Branches Book

BRANCHES

Nora Berkshire

THE GIRL IN THE TORNADO

All I see is darkness. Why can’t I see anything else? I am trapped in a black hole and I feel cold. Two bright slivers begin opening. I feel tired, but the room has grown bright so I can’t go back to where I was. I’ll get used to it soon, this is how it always is at first, I think. Blink. Blink. Where am I? I wonder. I lay staring up at the dull ceiling when a man leans over me blocking my view. He is talking aggressively, almost at a yell but not quite. I can’t hear anything, but I see the urgency on his face. He is in a sweaty white tank top with a short sleeve unbuttoned shirt over it, and jeans. Where am I. I turn my head best I can to look around, a cement room, dirty and only containing us and a pile of blankets under me in the middle of the floor. A weak light keeping the room from being black, typical , I thought. Focus! I need to wake up. The dead silence rose to a loud ringing as I slowly gain back my hearing. Staring at his face I thought hard on focusing on what he was now yelling at me. Ringing. Ringing. I slowly start to catch every other word when it suddenly comes all at once and I can hear his cries. “You have to go now! Quick they will come soon! You don’t have enough time! Hurry you have to snap out of it!” he yells pointing to the one door in the corner of the small room. SNAP. That's how quick it all returns. Jumping up onto my elbows I begin coughing like crazy. I can feel everything, all the pain in my body. All my senses shock awake as if woken by mint. My eyes are darting around the room, searching for information to fill all the blank space in my mind to no avail. I push myself up, at last sitting upright, and turn to the man who now sits quietly. “It is time to go,” he says quietly to me. “What is your name?” I ask. “Abhay, miss.” He bows to me whilst I stand up. Wobbling I quickly correct myself back to my tall stance. My long gray hair falls and my purple dress shifts down. It is resting on my neck, just as always. I grab it and its blue light engulfs me, expanding from my being. I scream as I fall back to my knees, the touch was exhilarating. I feel complete . I stand back up and look down at Abhay still bowing at my feet. “I’m off,” I say. My bare feet feeling the cool cement as they leave the island of blankets and lead me out of the room. IN AN INSTANT I take in all information surrounding me. Calmly I begin walking down the dirt street in India, knowing everything about it. I

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