I lay there for what felt like an eternity, trying to convince my body to move.
Every part of me hurt.
My back throbbed where I'd landed, my head felt like someone had driven a nail straight through it, and my stomach burned beneath my shirt.
I slowly rolled onto my side and pushed myself up.
"Ah…"
A sharp pain shot through my ribs.
I stopped.
Okay.
Maybe moving wasn't such a great idea.
I took a few slow breaths before attempting to sit properly.
The forest looked different from the ground.
Darker.
Larger.
The trees towered over me, their branches twisting together above my head and blocking most of the sky.
I looked up at the branch I'd fallen from.
It was several feet above me.
How had I even managed to climb that high?
And more importantly…
Why had I felt like I needed to?
I couldn't remember.
Not completely.
The memories were there, but they felt scrambled.
Like pieces of a puzzle that refused to fit together.
I remembered running.
