Chapter 11: Night Terror
Blearily Jamie opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out with the palm of her hand. Slowly she picked herself up, looked around and gasped at the barren landscape surrounding her. Dark rocks cleaved into a red sky like daggers. She reeled as she realized there wasn't a sun or even a moon brightening the heavens, just the same pale red sky blending into dusty brown earth.
Terror clouded her rapid mind and she ran a distance and stopped. Frantically she looked around for some sign of life; a weed would've been enough. Falling to her knees, she dug into the harsh dirt, ignoring the sharp rocks that tore at her hands. Tears streamed down her face as she realized with horror there wasn't even a patch of damp earth, just pale choking dust. She stopped and put her head in her hands. Anguish shook her and released a scream that echoed in the lifeless landscape.
"No, No, No… Please anything but this!" It was all she could do to not curl up and die.
"No" she whispered, tears still running freely. She looked up and scanned the horizon for anything, anything but this. She gasped as she saw something. Something that spoke of life.
She gulped down stale, dry air and began running. The gritty air dried her tears as she ran desperately towards her last shred of hope. But despite her burning lungs and aching legs, it seemed to move farther away as she tried to get closer.
"NO!" she screamed, but it was swallowed by the dead winds.
Jamie jerked awake, sheer unnamed terror still pumping through every fiber of her body. She breathed hard and clutched her chest. She was in bed and covered in a film of sweat. She looked over at the clock and realized 1) it was five in the morning and 2) she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep.
"Ugh" Jamie, with barely open eyes, clumsily made her way to the shower. As relieving hot water poured over her, she thought, "If there are two things I hate most in this world: it's waking up early and not being able to remember my dreams!"
