Darkness was followed by an intense hot light enveloping my eyes. I winced at the intensity and pain that felt like a sunburn on my face. My ears were ringing to the point of disorientation. I motioned to stand up but struggled to move my legs stuck in the cratered dirt. That’s when I realized my whole body was in agonizing pain.

  I forced my head down to see tattered clothes that clung to my mangled burned body. Well-done scabs covered areas where the gashes were oozing. To make matters worse, I was pretty sure that I couldn’t move my legs from a broken spine. My forever insecurity of about an overweight body disintegrated after seeing what it looked like now. Funny how being fat didn’t matter anymore when I felt inches away from death. After some hesitation, I tried to move my arms to help prop me up...

  Alright Col’ try to get up...

  Struggling to get up, I heard a snapping sound and cringed at my now throbbing arm.

  …Nope that ain’t happening.

  The feeling of helplessness paired with the inability to move made it so I could only do one thing... look up. Towering trees swayed while thick branches rustled in the dense, warm wind. Countless vascular leaves populated the sky, but it still wasn’t enough to block the harsh rays breaking through them. Through the cracks in the greenery, I could see what looked like shooting stars up above.

  Shooting stars? In the daytime? ...Neat

  The meteors entered the atmosphere with a low rumbling trailing in their wake. Despite lying in complete suffering, I couldn’t help but admire the horrifying beauty of the fiery contrails crossing over the dense greenery above me before crashing into Earth.

  …Is this even Earth?

  I was sprawled on the ground for what felt like hours, building a web of questions in my head starting with how I got here.

  One second, I was at work – in the cooler Mouthfeel getting ingredients for dinner service -and now I’m here, wherever here may be...

  The main question branched off into a million other ones.

  Did this happen to anyone else? Donny? Basil? .... Franki? Franki.

  A wave of emotional pain washed over me as I thought about her.

  God, I hope she’s okay, please let her be okay.

  As I lay there helpless, tears slid down my face. Although racked with unanswered questions, all I could do was accept my fate. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My heart started slowing and a strange stillness wrapped around me.

  Then it happened.

  First a wave moved from my head to my feet. It pulsated then shot back up where it started.

  What followed felt like a biblical intervention. The burns on my body dwindled until disappearing to show untouched skin. The coagulated blood evaporated before my very eyes. The ability to wiggle my toes turned into being able to move my feet. My body was repairing itself and quickly at that. After mere moments, I was given a 1-up with my body completely healed. I felt momentary relief given that I wasn’t going to die here – at least in this specific spot. Once the shock wore off a new question was added to my backlog.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  What in the fuck just happened?!

  After the surprise ran its course, I wiped the tears from my eyes and jerked my feet back into the dirt to help me up from the crater. I never felt better, pudge non-withstanding, except for a newfound growling coming from my stomach. Nevertheless, I felt grateful for what occurred. I quickly decided not to stifle this second chance and move forward.

  I had no clue where I was. But if Franki was out here too, I had to try to find her – and preferably not die trying.

  As I stood up, I took a sharp inhale and noticed an immediate ease to fill my lungs. I didn’t know if this was because my lungs were stronger from the healing process or because of the environment I was in. Intuition had me assume the latter. Later, I would realize that my growling gut was right.

  This doesn’t feel like the air back home. This is not Earth.

  My concerns were becoming validated the more I saw; the lush and thick fauna took shape through colorful petals I’ve never seen before. Shrubbery seemed to be breathing, and every inhale brought new aromas battling for a place in my nose. One smell took me back to the kitchen, where helping Donny prep herbs was the highlight of the shift.

  Donny... I bet anything he would know what to do right now.

  These unnatural oddities stretched down across a great span that created shadows in the thicket despite the now annoying light from above. I looked down, circling around ground zero where I could see charred, smoldering ash of whatever vegetation I rudely collapsed on.

  Sorry, I really don’t know how that happened.

  While scratching my head, I continued surveying the area with nervous intrigue at the sights, sounds, and smells that I have never experienced. As the ringing in my ears was fading, new mysterious sounds reverberated from far away. A shockwave rippled from the sound and left my knees quivering. My body was good as new, but my brain was in shambles.

  A constant barrage of sensations was assaulting me, making my head spin at the infinitesimal number of questions that were running through my brain. I could feel my hands clam up and I wasn’t going to blame the humidity.

  Where was I? Who else is here? Did some divine intervention save them too? Did this happen to Franki?

  Another bellow interrupted my nagging thoughts.

  AND WHAT WAS MAKING THAT AWFUL NOISE?!

  Anger, anxiety, confusion and fear made my skull sear in pain from the overload of stress. I felt myself spiraling from what I lost and what I didn’t understand. Gravity was starting to compete with the consuming nausea that took over my stomach. As I tried to control it, an image of Franki in a similar situation I was in hit me like a brick wall. What followed was vomit quenching the last pockets of hot ash on the ground with dry heaves following close by, all complemented by the painful hunger.

  Where could I get food around here?

  Shortly after that stupid thought, my eyes started violently twitching and bouncing in their sockets. With my vision starting to blur, I knew I was going to faint.

  Before blacking out, I heard a squelch in the distance; I giggled deliriously.

  Huh, same sound our dish guy made stomping critters in the kitchen.

  Losing my grip on reality, I darted my eyes toward the sound.

  Between the bushy thicket and tunnel of trees, I saw it. A flicker through the unknown brush. Golden as it was mystical. Gone as fast as it was there. Like the glow of a firefly in a summer’s night.

  A woosh trailed the glow and carried a pleasant draft that hit my face. Finally surrendering to my bout of lunacy, my eyes rolled back at the refreshing reprieve and the new world faded to black. The gentle draft was just enough to knock me on my back and guarantee unconsciousness.