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Illumina: Frozen Wasteland
Posted: 20 Nov 2005 08:22 PM |
Illumina slowly opened her eyes. To her wonder and dismay, all she could see were fuzzy shapes and colors. It was painful, like small razors piercing her brain, yet she could not look away. Moving for the sake of moving, and not being still, she tried to stand, but was so disoriented that she fell to the ground. Her face cushioned her fall; it did not hurt. She remained there for some time, staring blankly at her surroundings that she did not see. Focus, she thought, focus. After time, her senses slowly began to come back to her. Struggling, she rose to her hands and knees and looked around. She saw a tree about fifty feet away, so she slowly and steadily crawled her way towards it, falling many times. Caked in dirt and very muddy, she finally reached the tree. Head down, eyes closed, she concentrated as hard as she could and used the tree to support herself; she rose to her feet, hanging on to the tree for what felt like dear life. Satisfied that she was upright, she opened her eyes again and looked around.
It was dusk; her vision was still a bit fuzzy, yet she could make out the ocean, the beach, and a trail after forcing herself to stay aware. Gathering up her confidence, she let go of the tree, stiffening up her legs so that she could support herself by leaning against the trunk. She slowly turned around, carefully avoiding another fall. She was sweating heavily, and decided that she felt quite odd. As she lifted up her hand to wipe her brow, she noticed the pale blue of her hand. She stared at it for a moment, before realizing that she was in trouble.
Panic crept up the base of her spine as she realized that she could freeze to death. Her hand looked frostbitten, even dead in a way. She quickly wiped he sweat from her forehead. It felt hard. Lowering her hand, she noticed the small pieces of icy sweat from her forehead. She hastily threw them down, and watched as they melted and evaporated as they left her hand. The panic crept its way up through her shoulders; she bolted, running at full speed. After her third step, she tripped over a branch and slammed into the ground. It did not hurt. She realized that she had twice landed without feeling pain. She rolled over, supporting herself with her left elbow as she noticed that she had a bag. She quickly dug through it. It had to be in the bag. A shortbow, a small rapier, a spellbook, various trinkets….where was the flint and tinder? “I-I am going to freeze to death,” she whispered to herself. Her hand stopped when she found a small mirror. She held it up in front of her face, removing the top of her robe. Her skin all over was a pale, sickly light blue. Her lips were drained of color. Her hair was a dark-blue with flecks of clearish-white frost. The panic spread from her back and shoulders to her entire body. The numbness, the panic…she screamed, making no sound. The panic was a volcano, erupting and shaking her very foundation as her senses failed her. Emptiness consumed her.
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Illumina’s eyes shot wide open. She rolled over in panic, shaking violently, flailing her arms out in front of her, shrieking. No one was there. It was morning. She was…still there. She realized that she must have passed out or fainted. “I-I should have frozen to death b-by now…” she mumbled. She felt numb. Numb from the cold. Checking her mirror, she saw that her appearance had not changed. She slowly stood up, satisfied that she had regained her balance somewhat. She smashed the mirror against a rock and she trudged off, heading east. She saw a few houses, but avoided them like a plague. “No one must see me…no one!” She ran past the houses, continuing to the east. Hearing a few people coming, she dove into a bush. The people were armed with swords, shields, and armor. She cowered in the bushes until long after they passed.
Something was not right. In her current state, was she alive? Was she dead? She was determined to figure out what had happened to her. Frightened, numb, cold, and alone, she walked into the wasteland that was her existence, looking for answers. |
The undisputed master of the sandwich has spoken. |
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