There was a bright light shining on the other side of my eyelids. The last thing I remembered was nothing but dark, how could it already be so bright it couldn't already be morning. I was going to be late for school if I didn't hurry. The trouble was, I couldn't seem to move and my eyelids did not want to open.
I concentrated on moving first, my whole body ached, starting with my fingers I started to move one muscle at a time. I don't know how long I was laying there as I slowly got to the point where I could sit up. I could already open my eyes but it was so bright that I didn't want to yet. I sat up and realized that I was wearing a dress, I folded my legs close to me and made sure to tuck the skirt under me and over my knees.
I was slowly opening my eyes a little bit at a time, adjusting to the light around me. When I was finally able to keep my eyes open I could only see white, it wasn't a white room, it seemed to be a white world. I noticed movement to my far right and turned slowly to see what it could be, "Who's there."
The silhouette gained more definition the more I observed, I noticed that the person was sitting in a chair next to a table. "Would you like some help standing dear?" The voice was that of a grandmother, kind and nurturing.
She got up and came over to me holding her hand out for me to take. I sat for a moment examining her, she wore a long dress that had looked like a garden in spring. Her hair was short and white that showed off her round face perfectly. Her brown eyes were soft and she had a welcoming presence. I took her hand and stood up slowly, "Lets sit and have a warm cup of tea."
She walked me to the table, as I sat down she poured two cups of tea and sat herself. I took a sip of tea and realized that I had been overly relaxed and trusting of someone that I had only just met. I sat my tea down as I processed the calm the continued to wash over me even as I was processing this.
The woman took a sip of her tea and met my look of confusion with understanding. She set down her tea and spoke in her calming voice, "Keeping people calm is something that I am very good at, it can be a bit odd when a person knows they shouldn't be calm in the situation they're in." She paused to see if I was listening before she continued, "This place is a sort of, limbo, a space between spaces, my space. I brought you here because I see potential in you and want to know if you wanted to take my place."
I took a couple sips of tea, still trying to process my calm until my mind caught up with what she was saying. "What do you mean you want me to take your place? What is it you do?" I stopped asking questions realizing I wasn't leaving enough time for her to answer. When I looked into her calm eyes she just smiled.
"Normally I have to use my influence to get someone to slow down, the fact that you realized this on your own means that I am right to choose you." She took a sip of tea and I sat back to listen occupying myself with my own tea so that I wouldn't ask all the questions at once. "Let me ask you a question before I answer yours, do you know what happened to you?"
I froze in place as I thought about it, all I could remember was walking home. I shook my head to try and clear the fog that seemed to roll through mind as I struggled to remember when I got home. I started to get a head ache as I cleared away the fog and remembered that I had died, Raymond and his friends had killed me when I wouldn't let them have their way with me.
"I died." When the words left my mouth they made me want to throw up. I felt sick, I curled in on myself to put my head between my knees hoping that it would make the nausea go away.
I felt her hand gently rub my back, I was so absorbed that I hadn't realized that she'd gotten up to comfort me. "Yes dear, you died, but not before we found you. It's why I was able to bring you here." She was now kneeling next to me with one hand on my back and the other holding my hand.
I started to sit up just a little bit as she continued to soothe and explain. "You see there are legends that exist, most people write them off stories or imaginary. We exist to help, I want to help you by giving you a second chance at life. I have lived for a very long time, most people today refer to me as Mother Nature or Gaia. I would like to pass on this name and power to you."
I sat there staring blankly trying to process everything, my brain did not want to accept what she was saying. I pulled away from her and stood up to pace, to think. If what she was saying it meant that everything in fairy tales had the possibility of hiding truth within its words. I stopped suddenly, "What would it mean to say no?"
I turned to face her completely, she was standing still next to the chair I had been sitting in with her head held high. "You will not be able to go back, the only way this benefits you is if you say yes."
She continued to stand where she was with her hands folded together in front of her, waiting for my answer. I started to pace slowly and no matter how I thought of if I wanted to say yes, if only just to be able to apologize to my dad for not calling him. "What do I have to do?" I stopped only a couple feet away from her and waited impatiently for her response.
I was confused as she laughed softly and put her hands on both my elbows, "A simple yes would have done. I want you to know that you can always ask Jack for help." She smiled when watched my jaw drop.
"He's like you?" She just nodded in response and kissed me on the forehead and began to slowly fade away with her warm smile on her face.
I stood there in shock, unable to move from where I was standing when my vision went black and I felt as if I was falling. I continued to fall in the dark not being able to see where I was falling to, where I was falling from, or even if the fall would ever end.
Just when I had thought I would be falling forever the feeling came to a sudden stop and I sat up in a bed, in a room that I didn't know. I leaned over the right side of the bed to see a bucket, I quickly grabbed it and held it close as I lost everything that was left in my stomach that was left from the night before.