Chapter Three

Rose

Rose opened her eyes to darkness. She closed and reopened them. Still blackness. She held her breath and tried to find something familiar, anything she knew. The air, everything, was heavy. She was sinking, falling, deep into nothingness. Was this real? She screamed but didn’t hear anything. Did she even make a sound? Something smelled bad. Was it her? Her arms and legs wouldn’t move. She couldn’t lift her head. She couldn’t feel her body.

Her mind was spinning, contorting wildly but in slow motion, struggling, like wading in thick mud. Was this a bad dream? Was this real? Her insides were boiling, then freezing, about to explode, but something was pressing her chest down, down, down. The darkness was soft when she slipped back into emptiness.

When she woke again, she was on the ground, somewhere dark with one dim light. A darker shape was touching her. Who? What? Rose struggled to get up, to scream, to run, but she couldn’t do anything.

Rose felt herself being lifted. A deep voice murmured, “I’m just gonna change your diaper.”

Diaper? Why was she wearing a diaper? Where was she? Everything was so heavy. The nothingness welcomed her back as she stopped thinking, wondering, fearing.