Bright green grass surrounded me. Flowers bloomed in neon colors, making the field look like it had colorful chicken pox. In the distance there was a small hill. Before I knew it, I was standing at the foot of it. It was much larger up close, and steeper, too. Though my legs were tired, I forced myself up the hill. At the top, there was a single tree. It bloomed with bright green leaves and colorful flowers. A yellow picnic mat was laid right beside the tree. There was a basket full of fresh fruits and freshly baked goods. There was a couple laughing and talking on the picnic mat.

The woman had bright blue eyes, and a magnificent smile. Her hair was long and a copper colour, like mine. She wore a pink T-shirt, and a blue skirt with green stripes.

The man had thin lips and a bit of a dry smile.He had a shaved beard and moustache, both the same colour as his chocolate brown hair.

I stood there, silent, knowing exactly who they were. I’d seen many versions of what I’d pictured my parents to look like, but this was by far the most realistic version. They continued their rather fake conversation. Like they were doing a play, but they were both horrible actors. Like they knew I was there, but were just waiting for the right moment to act.

I waited a few more moments, and then was just gaining the courage to speak, when the woman turned around and saw me. She tilted her head sideways like a dog first, and then slowly her eyes widened as she started to understand why I looked familiar.

Soon the man turned, and it seemed he recognised me immediately. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say. They inspected me, as if to see if I’d changed much. The woman whispered something in the man’s ear, and then he began speaking. His voice zoned out for a while, as I was lost in thought. I finally began to listen.

“-a picnic, so maybe you could find another hill?”

I tried to speak, but it came out in a croak. Twiddling my thumbs, I managed to say:

“I’m a bit lost, can you help me?” I decided not to mention the fact that I was staring at my parents that I never knew.

“Where do you need to go?” the woman asked.

I hesitated before answering. Where did I need to go? Back to the hospital? I would never go back there. But, where did I need to go? I had no home.

“I don’t know.” I admitted.

“How would you like us to help, then?” the man asked.

I blanked out. I had never been offered help before. Maybe when I was just a baby, and needed milk, but that wasn’t help, that was an obligation. Maybe Rachel had sometimes offered me help, but not that I could remember. The thought hit me hard. Tears streamed down my face so suddenly it looked like a waterfall. No one, in my entire life, had ever helped me. I should have felt proud. After all, I’d done everything on my own up to now. But, on the other hand, I had never had anyone to help me with anything. Walking, sleeping, et cetera.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realise the couple staring at me weirdly.

“Ahem.” the woman let out a fake cough, and I remembered that they had offered to help.

“Oh, yeah…” I croaked. “I’m actually not sure.” I started to feel uncomfortable, and looked at my feet. But, when I looked up, the couple was gone. Everything around me faded away.

Yellow sunlight was what woke me up. It was unbearably hot, and even worse, bright. I cautiously opened my eyes, afraid that I might go blind if I did it too fast. It was so hot that I could barely see around me. My eyes started to water as I sat up. I was leaning against a dead tree. The rickety tree had few leaves that were still on it, and they were crumbled and moldy. The bark was thin and dried up, most of it peeled off, or peeling off. The tree was hunched over, like it wanted to pick up its dead leaves that were scattered on the ground.

As my eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness level of wherever I was, I began seeing horrible scenery around me.

The bright yellow sun illuminated the dark red sky. The few clouds weren’t thick enough to stop the sun’s hot rays, and they even parted around the sun like it burned them too. The clouds were a transparent blue, and the blood red of the sky shone through them.

The ground was dry dirt. The only grass to be seen were a few dead patches that grew around hunched trees like the one I leaned on. These trees were few, and provided little shade, and no comfort. The plain, boring land seemed to go on forever in the distance.

There were no bodies of water, no animals scurrying on the ground, and no birds or bugs in the sky.

The scenery was sad. The air was thin and full of dust. Every few seconds my throat ran dry and I coughed.

