Page 22 of Rough Love

Mia felt her mind slip away as she became unconscious. She could hear Sage calling for her and she could feel her body move at its own pace but she didn't have any sort of control over what was happening around her. Everything around her was dark and clouded, as if there was an unknown pressure drawing her inside her mind and always from the events that were taking place. She felt as if she were starting to float, and as she got higher and higher she watched from up above what was happening below. It was as if she were having an out-of-body experience before she sank back to the floor.

She could feel a gentle breeze against her face as she lay on the ground. It was fresh and wonderful. She noticed that there was no smoke in the air and her lungs could breathe properly again. She felt herself breathe in deeply and enjoyed the feeling of clean oxygen fill her lungs. She did a few inhales and exhales before she breathed normally.

“You’re going to have to open your eyes soon,” a voice said from beside her. Mia lay still as she felt the earth beneath her. She stretched her arms out beside her as she ran her fingers through the grass. She was more than happy to just stay on the floor. She couldn't remember the last time she had just closed her eyes and felt the earth beneath her; it must've been years.

“I don’t want to open my eyes yet,” she whispered. The person laughed at her. Their laugh was soft and gentle, much like her own. It brought her such comfort and peace as she listened to the different tones in their laugh.

“Nothing is going to hurt you if you open your eyes. You’re perfectly fine,” they said as if to reassure her.

“I know I’m perfectly fine. I can feel all my limbs but I just don’t want to wake up yet. It’s comfortable here,” Mia said. She felt the person gently stroke her face. Their hand was soft and warm.

"You're going to make people believe that you're dead," the person said. Mia didn't care if she looked dead. She hadn't rested that well in a while and she just wanted to prolong it for as long as possible. Everything about her life recently had been so chaotic that she just wanted a moment where nothing was happening. With a sigh, Mia slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't shocked when she saw a different version of herself sitting next to her. She had recognized her own voice the minute she had spoken.

"What do we do now?" Mia asked herself. The other version of herself sat still for a moment and then in one quick motion she lay down and looked up at the sky. They both lay there in silence and looked at the sky. It was dark and scattered with stars.

“Well, firstly you need to open your eyes in real life and then go from there," she said. She knew she was right.

"Will Sage be there?" she asked. She was scared that she would wake up alone.

"Of course, he's never leaving you," she replied. Deep down she knew she was right. Sage would never leave her and he had made that clear. It was honestly the best feeling she had had in a while; she didn't feel so doomed anymore.

"It's just so relaxing here, it makes it hard to leave," she said. She turned and looked at her other self who was still looking up at the sky.

"I know it is but everything is going to be okay when you open your eyes," she replied.

"Okay, I'll open them in a minute. Let me just enjoy this for a while. It's quiet here and I've missed the quiet," she said as she turned and faced the sky once more.

She watched as the stars twinkled above her. The moon shone brightly and illuminated the trees that were around her.

She felt the ground beneath her conform to the shape of her body as she melted into it, her body pressed into every inch of the ground beneath her. She felt alive and whole. She knew she didn't have much longer. She could feel the sky slipping away from her as she started to wake up. She wasn’t ready to leave yet though, she wanted to stay there and feel the breeze in her hair as she stared at the night sky. It was almost magical. A smile came to her lips as she remembered some of the most magical memories she had. Most of them if not all of them involved Sage. Mia realized that Sage had become the light in her life, pulling her out of the dark and the worst times of her life. She would’ve died a long time ago if it weren’t for him.

"Will I see you again?" she asked herself. She knew in her heart that the version of herself that she was seeing was the stronger version of herself. She was the part of her that knew that she would be okay no matter what and she wished she could take her with her but she also knew that she just needed to believe a little more and then she would be strong.

"Of course, you will," she replied as she reached out and took her hand and as if it was right on cue, Mia could feel herself getting lifted off of the ground and brought back to reality.

Mia could feel her body come back to its full awareness as she felt her mind come back to consciousness. She felt the gentle touch of Sage as he ran his hand against her arm. His touch was soft and made her feel safe. She stayed still for a moment as she savored his touch.

"Mia?" Sage asked from beside her as she slowly opened her eyes. As her surroundings came into focus she could see Sage was looking at her with concern written all over his face and as she looked behind him, she noticed they were no longer in the pantry. It was clear that Sage had stuck to his word about getting them out. She was relieved. He had saved her life and she knew that he would have done anything for her. She knew she must've fainted because of the shock and the smoke but she was a little embarrassed because it had never happened to her before. She had led a pretty faint free life up until then.

"How long have I been out for?" she asked. When she thought back to her dream, she felt as if she had been there for hours. She already missed being in a more dream-like state.

"Only a few minutes, maybe ten max," he replied and as instantly as he replied Mia was swept up into his arms. He wrapped himself around her and held her tightly to his body. She was a little taken aback by the quick movement. "I'm so glad you're awake. I was getting so worried."

She allowed him to hold her for a moment, thankful to be in his arms but as the hug drew out, she felt a little embarrassed and pushed him away from her. She didn't do it to come off as mean but she didn't want him to fuss over her any longer. She still couldn't believe she had fainted. It was a horrifying thought. She had been so useless and helpless at that point and she hated the fact that she wasn’t awake to help Sage get out of the house. It must have been a lot of work for him to get them both out of there. She looked him over and noticed that he was fine. He had no marks on his visible skin to show any sort of injury and she was glad.

"I'm sorry you were worried," she whispered as she shifted her body from him. He didn't seem hurt by her sudden change. Instead, he smiled at her. She could see the happiness in his eyes as he stared at her.

"I'm just glad you're awake now. I don't think we should stay here much longer. We need to start finding our way onto the road. There’s no way we can go back to the house," he said and she knew he was right.

A part of Mia wouldn't have minded going back to the house just to see the damage that had been caused. It would've killed her to see it but she was curious about how much of her house was left still standing. She had no concept of time so she had no idea how long the fire had been going but she assumed roughly twenty minutes or less. She couldn't remember how long they had been trapped for as it was a bit of a blur to her. She thought about possibly investing in a few gas masks just in case something like this happened again.

It dawned on Mia that they had no way of calling for help and they had both changed into their pajamas when they had put the movie on so they really weren't prepared to go for a walk in the woods. They didn't have their phones on them so they couldn't even use the built-in flashlights to help see which scared Mia because neither of them had any shoes on. Mia had stayed away from the woods since they had moved there. It had never looked exactly safe and she was scared of what could be lurking in them.

"What do we do now?" Mia asked. She wanted the whole ordeal to be over but she knew it wouldn't end so soon. She turned to face the direction of her house and saw the smoke rising as it filled the air. Her heart sank as she watched the smoke grow bigger as it took over the entire house. She knew everything was gone, everything she had tried to create so it would be a good home to live in was being burnt to the ground.

"We keep going. We need to find someone who can help us," Sage replied. Mia was only half listening as she continued to watch the smoke rise. She could see some of the flames through the trees.

"This is awful," she said. "Why did this have to happen?” she cried as the tears fell down her cheeks. She couldn't hold them in any longer.