Like a heavy cloth, Neriah's eyelids lifted with much difficulty. Again and again she blinked as if trying to get accustomed to opening her own eyes. Blankly she stared up at the wooden roofing above her.
For the first moments of her awakening, her mind was devoid of any form of information. From who she was to where she was, for those first moments after her eyes opened, she had no memory of all that.
Surrounding her was a still silence, one that matched the blankness of her mind. Not a bird was singing nor a cricket chirping. Not even the rustling of leaves from the blowing wind could be heard.
It was all silence. Cold empty silence.
And it was in that silence, she turned her head and stared out the small window through which sunlight was penetrating into the house, and the blanks of her mind began to fill up.
