Untitled Excerpt
by Michaella Namiotka
I’m blinded. As I struggle to open my eyes, the bits of light finding their way in hurt me in an unusual way. It’s as if I am opening my eyes for the very first time. I try and lift my head, although I am unable to, after a sharp pain takes over. I move my hands to the left and right searching for something that could aid me right now. Although I cannot move, I feel safe as though nothing will harm me anytime soon. My hands splash in a refreshing cool pool of water as I start to scramble for anything to help me. I realize that I am laying on the somewhat shore of a small pond, or at least I think I am. I turn my head slightly to the right, and can see the outlines of lily pads and cattails and can almost feel the movement of tiny fish in the water. The water feels and smells clean, it’s smooth on my hands and the scent is fresh and pure. I turn my body although it aches, and I screech a little because of the pain. I feel as though I am alone, or at least I think I am, I doubt that anyone can hear me. I scoop as much of the water that I can into my mouth although a majority of it falls out. I am successfully able to get the dryness out of my mouth, it feels like I haven’t had a drink of water in weeks. Miraculously, my body experiences a tickling sensation, and I suddenly regain normal strength. The water must have worked like magic! Although it hasn’t cured the hazing blindness I am experiencing, I am able to bring myself up to my feet. I slowly get up, in fear of the extreme pain taking over my body from before once again as if it was a trick, and that I would fall on my back, and the pain would somehow laugh at me like a bully. Yet that does not happen. I try to navigate myself around as best I can, afraid to scream for help in case I have just been brutally beaten by a kidnapper. How would that explain the pond though? Maybe I was taken and thrown into the woods, but oddly enough, I feel as though “I am not in Kansas anymore” as Dorothy would say, even though I do not actually live in Kansas or have a dog named Toto. I can see to the left of me, an outline of the entrance into a forest, as the light shines in between the openings that the trees make with the help of the wind, and the tree barks shine. Ahead of me I can see a sunset, a pink and red sky, the type that could cure any misfortune. It’s calming, and reassuring even though I cannot even fully see it. I am then introduced to the outline of what I think to be a tall building of some sort, at the top of a very high cliff in the very far distance. I am so eager to find a way to see this. I feel like I am somewhere I have seen before, maybe it’s the feeling, or maybe it is because I recognize where I am, kind of like a place from a story book. I suddenly get the bright idea to rub my eyes with the water from the pond. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? I drop down to my knees immediately and scrub my eyes so aggressively, surprised I hadn’t damaged them even more. I can see. My reflection in the water reveals multiple scratches and bruises on my face, although in a short amount of time, they begin to fade away. The water has healed my wounds somehow. I slowly move my head around me, and the puzzle has pieced itself together. My knees kneel upon a yellow brick road, and the field of roses in the far distance lead up to the top of a cliff that meets a uniquely built castle. Now that I can see, I realize that there is more around me than I realized, that I cannot even fit it into a short enough description at this moment. All that I can tell you right now is that I do not know how, or why, but I am in OZ.
by Michaella Namiotka
I’m blinded. As I struggle to open my eyes, the bits of light finding their way in hurt me in an unusual way. It’s as if I am opening my eyes for the very first time. I try and lift my head, although I am unable to, after a sharp pain takes over. I move my hands to the left and right searching for something that could aid me right now. Although I cannot move, I feel safe as though nothing will harm me anytime soon. My hands splash in a refreshing cool pool of water as I start to scramble for anything to help me. I realize that I am laying on the somewhat shore of a small pond, or at least I think I am. I turn my head slightly to the right, and can see the outlines of lily pads and cattails and can almost feel the movement of tiny fish in the water. The water feels and smells clean, it’s smooth on my hands and the scent is fresh and pure. I turn my body although it aches, and I screech a little because of the pain. I feel as though I am alone, or at least I think I am, I doubt that anyone can hear me. I scoop as much of the water that I can into my mouth although a majority of it falls out. I am successfully able to get the dryness out of my mouth, it feels like I haven’t had a drink of water in weeks. Miraculously, my body experiences a tickling sensation, and I suddenly regain normal strength. The water must have worked like magic! Although it hasn’t cured the hazing blindness I am experiencing, I am able to bring myself up to my feet. I slowly get up, in fear of the extreme pain taking over my body from before once again as if it was a trick, and that I would fall on my back, and the pain would somehow laugh at me like a bully. Yet that does not happen. I try to navigate myself around as best I can, afraid to scream for help in case I have just been brutally beaten by a kidnapper. How would that explain the pond though? Maybe I was taken and thrown into the woods, but oddly enough, I feel as though “I am not in Kansas anymore” as Dorothy would say, even though I do not actually live in Kansas or have a dog named Toto. I can see to the left of me, an outline of the entrance into a forest, as the light shines in between the openings that the trees make with the help of the wind, and the tree barks shine. Ahead of me I can see a sunset, a pink and red sky, the type that could cure any misfortune. It’s calming, and reassuring even though I cannot even fully see it. I am then introduced to the outline of what I think to be a tall building of some sort, at the top of a very high cliff in the very far distance. I am so eager to find a way to see this. I feel like I am somewhere I have seen before, maybe it’s the feeling, or maybe it is because I recognize where I am, kind of like a place from a story book. I suddenly get the bright idea to rub my eyes with the water from the pond. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? I drop down to my knees immediately and scrub my eyes so aggressively, surprised I hadn’t damaged them even more. I can see. My reflection in the water reveals multiple scratches and bruises on my face, although in a short amount of time, they begin to fade away. The water has healed my wounds somehow. I slowly move my head around me, and the puzzle has pieced itself together. My knees kneel upon a yellow brick road, and the field of roses in the far distance lead up to the top of a cliff that meets a uniquely built castle. Now that I can see, I realize that there is more around me than I realized, that I cannot even fit it into a short enough description at this moment. All that I can tell you right now is that I do not know how, or why, but I am in OZ.