Orbit

The day broke, a silent sweeping illumination, the light glinting off the glass edges of the buildings above. The girl stretched with purpose, pulling at the unseen strings that tied her muscles to the ground, shaking off the demons of an unsettled sleep. Dazed, she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings-how did she get here, to this jungle of broken glass and tarmac? Why was she spread out on the roughly hewn gray soil of a vacant lot instead of safely tucked away in her pastel-pink bedroom?

She rose too quickly, the blood rushing to her head in an unrelenting throb, causing her to stumble and stars to flood her sight. Her bare feet pricked on the sharp gravel scattered across the clearing, blood flowing red and warm on the cold stone, a bright flag on the otherwise dreary landscape. Then suddenly, a shrieking and a fluttering; sharp-tailed sparrows swarmed the dawning sky, making a circle above her with their wings set tip to tip, marking her presence in the field.

Instinct kicked in, and she ran blindly into the forest of twisted metal and curling electrical wire, ignoring the slicing and gouging of the incongruous thicket. She thought only of escape from the invisible menace that she could not see, but could definitely feel pressing down on her, like the vestiges of a nightmare forgotten upon waking but still lurking in the folds of one’s mind.  Suddenly, the veil parted, and the menace receded. She collapsed, exhausted, not noticing the sharp gravel that dug into her tired limbs, or the rough gray soil that cushioned her fitful rest.