By: Aradhya Malladi, Grade 10 B 

The story won 1st place in Literati ‘Story writing’ event
I open my eyes, my surroundings completely blurry, as if hidden from me. Slowly, my eyes begin to focus on the distinct, dark shapes in the distance until I find myself lying on a field engulfed in grass. I push myself off the ground, a searing pain overcoming my body as I stumble on to my feet cautiously. I mumble to myself.

“This is obviously a dream.”
I look around. A deadly silence hangs in the air, no sign of anyone to accompany me.
“It’ll be over soon.”
I glance at my feet, now covered with bruise like spots.
“Or not.”
I gulp as I make my way forward, the grass slinging my feet with every step I take.
“God, I wish I had shoes.”
That very instant, a pair of converses drops down, landing in the grass in front of me.
“Well then,” I put them on, relieved. “That certainly helps.”
As I continue forward, my eyes dart every which way; my heart begins to throb in my chest; and I feel my knees buckle as I approach a dark and seemingly endless forest, strange noises echoing from its depths. I take a step forward, which is immediately followed by a strong gust of wind.
“Escape.”
I read aloud, my glance fixated upon a sign uncovered by the wind.
“Okay. I can do this. I am not a coward. It’s only a forest. A really creepy one, but that doesn’t matter.”
I begin to walk inside the forest. Strangely, as I continue to walk forward, the forest begins to brighten, as though by unseen lights in the sky that turn on one at a time.
“This is actually relaxing,” I laugh. “Oh, who am I kidding? I am terrified.”
I plaster on a fake smile as I walk, deeper and deeper, into the forest.
After an hour of walking, I sit down to rest, leaning onto a hollow tree; its strength absolutely astounds me. I close my eyes, praying for the dream to end. As I am on the verge of drifting off into sleep, a monstrous noise awakens me. My eyes open, only to be blinded by a brilliant light. As the light dims, I see a progressing image: a little girl skipping ecstatically to school, being greeted by her friends. I smile, but not for long, as my head begins to ache uncontrollably. The video continues.
“No. Please stop,” the girl stays, now cornered by a group of children, mischievous smiles on their faces. It fades and I see the happy little girl, now sobbing in the corner of her class, alone.
The image disappears, and the pain in my head is gone, vanishing as suddenly as it began.
“Great. I’m in a weird forest and now I’m hallucinating. And what’s up with this headache?”
I rub my head and get up, completely disoriented.
I continue to encounter vivid images at almost every nook and cranny of the forest. My feet are bruised and mysteriously swollen; my arms are limp; my head continues to throb, overwhelmed by the sudden flashes of light and the relentless memories I see, of a little girl who grew up too fast.
I see the pain in her eyes as she watches her father leave her family. I see the depth of emotion that she puts in her music as she watches everybody abandon her. I see her in bed, with excruciating thoughts in her mind as she has mental breakdowns. Who is this girl? As I wonder, it dwells on me.
“Who am I?” I whisper to myself. I realize now that I cannot remember a single thing about me. My name, my age, my likes, my dislikes: not a single ounce of knowledge in my mind.
“Why is this happening to me?” I sob. “I want to leave. I need to leave.”
I sit on the forest floor, my sobs going unheard in this peculiar place.
Amidst my pain, I look up. If I want to leave, I need to face this. Whatever kind of a sick experience this is, I have a gut feeling that I have to keep going. I will never reach the end if I don’t. I push myself up until I am standing on my feet and I walk. Now I hear a faint voice seemingly coming from some place afar.
“Mama. Come back.”
I hold my tears as I urge myself to go ahead. I do not know whose voice I just heard, but every inch of my soul tells me to go forward. So I do just that.
Memories continue to engulf my being. I see this girl growing up, becoming a strong woman that truly overcomes any obstacle that comes her way.
Finally, my rapid footsteps slow down as I see a magnificent white barrier in front of me. An excruciating pain now fills my head and every inch of my body, as thousands of voices are all mixed into each other, flooding my mind, along with images: images that I now see are of laughter; of joy; of pure nirvana. I need to run. I scream, my power stronger than ever, as I run into the barrier.
“She’s opening her eyes!” My eyes flutter open, focussing on a figure in front of me: a boy, with the most curious eyes I have ever seen, and a girl standing next to me, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Moma. Thank you for coming back.”
My son. My daughter. Everything comes flooding back into my mind: the experience I have just been through, my family, the car accident I have been in.
“Your mom’s quite the fighter, ain’t she now?”
A man in a white coat walks slowly up to me.
“I’ve never seen a recovery quite that fast in my entire career!”
The man comes up to me.
“You’re a great mom, Anna. I hope you know that. The only thing that could’ve made you wake up from a coma that fast is your love for your children.”
I smile. I escaped.
THE END