“I expected more from you,” Fiona’s voice emanated her profound disappointment. As she held her boot firmly against Ashleigh’s windpipe.
As she eased the pressure on her throat, allowing Ashleigh to breathe once more through gasping coughs, Fiona shook her head. Then, she removed her foot entirely and left Ashleigh lying in the dirt.
Ashleigh grabbed at her throat as her lungs began to settle down, no longer afraid they would never again feel the air filling them. She watched as Fiona walked away. She let her head fall back against the rocky floor with a heavy sigh.
Ashleigh lay there stewing in her frustration as the simulation room was converted back to its usual state.
The dirt and rocks below her slowly lost their shape and color and the hill she was on lowered itself until she was left lying on the flat surface of a white floor. The blue sky above her fell away in a fade until the white ceiling was revealed. One by one the trees and boulders disappeared.
