SHINHYE

It hurts…

I breathed in slow, painful gasps, unable to open my eyes. Random images flashed in my mind in succession, but without a certain order. I saw Jinhae, clinging for dear life, her nails biting to my skin as she held on tightly to my arm. I see light. It was too bright, that I could not discern where it was coming from…unearthly, mysterious. Then I saw Mrs. Nam chasing after us, pulling my necklace harshly, making the metal grate against my nape before snapping. The next thing I knew, I was inside a small chamber, trapped with no way out. It was illogical as water walls guarded me from every side. I couldn’t concentrate on the images for too long as they were gone before I could reach for them.

I was dying.

Throughout that ordeal, my thoughts were battling about what’s real and not. I remembered breaking out of the water wall, struggling to get out of the chamber, but I felt an overwhelming sensation coursing through my body, throwing me back to the seat of what seemed to be an ancient carriage. Flashes of blinding colors that were reflected on the odd walls made me nauseous. I knew we were going too fast. My twin sister was screaming, begging me to explain what was going on, but all I could do was look at her. They were but mere images, yet they seemed real. I knew for sure that I was in the middle of a nightmare. I would just have to wake up and everything would be back to normal.

“Shin!” someone called. I looked around me, but I couldn’t find anyone around. It was just dark, but the voice echoed in my head. I opened my mouth to answer, forming words, but nothing came out. My throat was hurting, but I couldn’t even hear myself calling. What happened anyway? Why do I hurt everywhere? Why was it so dark?

I saw another bright light, like that of a door opening and closing, mocking me to come and enter. Maybe that was the key to this endless darkness. I ran after it, but the nearer I came to it, the more it was closing. Damn it, what’s wrong with me? I was out of breath and even if I wanted to rest and stop breathing the way I did, I couldn’t. I was afraid of two things: that door closing and the thought that my lungs would burst. I don’t know if a mere human could even last after such pain. I felt like I’ve been hit by a bus or train.

A burning sensation suddenly coursed through my back, making me more aware of what was happening though I didn’t know what it was exactly. The light became brighter and I realized that I was slowly opening my eyes to the morning light. It was morning? The sun shone brightly through the leaves of the tree overhead and I found myself staring directly at it. 

I was alive.

Though that was the case, the fact that I felt like my body weighed a ton didn’t go away. Seeing trees brought comfort to me, but then, I’ve heard birds singing and I saw them flying. Was this how it felt when one hits her head hard? I managed to chuckle, but it turned into a fit of cough when I felt searing pain in my throat. The harsh reality hit me when I felt the wind blowing against my bare skin. I shouldn’t be seeing birds or trees at all. There are no trees or birds where I live. Aside from that, I was supposed to be moving in to another house which I haven’t found yet. Did I end up sleeping in the park with my sister?

I abruptly got up, scared beyond comprehension when I saw that I was a few feet from the air, sitting on a tree branch. What the hell was I doing on top of a tree?! I tried to hold on, but I lost my balance and fell onto the earth, making dried leaves fly up to the air and fall on me. I landed facedown and I felt something hit against my forehead just above my left eyebrow. My palms were scratched badly as well. I heaved myself up, enduring the stinging sensation on my hands. I tried to stand up. My ankles were a bit sore and I looked dirty. The sleeve of my periwinkle body-hugger was torn and my snickers were untied. 

How unlucky. After tying my shoelace, I tried to assess my own body. I still hurt all over and I didn’t have any sense as to what part of me was hurting more. I felt sticky all over. It was too warm and humid that I was having a hard time breathing. If I wasn’t mistaken, it was supposed to be winter, but wherever I looked, there was just lush greenery, only beginning to discolor. That means it’s mid-summer and that doesn’t make sense.

I’ve started having a funny feeling on my stomach when I realized that I was alone. I didn’t panic though. Jinhae could be anywhere near. I decided to look around for her, walking around in circles until I stumbled on something, making me almost lose my balance. It was my trolley suitcase and not a yard from it was my backpack and my camera. What were they doing strewn all over the place?

“Jinhae?” I called out, but all I could hear was my voice echoing through the woods. I continued calling out even as I picked up my belongings and checked on my camera. It wasn’t damaged in anyway, but that’s the last thing I needed to worry about. The blistering sun was beating down on me. I’ve just realized that I had a cut on my forehead, now dripping with blood. Frustrated, I tore off my sleeve and tried and made a makeshift bandage for it. It stopped bleeding after a minute of walking around the seemingly endless forest.

It was probably an hour before I realized that I was actually lost. I couldn’t make anything out of what was happening to me. Jinhae was nowhere to be seen and I was worried to death about her. Some wild animal might be attacking her at the moment. I really hated the forest. Why did I have to be lost inside one anyway? What happened before I ended up here? Where’s my sister? More questions popped out of my mind and what’s unsettling was the fact that I didn’t have answers for them.

I brought out my phone from my pocket, but I doubted that there was signal where I was. I was right. I checked the time. It wasn’t running. It’s still six twelve. Okay, that’s weird. I was reminded of what happened before I lost consciousness. It was as if time stopped and it’s morning yet the time was still the same. Feeling more scared than I already was when I woke up, I tried to convince myself that there was just a huge geomagnetic storm that destroyed all the clocks and phones in the world. That made sense to me. My surroundings didn’t. 

I just stared at my phone. It must have been an hour since I’ve left the place where I’ve woken up and I was feeling really tired already. I used the screen of my phone as a mirror to check on the cut on my forehead. Suddenly, I heard a loud whooshing sound from behind me, very much like the sound of huge bird wings folding back. I ignored it and continued looking at myself when I saw an odd figure at the corner of the screen. I narrowed my eyes, looking closely at it. I made out the shape of a bird’s head that kept tilting in different directions. 

“What now?” I muttered to myself as I turned around to face the bird, but to my horror, it wasn’t what I was expecti