Agony and nausea wracked her body. The air felt thick, nearly choking, as sweltering heat pressed down upon her frail form. Tears stung her eyes as she pried them open, searching the endless dark. With frightful urgency she clasped a hand over her mouth and throat to keep the nausea at bay. Throbbing, cleaving, bursting pain split her mind and through quiet sobs she only wished for an end.

***

Gentle sunlight painted Melody with its golden yolk,

Valerie stared at the verdant expanse of the forest canopy above her in amazement. The deep green, freckled with a glimpse of blue, red, and gold from the sky behind it, always filled her with a deep calm. Many of the other villagers consider the looming trees to be terrifying, as if the massive vegetation mocked them for being small and helpless. Not Valerie though! The colossal trees with their turgid vines, the dainty mushrooms that often sheltered her from the rain, the tiny streams that tri