Fallen

• Alexandria Del Gaudio, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2011

I woke up, my eyelids heavy, my head whirring. I felt dizzy and weak. I blinked a few times, sitting up slowly, looking around frantically. I couldn’t remember anything. I slowly managed to stand up, stumbling through some sort of…field? There was tall, green grass surrounding me wherever I looked. I found an oak tree, and stumbled toward it. I lay against it for a while, trying to remember something, the rough bark scratching my sweaty palm. I shook my head, trying to block out the splitting headache that was making my head throb. Sunlight filtered in through the leaves of the tree. I sighed - I didn’t know what to do, what direction to travel. I decided to climb the oak tree to get a better look around. I reached for a branch, but slipped and landed hard on my back, knocking the air out of me. I stayed down for a while, breathing steadily, and made my way back up to the tree. I managed to make it onto the first branch, so I continued right up to the top. I looked around for signs of life, but all I saw was a field of tall grass right up to the horizon, stretching beyond my sight. My long brown hair was shimmering as the sunlight hit me, my brown eyes glistening. I blinked a few times to adjust to the light, but I just couldn’t see anything.
Hours passed, and I was dehydrated and hungry. I slowly made my way down the tree and stumbled through the field, the long grass running through my fingers. I flopped onto my knees weakly. I was feeling drowsy, and I started to lose hope, when I heard a familiar voice calling my name.
“Carla” the man said. I turned towards him. He motioned for me to come to him. He looked vaguely familiar, then I remembered – it was David, a waiter at a coffee shop I stopped at every morning. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Do you know where I am?” I asked curiously, too tired and thirsty to say anymore.
“You’re in heaven” he replied, smiling. “But you have to keep fighting if you want to go back” he grinned and passed me a bottle of water. I gulped down the water thirstily and handed him the empty bottle. I watched as he smiled once more, and walked off into the distance. I opened my mouth to talk, but I didn’t know what to say. I ran my fingers through my hair, not knowing what he meant. I blinked a few times, and stumbled back as I saw a nurse in front of me.
“Are you alright, Miss?” she asked, motioning for me to come closer to him.
“I’m…fine…” I replied shakily, seeing David at another ambulance further away. He just smiled at me, and walked away. I leaned against the ambulance, stunned. I wondered if any of that was real…