Under Pressure


Prologue

Just take a moment and think about what it would be like to be in a place you didn't know or understand. Think about all the people you would see, and possibly try to avoid. Think about everything that you would feel in this situation: fear, confusion, or whatever feeling that doesn't have a word that describes it well. Put this all together and imagine running. Imagine running away from your problems. Imagine running away so that no one could find you. Imagine running so far away that you end up somewhere else – somewhere you don't recognize.

This is what happened to Daisy. However, she wasn't running away from her problems; she was running away from the truth.

The truth was too much to bear, and frankly, too much to understand. All she could remember was rows of numbers all changing constantly at a rapid pace. She vaguely remembered a green flash of light and someone saying something to her, but the words were inaudible in her mind. Whatever the person was saying was all jumbled up and hard to understand.

The princess kept running until she reached a cliff. It was the end of the road now. She turned around, hoping to find somebody that could help her. Daisy didn't really need help, but she wanted somebody with her – around her – to keep her company. She didn't know how to describe it. She was lost and lonely, and every second she wasted standing on the edge of that cliff, she would come to regret later.

Daisy saw a white flash off the corner of her eye. There was no time to react and before she knew it, she was tossed off the edge of the cliff and landed back-first onto a rock. She could feel her bones crack and the pain spread quickly throughout her body. Her voice was gone and her vision began to blur. She was dying, wasn't she?

Daisy fell to the green grass, glowing dimly in the moonlight. She tried to crawl away, but her body wouldn't let her move an inch. She was stuck, lying in the grass, dying slowly.


"But I feel fine!"

"You've just recovered from a broken … well, everything. I think it's best if you stay in bed."

"C'mon! I feel fine! I could take on the world, doc!"

"Princess, please. Stay in bed for another day or two. I'll be back in a few minutes with some magazines and water. Just, stay here."

Daisy crossed her arms over her chest and winced. She had moved the plasma needle a little while performing the gesture. She uncrossed her arms and sat there with a frown.

The doctor stepped out of the room. "This has to be some kind of joke. This is just not possible."

"Oh, doctor!" Princess Peach ran over to the Toad dressed in white. "How is she? Is she going to make it?"

The doctor looked up. "Yes. Actually, she made a full recovery overnight."

Peach smiled at the sound of it, but the smile disappeared as she contemplated the sentence, "A full recovery overnight?"

"Yes," the doctor flipped to a page in the clipboard, "I can't make sense of it, though. She was in critical condition less than ten hours ago. It was highly improbable that she was going to make it out alive, but here are the results of the latest test. Everything is perfect. Your friend is completely healthy."

Peach stood there, puzzled, "Completely healthy?"

The doctor looked up from the clipboard and at the princess. He smiled, "You shouldn't be asking questions now, princess. Your best friend is still alive. You should be blessing the gods." He took the clipboard and pulled a pen out of his breast pocket. He walked away down the hall, fading into the crowd.

Peach stepped inside Daisy's room. "How are you feeling, Daisy?"

Daisy smiled and imitated her best friend's high-pitched voice, "Just peachy!"

The girls giggled and Peach pulled up a chair. She grabbed Daisy's hand and patted it. "The doctor told me you made a full recovery overnight."

"I know!" Daisy's enthusiasm echoed through the room. "I feel fantastic, but the kooky old doctors won't let me out."

Peach grinned. "It's a miracle, Daisy."

"Yeah. I guess it is."

"I was so glad I found you when I did. If you got here any later, who knows what could've happened."

Daisy's smile faded. "Yeah, who knows?" All the memories of last night came back to Daisy abruptly. The truth, the white light, the cliff, the fall, the rock, the grass, Peach finding her, the shrill screams for help, the hospital room, the doctors, the people staring, the pain, the searing pain burning in her torso.

All this made Daisy grab her head. She shut her eyes and clenched her jaw. Peach leaned in closer. "Daisy? Daisy, what happened?"

"I … I'm fine," Daisy looked up at her friend. "I just think I need some water."

Peach stood up. "I'll get it for you. Just take deep breaths."

Daisy nodded and her head slowly stopped throbbing.

Peach walked out of the room and towards a vending machine. With every little step, she couldn't help but think that something was wrong – not just with Daisy, but with this situation. A full recovery from almost certain death overnight? That sounded pretty conspicuous.

Peach shook the thought away. Her friend was alive and well. She should be happy, not questioning everything.

She should be happy …


This takes some ideas from Great Mistake's Erased (prologue) but it's different story-line. I think I did good with this! I tried to connect to the readers at the beginning, set up the stage, and I let everything play out.

I haven't posted much since my return, but I'm trying to keep up with it.

Leave a comment, review (any advice would be awesome!), follow, favorite, PM me for any information, favorite me, I recommend you don't follow me, and I will see YOU ... in the next update! BYE-BYE!