The world comes back in pieces.
Sound first. A faint humming that feels familiar but I can't place it.
Then weight. My body pressed into something soft. A bed. My bed. I feel like I was in a car accident. My whole body issore.
I want to look around and see where I am, but my eyes won't open. Way too heavy and crusted with bits of sleep that act like glue.
Move. Come on. Move.
The voice in my head sound panicky. Like something is happening in the present?—
Oh, shit!
Oh, shit, oh shit, oh shit!
Somethingishappening in the present—I'm being drugged!
I force my eyes to open—the crusty bits pulling on the sensitive skin of my lashes until finally, the tension breaks and…light. Too much light.
I turn my head away, blinking against the brightness, and wait for my vision to clear. A ceiling. Specifically, my ceiling. I'd recognize it anywhere. Ugly popcorn. Cobwebs. That little water stain in the corner that looks like an eyeball.
I'm home.
What—
I push myself up on my elbows. My head swims, vision tilting sideways before it corrects itself. My mouth is dry. My body feels... wrong. Like I've been asleep for days.
How did I get here?
I look down at myself.
Clothes, not naked. The sage green ribbed leggings I love to death, but haven't seen in months because they got swallowedby a dirty laundry pile. The soft sweatshirt—my favorite. The one with the embroidered flowers on the front that's been in the corner of my bathroom because I was too lazy to pick it up and wash it.
I'm wearing them.
But they're clean.
I didn't do laundry. I haven't done laundry in?—
Something glitters in my peripheral vision.
I turn my head too fast. The room spins again.
There's a Christmas tree.
A small one on the little table in front of the window that used to have seven dead potted plants on it the last time I was here. It's about three feet tall. Real pine. The scent is… amazing.
It's decorated. Handmade felt ornaments hang from every branch. It's a garden theme. This year's theme. I do a Pinterest board every year called "Perfect Christmas Vibes" and fill it with the most dreamy Christmas decorations I can find on Etsy.
This year's them is Spring Garden Christmas.
I know these ornaments.
The little brown mole with an armful of pink and yellow tulips clutched in his tiny felt paws. The Rabbit family wearing pastel waistcoats in mint green and lavender, each one clutching hand-stitched carrots with delicate embroidered tops.
A cheerful yellow rain boot overflowing with more tulips, their petals individually cut and layered.
There's a beekeeper in a tiny white suit with a miniature honey jar, and a garden Santa with a watering can instead of a sack, and a flower angel with wings made of layered petals and a daisy halo.
