Writing Exercise #1
It was late in the afternoon when the vision hit me unexpectedly. I gripped the sides of my head and closed my eyes, resisting the flood of images that threatened to overwhelm me. I fell to my knees as my heart started to race frantically. I gasped. I tried to scream, but no sound left my lips. I tried to open my eyes, but the world seemed to be moving at an accelerated pace. I felt dizzy and nauseous. Right when I was about to rediscover what I had for lunch, the world came to a stand still. I opened my eyes. I was no longer in the meadow where I felt myself fall. I was in a forest that was unknown to me. I could not recognize the trees nor the paths. I started running aimlessly, searching for an exit. The dense vegetation suffocated me. The branches kept tearing at my skin, leaving trickles of blood on my arms and my face. Finally, I stumbled into a clearing. A couple of birds, startled by my noisy entrance, took flight. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw a couple of deer heading into the forest. I walked to the center of the clearing, completely disoriented. I looked at the sky and the brilliance of the sun blinded me for a second. The cracking of a twig made me turn around on my heels. That was the first time that I saw him, and he was pointing an arrow to my heart. His eyes were cold as ice. I blinked and I was no longer in the clearing. I was riding a horse and I seemed to be trying to catch the man that was riding in front of me. He turned around and he looked at me. There was a sparkle in his eyes that had not been there before. He laughed. I felt elated and I heard myself laughing too. Right when I was about to overtake him, my horse stumbled. I felt myself flying without control. I tensed my body ready to feel what would be a very painful encounter with the ground, but it never happened. I had fallen into a soft bed and his arms were around me. He was passionately kissing me. His fingers were tangled in my hair and he kept whispering something that I could not comprehend; his words muffled by a ringing in my ears. When I looked up to see where the sound was coming from, I was seated in a rocking chair with a crying baby on my arms. She was glorious. He was kneeling next to us with such an expression of love and pride that was hard to resist. I tried to kiss him, but my lips never found his. The room was suddenly engulfed in flames. The baby was no longer in my arms. I tried to search for her, but the flames were too tall, too hot, the air too unbreathable. I started to cough. The fire scorched me. I could smell burning hair. I opened the door, fleeing the inferno. Suddenly, he was there. He took my hand and dragged me through the corridors. I could feel his anxiety, his confusion, and his fear. I tried to ask him about our baby, but I could utter no words. The fire followed us wherever we went. There was no escaping it. There was no way out. There was just the flames. He embraced me for the last time. He mumbled something to my ear. I heard myself scream in fear and pain, but not regret. I was still screaming when my sisters found me in the meadow where I had passed out. I was shaking uncontrollably. Finally, the tremors stopped and I fell into a silent shock. Tears ran freely down my cheeks. I don't remember how I got to our village or how I made it into my own bed. Two days have passed since I had the vision, two days since I knew that my world was going to change forever.