One moment I was looking down at Ellena, and the floor, and the next I was tipping forward, falling into or through the floor. Or maybe the floor vanished. It happened too fast.
I tumble through the air, surrounded by darkness, and then a sudden blazing light that blinds me. With a thump that feels far too light for the fall I just had, I hit the ground.
My eyes open, but I can't see past the gray the envelops my vision. My entire sight line is one of those light spots you get from staring at a bright light. I squeeze my eyes shut, watching the light spots turn purple and then green and finally fade away.
I refuse to open my eyes. I don't care if they say you don't feel pain in dreams. This is a dream. It must be. People don't fall through the floor. Under any circumstance.
But then I realize that sunlight is filtering through my eyelids. Maybe it's morning..?
I open my eyes.
This is not my room. Or my house. WHEN DID I GET IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIELD?
I stare at the grass. And the wildflowers. The breeze lightly tosses my hair, as if asking me to get up from the ground and join it in its freedom to swirl through the air.
I slowly stand up, my gaze darting every which way. I don't know what this is... or where I am..
I start trying to remember how my book starts.... it couldn't have been in a field... or... maybe...
I hear a distant horse whinny, and I twist in the direction of the sound. No...... wait.....
A rider appears, galloping hard towards me, his cloak billowing out behind them.
I follow them with my eyes as he thunders toward me. But at the last moment, the rider pulls his horse to a sudden halt with a low "Whoa". He peers down at me, flipping his hood back. But he isn't a he at all. He is a she. "Can I help you?"
"What? Oh." I look down at myself, blinking twice. What happened to my t-shirt? And jeans? Now I'm in this tanned dress, with dark laces crossing my chest in a criss-cross pattern.
"You just look lost, is all." The young woman looks down at me. But I don't miss the glance she tosses over her shoulder.
"Yeah... um... you could say that..." I say slowly. "Is... something going on..?"
She starts slightly, glancing over her shoulder again. "No. of course not. Can I point you to town?"
"Town?"
"Yes. Sailmist is just up the road, and if you're wanting a longer journey, Lowburn is down the road a ways."
I blink. Those are my town names. From my book. "Who are you?" I blurt out.
She hesitates. "I'm Avery."
Avery? As in, main character Avery? I give her a second look, taking her her dark, almost black hair and her brown eyes. "Wait, aren't you fleeing the sheriff..?"
She flinches, glancing tellingly over her shoulder again. "Uh, no." She laughs nervously. "Nope. I'm not a thief."
"I know," I murmur to myself. "But he thinks you are, so you run. But wait, if you're here, talking to me, you're not going to-" I cut myself off when I realize Avery is staring at me. "Uh..."
She smiles hesitantly, almost painfully, but a distant whinny drifts over the breeze, causing her to stiffen. "Get on."
"What?"
"Get on." She clutches the reins, turning her horse.
"I...." I hesitate.
"Are you coming or not?" Avery looks back at me with an impatient look.
"I can't ride." I look down at my apparently booted feet.
Avery sighs, but the distant sound of hoofbeats reaches our ears. She shakes her head, and reaches down, jerking my arm upwards. Before I have time to blink, I find myself perched behind her on the horse.
"Hold on," she calls over her shoulder before leaning over and flicking the reins, with a "Yah!"
I squeak, wrapping my arms around her chest as the equine lunges forward into a gallop. The field flies past us as Avery's horse charges across the field and into the next.
I want to speak, ask why we aren't following the road. But I doubt she'd hear me unless I yelled it into her ear. So I keep my silence, trying to decide if this really is my book. This is how it starts. Well, minus me.
Avery laughs, her hair whipping wildly without the confines of her hood. She glances over her shoulder towards where we came, then down at me, her brown eyes sparkling with hints of green. "Isn't this fun?"
"Fun is a bit of a strong word," I mumble, tightening my grip on her. But after the initial shock, and after realizing I'm not going to just slip off, I am starting to, reluctantly, agree with her.
Avery's horse springs nimbly over a fence that's probably almost my height, changing my mind. This is not fun, it's terrifying.
The horse thunders across another field, leaping another fence.
I cautiously glance backward, looking for our pursuers. I actually see a couple horse behind us, galloping hard. It's the sheriff of Lowburn. He's always hated Avery so when someone accused her of stealing something, he gladly tried to arrest her.
But she's innocent, and when he wouldn't listen, she fled. He, of course, decided to pursue her. How else could she make it to Sailmist in time to-
"Yah," Avery urges, leaning lower over her equine's neck. "Come on, old boy, don't let me down."
I blink, an odd feeling settling over me. I remember writing that line. Next, Avery will glance behind us, seeing that the sheriff is getting closer.
Avery glances back, her expression tightening. "He's gaining on us."
I don't reply. I wrote that line too. But she won't get caught. That isn't what happens.
I lean my head over to see past her shoulder. There's the outskirts of Sailmist. We're almost there.
"We're almost home free." Avery tosses the words over her shoulder. Directed at me, I guess.
"Halt! Thief!"
Avery and I both twist around.
The sheriff, a brawny man with a short brown beard, is on our tail. "You're not getting away from me, theif!"
I frown, I don't remember writing this. Avery's expression hardens and she leans still lower over her mount's neck, quietly urging him faster.
But I don't think her horse can go faster. He's sweating hard and I remember he's not as young as he used to be. His breathing is labored, and I realize guiltily, it might be my extra weight.
The sheriff pulls closer, almost close enough to reach out and grab my skirt. "Your accomplice is going to be locked up as well, theif!"
Avery makes a noncommittal noise, just as we reach the town.
"You're mine!" The sheriff grabs for her cloak, missing her cloak and clutching my dress instead.
Avery suddenly leans back, tugging the reins with her. Her horse responds instantly, skidding to an instant halt just inside town.
But the sheriff keeps going. And his grip on my dress is good because I'm yanked off her horse and sent tumbling to the ground as the sheriff releases me to pull his mount to a stop.
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