Sunrise to Sunset: All that May Change in One Day

A peachy, pastel pink reached out across the sky, fading from the hazardous orange of the sun. It rose from the deep blue, calm waters below it. The coast gave off a faint breeze that felt great against my skin, but smelled even better. I gently grazed my thumb against Serena’s hand. She rested her head on my right shoulder as she yawned. While exhaling deeply, I felt all of my past concerns leave myself, both emotionally and physically.

“I love you.” 

I never imagined hearing those words coming out of my mouth ever again, yet here they were. Serena embraced me as I heard those same words exit her mouth. I could feel one of her tears fall onto my thigh. I knew she was waiting for this. I wasn’t. I never looked forward to feeling this way again. There is no bliss for those who don’t deserve it. At least that’s what I told myself.

Soon enough the bright sun was in full motion, making its way through the warm sky. It was time we headed back to our lime green van. I held Serena’s hand as we climbed down from the pile of boulders we were sitting on. We agreed that this was one of our most favorite surprise stops yet.

We set off towards the north for the majority of the day until we found a long stretch of forest. We unpacked our van and set up camp.

“Hey Ashley! Come over here, look what I found!” Serena shouted from several yards away. I jogged over and bent down to see what she was pointing at. It was a small patch of tan and brown, rounded-top mushrooms. “We can definitely eat these.”

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t call you the mushroom expert,” I teased her and laughed. She playfully hit me and ripped out the patch. Carefully, she placed about half of the mushrooms into my hand and left the rest for herself.

“Bottoms up,” she smiled. With hesitation, I slowly moved the mushrooms to my lips and began to eat them. I started back up my usual tasks with setting up camp.

About a half hour had passed and Serena and I were laying together on a blanket out in the woods as a fire that we made crackled in front of us. All of a sudden the fire started morphing into a rainbow of neon colors and it felt as if Serena’s body was sinking into mine. A tingling sensation overcame me as I could feel my pulse quickening throughout me. All the colors of the fire blended into the surroundings and soon enough I heard Serena ask me if I was okay.

“Are you not seeing all of this?” I gestured towards the fire and sat up, with a rush rapidly consuming my head.

“I think those were magic mushrooms,” Serena laughed. “I can smell the colors.”

Serena’s smile quickly turned into fear as she stared off into the fire. In one split second she started shrieking and ran off. Before I could process anything, I began chasing her through the woods, dodging trees and fallen logs that I wasn’t even sure if they were there. Soon enough she outran me and my heart was beating out of my chest. I hunched over trying to catch my breath. Quickly, I realized the severity of the situation and became gravely paranoid. This was not a good trip.

I started to head back to our campsite before my vision became immensely blurry. My heartbeat ran so fast it could beat a race car by miles. Then, the lights went out and I hit the soft ground.

~~~~~~~~~

I awoke to a disheveled Serena, which I could only see by a nearby fire, shaking me and yelling. “How could you lie to me? Was everything a joke to you?” I could not even begin to process what words were being thrown at me before she started to stomp away.

“What is going on?” I asked, groggily, while trying my best to straighten myself up.

“I know all about your real past, Ashley! No need to try and fool me anymore!”

A sudden release of anxiety started to choke me. A million questions ran through my head. There is no way Serena could have known about my past, yet here we were, talking about it.

“Hold on, hold on,” I tried to calm her down. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw everything! Everything! All in that fire. The fire told me.”

Now, I felt better knowing that she is just speaking from a trip, and not from reality. “The fire told you?”

“Yes! I know about everything! I know about that man that you killed, about that woman whose life you ruined, about your real family!”

Every sense of relief I had before lasted very briefly, and I surged back into panic mode. “H-How do you know?” I stuttered.

“The fire told me!” Serena repeated. “So it is true!”

Before I could get a response in, she ran away sobbing. Instead of chasing her, I collapsed back onto the ground from debilitating anxiety. As I lay on the mushy surface of the forest, I heard our van start up and drive off. My anxiety only increased. Lights out again.

~~~~~~~~~

I awoke in what I assumed was the middle of the night. All I could see were faint outlines of trees lit up by the moonlight. I gradually gathered my bearings and stood up. I searched around and saw our abandoned campsite. I suddenly remembered the events that had taken place earlier. I became dizzy, yet started trudging towards the moon. I forgot which way the road was and the only thing keeping me calm was the light, therefore I followed it. I continued on until I heard more wildlife and splashes. I quickly realized there was water nearby and I rushed towards it.

I came upon a large, tranquil lake. I took a deep breath and sat down. I started to begin to unravel my feelings towards the outcome of the day, but it soon all went away. Nothing seemed that important anymore. One could call it being at peace while the other would call it being in denial. Whatever it was, it felt fine.

I gazed out onto the lake, watching the water smoothly alter the moon’s reflection, knowing that it was time to start all over again.