My head is stuck in the sky like I have nothing else to ponder about. I lay on the beautiful one-day old cut grass making out which cloud is which animal. A circus in the air dancing to a piano beat and one drummer boy in the background. A unicorn moves slowly from right to left to a slight breeze in the atmosphere. I can feel a gust of wind hit my face, blowing a leaf from a nearby tree landing on my left leg. I leave it sitting on top without a care. The sun is trying hard to peek out in the distance like a baby tiger too scared to go into the wild without its mother. There is no heavy sound except a small rattle in the bushes like a salt and pepper shaker. I shudder as goosebumps take over both of my arms. Suddenly, everything turns black.
A tap on my shoulder soon awakens me. I must have fallen to a deep sleep on the grass. I'm startled just a bit, taken aback to whoever (and whatever) just woke me up. The sun is now fully illuminating, blinding my eyesight as I look around my body for a slight clue on what it is. All I see is a white haze like a mass of cigarette smoke, the notes of birds chirping and echoing the flapping of their wings as they fly away in the distance. I try to stand up but it feels like the bottom half of my body has been cut off with a sharp saw. But there is no pain- just numbness. So I quickly turn from my back to my stomach using both of my arms to lift the upper half of my body up. I struggle for about three seconds and decide it's no use. I give up. My face slams to the floor; my stomach hits the ground making me gasp for one breath of misery. But everything shoots from horrible pain to perfect sensation when I spot a small figure in the corner of my vision.
It's a humanly figure, standing there with both arms to its side. Okay, by this time my eyes adjusted to its surroundings and I can finally make out that it's a silhouette of a little girl. She's about four feet tall with long and straight hair touching her shoulders. She shyly puts her right hand up to her face, inserting her right index finger in her mouth like a lollipop. She doesn't say a word. At this time, no sound is evident to the field around me. Should I say something to her? I'm afraid she might runaway and become startled to the sound of my voice. Truthfully, someone could've walked right up next to me and stole my belongings without a trace. I look closely at the little girl and slowly analyze her face to see if I can recognize her. I take a second to think this observation over in my head. Nope, no little girl I've ever come in contact with before. Or have I and I just don't remember? A tickling itch takes over my neck. Now I'm a little annoyed to my obliviousness. I study her body for the last time. She has on a pink polo shirt with a blue logo of a penguin embroidered on her right side of her breast, khaki shorts that go up right above her knee, and worn-out brown sandals with creme-colored straps to fasten her feet safely to the shoes. Still, I can't recognize her.
I'm in the motion of making my way to my feet without taking my eyes off of her. My legs feel fine, light as feathers without any trace of pain or numbness. All of a sudden, she jumps forward two feet from my body. She holds out her hand with a tiny smile on her face. I grab the pint-size palm. She lifts me up with force, taking me by surprise with her unbelievable strength for such a small figure. And just about when I open my mouth to thank her, she runs away like a unicorn in a dream.
These photos are dedicated to Mia.
by derekwong
