I woke up in the dark in the middle of a thunderstorm, raindrops splattering on my face. From the brief illumination of the lightning, I could see a forest surrounding me. A jungle of tall trees, thick bushes, and a river of water making it’s way down the trail on which I lied. It was hard to breathe, the pouring rain was so thick, even below the shelter of the trees. There didn't appear to be any others around me. I called for help, but no help came. I was cold, drenched, hungry, and alone. Every drop of rain felt like a beat of a drum on my throbbing head. Oh, my head. It was spinning like a whirlwind of memories I could not grasp. Pictures flashed before my mind's eye, but I did not recognize them.
I finally stood and tried to clear my mind. Forget the past, whatever it was, I had to find some people, some food. I didn't know which way to go on the narrow foot trail before me, so I turned left. The forest seemed clearer that direction, or so I thought.
It was hard to see anything in the rain and the darkness, but I continued to walk, to run, on the trail before me hoping it would lead me somewhere. Anywhere. I don't know how long I ran. I was out of breath and every inhalation seemed to bring an ounce of water with it into my burning lungs. I had to stop running. I had to find some shelter. I gave up on my task to find some sort of civilization, and looked for a cave instead. I found a hollowed out tree large enough to hold three people. I felt around hoping I wasn't intruding on anyone, anything, and learned that I was, indeed, alone. So I waited there, in the hollow tree trunk, waiting in vain for the endless storm to pass. Waiting for the sun to peak over the horizon to soak up the waters and warm the forest. I waited for minutes, hours, but my head began spinning again, until instead of the dim opening of the cavern, I saw only darkness.
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