rumbled louder than the gunshots by the second night, and my food stores were dangerously low.



Four days in, and my pace had slowed considerably. I’d never been for more than a day without food. I was shaking slightly; I wasn't sure if it was from the cold, the piercing chill that seemed to penetrate my bones, or from my hunger. I was losing my energy, slowly but surely. I was dying.
The sun slipped in and out of the clouds all day. My mind slipped in and out of sanity; I lost track of my thoughts, my feet walked in their own direction but I could not straighten my course. I stumbled on for hours, days, for years and centuries I could have walked through that forest that seemed to never end. My body ached, I felt bruised and tired and my arms and legs shook uncontrollably. I needed to stop, the ground looked so inviting. My legs threatened to collapse at any moment, but I had to keep going. I had to find the farmers, save my family. My family. The thought of them spurred me on for just a moment; they gave me energy to keep walking. But it only lasted so long. Their faces in my mind were soon replaced with the little boy from down the road with his arm mangled and bleeding, his little face twisted with pain, his screams piercing the air. He was just a little younger than my brother. It was then that I stopped.
I stopped walking, I stopped moving, I stopped breathing. I was barely even thinking. I couldn’t go on. My legs, shuddering in the cold crisp air, collapsed under me, and I fell to the soft pine needles and leaves that covered the ground. I blinked, again and again until my eyes could not open any more, until I really let myself go. I don’t know what happened, but everything went black inside my head, and I felt a fleeting moment of absolute bliss, complete and utter euphoria that filled my body like blood. Is this what its like to die? It’s nice, I think. Nicer than the thought of death, we all have such a fear of death but this is nothing to be scared of. Painless, I feel like I’m floating, like I’m flying, like I’m swimming in a pool of happiness. Consciousness soon starts to slip from my grasp, but I don’t try resist. Something, someone, lifts me up gently, holding me with warm arms. Maybe it’s an angel. I’ll never know, and I think I smile as I slip between the waves of consciousness that I’ve been drowning in.



The world blurs and shifts above me, colors and shapes looming in and out of focus. I close my eyes, sinking back into my dream world that was so much nicer than the blinding lights and shaky vision of the real world.



I’m swimming, diving and dancing in a deep blue world that never ends, that never has a floor or a surface. The water rushes through my bones and around and around my mind. I kick and kick but the water doesn’t stop, the light above me doesn’t get any closer and suddenly I’m drowning, I’m dying, suffocating in a world that was once so calm. In the sea, the ocean that I once paddled in with my friends, looked for fish with my brother in, is now killing me. I can’t tell if I’m dying from the inside or the outside, if I'm killing myself or if it’s killing me. I no longer know if I am fighting the sea, or if the sea is fighting me.



I stop fighting. Or the sea stops fighting me. I sink, slowly, slowly, deeper into the water. The sea is cold now; no longer is it full of bliss and happiness. It’s cold, dark. I see figures, people moving and swimming around me. I scream but nothing comes out. They’re coming closer, but the current is pulling me away. I want to open my arms, swim towards them and fall asleep in their dark arms, listening to their slow breaths warm against my neck. Feel their soft hair stroke my skin, as tender as their hands are rough on mine. But the figure, he just slips back into the shadows. I’m not even sure if he was real. I’m not sure what is real, and what it isn’t anymore.
The sky blossoms a beautiful clear blue, miles and miles above me. I want to touch the sky, pull the blue down as if it is paper, rip it into a million pieces. I try lift just a finger, but I can’t. I’m so, so tired. I’ve slept for a thousand nights and being awake is just a distant memory to me. I want to close my eyes, but the darkness threatens to pull me down again and I know the light is the only thing keeping me going. Everything feels heavy.
My throat feels cracked and dry as I swallow, and I wonder how many days have passed since I last drank. The air is crisp and cool, but my body is warm and I barely notice the cold. I realize there is a blanket over me, thick, woollen. I’m lying on what feels like pine needles. I look around, confused. So, so confused. Why am I under a blanket? Why am I warm? Why am I alive? My mind spins. The trees loom over me, threateningly, as if they could collapse at any moment. I twist my head a little further, and I jump with shock. A boy, about my age, sits across from me, his dark green eyes focusing on me. The green reminds me of the forest. He smiles a little, and I relax. He has tan skin that looks tired and weathered, as if he’s been outside for a long, long time. His messy flop of black hair is curly and sits atop his head, like a birds nest. His clothes, thin and loose, had holes and rips and he wasn’t wearing shoes, but he didn’t look cold.
“Hello,” he begins, standing up and making his way towards me. I quiver and shrivel away from him, but he doesn’t stop. He sits down next to me. I don’t know how to respond. I can’t run, my legs are like lead. He smells of the forest, of sweat and dirt and pine trees. “My name is Kaia, and I just saved your life”