I sat down beside a tree and tried to organise my rambling thoughts. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. Where was I? Why was I here? How did I get here? It felt like there was an uncontrollable party going on inside my head. It was like I was trying to get people to leave. My skin began to burn. I yelped in pain, and stood up immediately. My skin was a nauseating red. And so, not knowing what else to do, I ran in the opposite direction of the sun.

What seemed like hours later, my legs began to ache. My thighs felt like they were made of jello, and I crumbled to the ground. All this time, I hadn’t noticed that the sun had slowly begun to set, and the scenery around me had changed a bit.

I looked around me and was surprised to see thicker trees that had more leaves and that were living, a few small ponds, and a few animals such as squirrels and rabbits running around, looking for food, or drinking from one of the few ponds.

I hadn’t realised how thirsty I was. I forced myself to stand as I slowly practically crawled to the closest pond. I made it there and looked at my reflection in the scarce light from the setting sun. Dirt covered me from head to toe. My hospital gown was torn in many places. My hair was rough with dirt. My white running shoes looked brown from all the running.

I first dipped my head in the pond to cool me off. Then, after realising that it wasn’t as cold as I’d expected, I took a sip. The water tasted better than any I’d ever tasted before. Almost like a magic potion, if that existed. I took another sip, and then another. The water filled me with energy, but also helped me relax. I backed away from the pond and found a tree that had a small bump at the roots, just big enough for my head. Before I lay down, I started to shiver. The sun was barely to be seen at this point, and soon there would only be moon and starlight. So, I decided to use the even scarcer light than before, and try and find something usable for a blanket. I roamed around one part of the edge of the forest to find a tree larger than the rest. Its thick roots spiralled all around it. Sitting just next to it was a leaf much larger than I was. I picked it up and found my way back to the tree near the pond.

I wrapped the thick leaf around myself and curled up my legs, all while carefully finding a comfortable spot for my head on the thick root. It wasn’t the best idea, but it was better than nothing. Sleep seemed so far away, or even impossible. Slowly, the wind got sharper and the air got colder. The large leaf around me suddenly seemed like it was just a few strands of string. I pulled it around my head and curled into a ball. I shivered for what seemed like hours, I finally drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

I slowly opened my eyes, and quickly put a hand to block them from the sun. When they finished adjusting to the harsh light, I looked around. In front of me was just red dirt that went on and on and on as far as the eye could see. There wasn’t anything in sight. Barely any bumps in the ground. Just, flat, plain, red dirt for miles.

I looked behind me, but the scenery was exactly the same. I sank to my knees. Which way to go? Front, back, left, right, they all went on forever.

“They all go on forever. . .what do I do now?” I mumbled, burying my face in my hands. Maybe just start walking? But where would that take me? Nowhere, like where I was now. But, it was my best and only option. I forced myself to stand and held in my tears as I chose right, because I was a righty.

There was absolutely no scenery to describe. Just the red dirt. Not a living thing in sight. For hours I walked, but nothing ever changed. Eventually the sun began to set. The thought of being plunged into darkness in the middle of a plain desert sent fear curling through my spine. On that happy note, I picked up my walking pace into a fast jog.

Cold air swept past my face as I began to run, for the sun was almost nowhere to be seen. The sky was now a navy blue, and the bright moon sent an eerie glow all over the area.

When the sun had gone completely, I fell to my knees and let out the tears I’d been holding in for so long. Eventually my knees gave out, and I fell to the ground face first. I banged my fists on the dry dirt ground.

“Why me?” I cried. “Didn’t I already have it bad enough?” I yelled and complained for very long, but finally came to the conclusion that no one could hear me. I curled into a ball and tried to sleep, but I knew that that was impossible. I let my thoughts wander off. After very long, I finally realised that more than anything, I was lonely.

I opened my eyes and looked around at the ugly scenery around me. It went on forever. I would die of fear before I could get anywhere. At last I fell I into an uncomfortable, dreamless sleep.