Chapter 4 - Gravity
Elara’s knees simply stopped working.
She didn't reach out to catch herself.
She hit the floor hard.
The impact sent a sharp, vibrating jolt up her spine, rattling her teeth.
Her fingernails scrabbled desperately against the side of the freezer.
They left faint, white scratches in the textured plastic surface.
She pulled her knees tight to her chest.
She folded in on herself, collapsing like a crushed paper cup under a heavy boot.
A jagged, ugly breath tore its way out of her throat.
It wasn't a cry.
It was a violent, heaving gasp for oxygen that her lungs refused to process.
She buried her face deep in her hands, her fingers digging into her scalp.
The red, bruised skin along her chest rubbed painfully against the rough wool of her cardigan.
Every single drop in that freezer was hours of sleep she would never get back.
Every ounce was a grueling physical victory over her own failing, exhausted body.
Now, it was just a stack of dirty paper trapped under an old woman’s hand.
The linoleum was freezing against the bare skin of her legs.
May you like
She pressed her forehead against the hard base of the freezer.
She let the mechanical cold seep into her skin, grounding her in the nightmare.
