The Long Rest

Water tumbled over slick red rocks in a lilting natural melody. The air was stagnant, unmoving and heat waves danced lazily above the gravel beach. Alex was supine on a flat portion of a rock which hovered over the lake. The rock burned the parts of her skin that were left exposed. She had tried splashing water over the surface but it had evaporated almost immediately.

Nearby, a voice over the radio crooned, "See the pyramids along the Nile" and she hummed as the singer continued, "watch the sunrise on a tropic isle," Tori Amos continued the song as Alex's eyelids began to feel heavy. A long hike, a swim and the warmth of the rock beneath had her dozing.

A sudden burst of static from the radio jolted her back to reality.

"You belong..." the grumble was barely discernable through the white noise. Hesitating, Alex reached out to change the station. None of the stations would come in. The same static played over each frequency. On some channels she could hear weeping, screaming and the word, "me," over and over.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see the heatwaves. Their movement was increasing, and she stared directly at them as they began to shift into the glossy shape of a young woman holding both hands over her chest. Her movements were frantic and she seemed to be in pain as she struggled against an invisible barrier.

Alex's mind went blank and she felt her body move of its own accord. A slender hand reached out to grasp the hand of the specter before her. It stopped struggling immediately, and the water vapor that formed her face contorted in a sickening smile as it began to pull her to it. Her skin burned where it touched her, and she felt the air resist her presence.

Someone somewhere was screaming. The scent of smoke overwhelmed her and she fell to her knees, choking, even as she was pulled away from the water. Her skin turned red, then black, as white and yellow flames licked up her arms and legs. An invisible barrier gave way and she was yanked through it.

The creature released her, and hovered silently in front of her. Alex looked at her hands and gasped. They were gone. Her entire body was just... gone. She could feel it, but not see it. Looking around, the world was in shadow. Through a small portal, she could see her body lying on a rock. It was pale, limp and unmoving.

"What have you done?" she asked the creature. There was no response. It simply stepped around her toward her unattended body. She could only watch as it touched her eyes and disintegrated. When her body sat up without her, she tried to reach for it but the air condensed around her. Straining, she tried to step forward but was stopped waves of pressure around her. She was trapped outside of her body.

"Maybe you'll be lonesome, too" the song seemed to echo in Alex's ears, and she crumpled to the ground. The heat waves were rising and the sun on the other side was beginning to set as she watched her body walk away from her.

A newfound sense of resolve filled her spirit, and she rose. Higher than she had ever risen before. Alex found herself hovering over the land, watching her body stumble through the wilderness.

"You belong to me..." she whispered the lyrics of the song that still played over the radio. She would find a way back to her body. There had to be a way home.