A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN FALL

Tala Ladki

When she opened her eyes, all she could see in front of her was grey, no blue sky, no green trees; all she could hear was the high-pitched ringing in her ears.
         She turned her head left and right again and again, panicked. Her hands moved blindly next to her to feel the surface she was now on – not soft earth. Rigid below her, things that feel like shards of glass are poking into her hands, so she stops moving them.
         Open your mouth, she thought, maybe if you scream someone will hear you. But no words came out. She could feel the strain in her throat but heard nothing. Do I still have a voice?
         She began a desperate game, picking up whatever she could fit into her hands, throwing them to break the silence, make noise. In her mind, she was counting. By now, she’d got to seven hundred and twenty. That’s twelve minutes, she thought. Twelve minutes and she still can’t hear, still seeing grey, still throwing dirt.
         When she got to one thousand two hundred, her vision began to clear. She started to see; first her bloody hands, now extended in front of her, then her stretched legs, covered in dust. The aftermath of it all.
         She squeezed her eyes shut, this time willingly.
         She’s welcomed back into her room, in bed, watching her favourite Netflix show under her purple duvet. Just another random fall day. I’ll say my prayers and sleep after this one episode, she thought. Just one more.