Bree looked up sideways from the doorway of her hut trying to see the face of her visitor. Her newly shifted skin felt like someone had vigorously rubbed her down with sandpaper and then made her lay on a bed of little glass shards. She could feel all of the tiny rocks pressing up against her golden pink raw skin but had no energy to do anything about it.
As she weakly gasped for air, she felt the searing pain of long pointy fingernails scraping against her scalp. She felt warm liquid trickle down the back of her head, tickling and spiking anxiety within her. Soon she felt the long fingers twist in her hair, gripping it tightly. The tension built until she felt all of her hair would surely be pulled out. Only a moment passed before she felt a new level of pain; as she was lifted, from the ground, by her hair. She hadn't the energy to struggle and so her limp form hung motionless, quietly whimpering with tears dripping down her cheeks and hanging off her eyelashes.
Black dots swam in her vision as her eyes met those of her smirking mother. Her heart dropped as her last hope for reconciliation vanished. There had still been a spark of hope within her that she hadn't been aware of. Although she hadn't been aware of the last little hope within her, once it had finally extinguished, she felt the pain of loss distinctly. She gasped both in physical and emotional pain when their eyes met, horribly wounded. She had wanted so badly to have a loving home, but it seemed that even in this life, she was doomed to be lonely and unloved.
After a moment of eye contact, she felt a tug and swing. Her stomach twisted around violently as her world tilted and she went flying through the air. A weak and frightened squeak managed to slip out through her parted lips. Although she was determined to not show any weakness towards this monster who was supposed to be her mother, she couldn't remain entirely unaffected by this harsh treatment.
These first experiences were different from the world that kept on flitting through her mind. In her memories or dreams, she remembered a land where there were machines that made life convenient. There were buildings so tall that they touched the sky, beautiful soft clothing, temperature regulation, plentiful delicious food, fun gadgets, entertainment, and many other things. Her heart ached for that world. In that world, no one cared if you had a mate or not. You could choose to have kids if you felt like it, or purposely choose to not have any. Slavery wasn't legal, they couldn't just trade you for other goods. Although her life had been miserable and lonely in that life, she had at least had modern conveniences.
In this world, women had rights, as long as they mated. Most of the world was primitive, but that was normal here. Her heart ached for the world she dreamed about. There was no way for her to go back, so she should just make the most of what this life had for her. However, every night she thought she was living in that world or would sometimes get flashbacks of a place she didn't know. Then every morning, she would wake up sore with her face pressed up against the dirt or hay underneath her.
BANG!
Bree felt her body collide against the hard wooden surface of the wagon she was thrown into. First, her side hit and then her head banged into the wagon bed. Her vision became blurry with little black spots in her eyes. Then a dull ache built into a pounding headache. She coughed as the air in her lungs was knocked out of her. She lay there dejectedly while she heard whispered words that she couldn't make out over the pounding in her ears. Her eyes and body felt heavy and so she quickly lost consciousness.
After a while, she didn't know how long, her head bouncing against the wagon bed awoke her. She felt a tightness around her wrists and looked down to see that her wrists and ankles were bound. The only thing missing was an apple shoved in her mouth. At least if there was an apple in her mouth, she could have a snack. She's starving! All she's had since opening her eyes to this world is bits of grass and hay. The thin rope binding her wrists hardly seemed necessary considering that she was too worn out to even turn her head.
Bree's memory flashed to her laying in a large tub with almost hot water and jets shooting against her tense back. She had filled the bath with lightly scented bubbles, bath bombs, and rose petals. She lit a candle and drank a glass of wine while reading a good book and soaking away some of the stress from the day. Soft classical music played in the background. She sighed contentedly. After she was done, she got out of her bath and climbed into her large comfy bed with many fluffy pillows. Shortly after her head hit the pillow, she fell into a restful sleep.
Cold, so cold. Painfully cold. She could feel freezing metal pressed up against her side. The rough metal scraped bitterly against her raw naked flesh while the wind blew against her, chilling her to the bone. This level of cold ached into her bones, making her wonder if she would ever feel warm and safe again.
She didn't know how long she had been lying there or where she was. She blinked her eyes before opening them and scrubbed her little hand against her tired eyes. She pushed up to a sitting position and found herself sitting in a cage wearing only a thin rough leather mini skirt and a tube top tied together with strips of leather. There was nothing on her feet. In the corner of the large cage, was a pile of dry hay.
The cage she was sitting in, looked like it was meant for a large bird. It was about the size of a queen-sized bed, copper-colored and domed at the top. The top of the cage had a round covering that gave some shelter from the rain and hung out past the walls about eight cubes, two cubes were approximately as long as a two-liter soda bottle. It had a large sliding door like a birdcage and a bowl that was halfway in and halfway out like a bird feeder. The bowl was filled with water. Bree rushed over to the bowl, rested her hands on it, and lowered her face to it. Once her lips pressed against the surface of the water, she took in greedy gulps, not being able to slow down until her thirst had been satisfied. She hadn't realized how dry and scratchy her throat had been until that moment. Finally satisfied, she pulled back and rested her hands on the side of the bowl, taking deep breaths and steadying herself.
She looked around and saw that the cage she was standing in was in the middle of a clearing on top of a paved patio with long grass swaying in the breeze. In the front was a village with small houses built out of stone. There were large trees that she didn't recognize mixed in with the buildings. Behind the cage, there was a wide moving river. Along the river, there was a large open space with two trees that had a long rope tied between the two. Handing up in the branches of other trees along the shoreline were hammocks. On the other side of the river, there was a thick forest.
The night was quiet and still with not a sound to be heard except for the chirping of bugs and the wind whistling through the tall grass and trees. No one was in sight. Although it felt like she had just woken up not that long ago, it was already nightfall once again. The stars twinkled in the night sky and light sprinkles dotted on the stone patio around her. Sprinkles of water flew into the cage blown in by the breeze. She held onto the thick metal bars while looking up at the two moons hanging up in the night sky. One blue moon and one red moon shone down on her. She sighed while thinking about the single bright moon in her memories while the rain started to pour down harder.
She was a bit damp by the time she gave up holding the cage bars. She looked back at the hay with another sigh and walked towards the pile. She knelt and burrowed her way into the pile of hay. Her stomach growled as she lay in the hay. Little bits of hay dug into her flesh, but it was a great deal more comfortable than what she'd been laying on since being born in this world. Her mouth started to water when the smell of the hay-filled her nose. She rolled her eyes before grabbing a handful of hay and stuffing a clump of it into her mouth. Although her mind kept on telling her that what she was eating wasn't edible, her mouth told her that she was eating a delicacy. She continued to chew and swallowed the hay down happily. Once her belly was full, she rolled over and fluffed up some hay beneath her head. She bent over some especially pokey bits of hay. After a while the hay dried her out and her body heat started to heat her little burrow. For the first time since coming to this world, she felt somewhat comfortable.