I landed on my back on the soft grass with a dulled thud. The warmth from the sun coaxed the sweet scents of spring from the earth beneath me; I took this all in while lying there for a moment. Standing, I looked around. Everything was bright, colorful, blooming. A light breeze tousled my hair, brushing against my face as it passed on to enlighten the rest of the world.
Prodded by some inner urge, I began walking. There was no particular destination in my mind, yet I knew I was headed somewhere. As I walked, my steps grew confident despite their lack of direction. The sun rose above the hilly horizon. Something inside me told me, “Run!” so I ran. I began at a light trot. Soon my feet quickened as I glided along the ankle-high sea of jade. The rolling hills before me were enticing, drawing me to them, begging me to climb them. The air around me seemed to incite in me the desire to go faster, so my jog became a full on sprint as I reached the foot of a particularly large hill. I felt the sun above me, and knew I wanted to reach it, to touch it, to feel it. In a sense, I wanted nothing less than to become it, so I began my flight up the side of the small mountain.
As I ran, trees flew by, turning from shades of deep emerald to brilliant crimsons and golds. Heel, toe, heel, toe. My breathing created a cadence, patterned with my rolling steps. The more distance I covered, the more lucid the hues around me became. Then they began to grow dim, forming a fusion of dull brown. Breathe in. Left, right. Left, right. Breathe out. While I took note of my surroundings, my main focus was on my pounding feet as they ascended the hillside. I could still feel the sun; it felt warmer. I must be close! My calves tensed and contracted as I picked up speed. Upon reaching the top of a ridge, I looked up. The sun was intensely brilliant. It seemed almost too bright.
It was too bright. The light burned into my retinas. I shut my eyes quickly. My feet continued moving, but the ground suddenly dropped from beneath them. I drew in a short breath of surprise and my eyes shot open to find my world had turned pitch black. Something in me told me I was falling, but my eyes saw nothing. A scream caught in my throat, yet never escaped my lips as more than a hiss. The air around me was stifling, smothering me with its thickness. My hands grasped out at nothingness, clutching at clammy, humid air that was rushing by. The breath in my lungs was caught and I felt a surge of panic creep and seep up my spine as I continued to fall. It seemed as if there would be no end to the abyss I had stumbled into. There I was, forever falling and falling, losing my breath, no longer breathing.
I was stunned by a revelation: I had forgotten how to breathe.
My eyes strained against the blackness engulfing my senses. It felt as if I were peering through the shadows at only more shadows. Purgatory would feel so dark, I thought. I was sure I would find myself submerged in the Lethe at any moment, if I could be so lucky. Still, I was falling. My body heaved and convulsed in midair as my lungs burned. My heart was trying to break free of my ribcage. No air entered or escaped my chest. I was shutting down. This could not be life.
Finally, with the last breath in me, three words spit from my swelling lips.
“Help me, God.”
I suddenly landed on my back on the soft grass with a dulled thud. The warmth from the sun coaxed the sweet scents of spring from the earth beneath me, and I took this all in while lying there for a moment. Standing, I looked around. Everything was bright, colorful, blooming. A light breeze tousled my hair, brushing against my face.
