world inside the wall

Falling

A flash of white light. Then black. I can feel wind rushing all around me. I am weightless. Strewn about like a newspaper caught in a hurricane. I extend my arms, hoping to grab something, anything, to stop this tossing and tumbling. Instead, I feel empty air. I squint into the darkness trying to see. Nothing. I have lost my sense of direction. I feel dizzy, nauseous. It feels like gravity is fighting with itself, and I’m caught in the middle. How much longer will this go on? A minute? An hour? Forever? I don’t think I can take much more. My organs are practically soup by now. I know it’s only been a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity.
Then, as quickly as it started, it stops. I hold my breath, frozen. It’s still dark and I feel vulnerable and exposed. My whole body is tense, I’m waiting. Thoughts of what just happened begin to jumble up in my head. I start to relax and think. Bad move. I start falling again, but this time, I know I’m falling down. It catches me off guard I open my mouth to scream, but not a sound comes out. I fall faster, faster. Picking up speed as I tumble through the open air.
A light turns on, as if someone flipped a switch. Did I trigger it? The source of the light, I can’t say. It doesn’t seem to come from anywhere. It’s a yellow light, like sunlight. But I know it’s not sunlight. The light isn’t blinding, but it’s bright enough so it hurts my eyes after having been in pitch darkness. I close them, then open. My long, dirty blond hair whips my face, stinging my cheeks. My eyes adjust to the light and I’m able to see, but at first, I have trouble deciphering what’s right in front of me.
With horror, I realize that it’s ground, and it’s coming at me fast. I put my hands in front of me, even though I know it won’t do anything. I fall faster and faster towards the black, hard floor. Closer, closer. Faster, faster. My stomach is doing summersaults inside my body. I am so close to the ground, I practically see myself in the black, shiny surface. I squeeze my eyes shut again. I am nervous but ready, tense but relaxed, scared but fearless.
But the ground never comes. I slowly squint my eyes open. I’m floating again, frozen in space. The light is getting brighter, still no source. I can’t see anything. The light gets brighter and brighter until it’s blinding. A white light just like the one that flashed across my vision when I first arrived in this empty space. I close my eyes one last time.
A splitting headache rips my head in two. I open my mouth to scream, and I find I’m able to get sound out. I let out an ear splitting scream. It’s the only sound I’ve heard besides the rustling wind. I hold my head in my hands as I scream. I keep going until I am all out of air. I take in one huge breath as everything goes black.