Chapter Four: Second Test

"Wake up. It's a new day. Wake up, Una."

The beckoning voice urged Una out of her deep sleep. She yawned and opened her eyes. The bright sun caught her face. She raised her hand to block the bright rays from her waking eyes. As her focus adjusted, she began to recognize who was there. "Rachel?" she asked.

Rachel knelt down in front of Una. "Yes, my child." She reached out and stroked the young woman's head. Wearing a playfully inquisitive expression, she asked, "Tell me, why are you sleeping on the floor?"

Una stretched her arms over her head and straitened her back. She blinked her eyes, clearing away some of the sand trapped in her lashes. Confused by the woman's question, Una narrowed her brow. "What?"

Holding back a giggle behind a warm smile, Rachel asked her again. "What are you doing on the floor?"

Una looked around, trying to piece together her shard memories. Soon things began to come back to her. "I woke up very afraid. But, when I realized I was back here, I was okay. The sleeping world outside was so beautiful, I decided to sit here and look out at it. I guess I must have fallen asleep."

Rachel looked around. She spotted a small piece of bare floor and sat down in front of Una. "Honey, what were you afraid of?"

Una sighed mournfully. Her face took on a look of utter despair. Her lower lip curled. The corners of her mouth turned down and an ocean of tears burst from her red eyes. "I think…I think I died," she said in a breaking voice.

Rachel tried to disguise her worried look. She laid her hand over her mouth for a moment, trying to compose herself. Una's sadness was so strong, she had to struggle to keep herself from crying in sympathy for her despondent prodigy. Rachel drew back her surge of emotion and reached out to Una, clenching her quivering hands. "You think you died? Why do you think that?"

"The blue water filled my nose and … I couldn't breath … and I couldn't move … and…" Una's squeaking voice trailed off into a tumult of deep sobs.

Instinctively, Rachel reached out and flung her arms around Una, cradling her head and shoulders. "But you didn't die. You're here and you're fine, just as I promised you," said Rachel in a soothing and gentle voice. "You're fine, Una."

Una rested her head on Rachel's shoulder and let herself sink into the kind woman's gentle rocking. "Okay, Rachel," she sighed.

Rachel twisted her neck down to see into Una's woeful eyes. Her face became somewhat serious while still keeping its comforting expression. "Una, honey, can you tell me what else you remember?"

Una sighed once more, taming her sorrow. "I remember the water, then the next thing I remember is waking up in bed."

"Nothing else?"

"No."

Rachel sighed in relief. "That's fine. Just fine," she said just above a whisper.

Once the moment had grown long enough, Rachel grabbed Una's shoulders and pulled the weeping young woman away from her. She put a finger under Una's chin, guiding her head up. The mournful face looked up, locking eyes with Rachel.

"You like the garden - the trees and the grass, don't you?" asked Rachel, smiling warmly.

Una's spirits perked up. The lines of despair tracing her face softened and a glint flickered in the corner of her eye. "Yes, ma'am. I do."

"How about I take you out there?"

Una looked back at Rachel, a bit confused. "You mean, go out the window?"

Rachel looked back at the window and laughed. "No, my dear. There is another way to the garden. Come on, I'll take you there."

Clasping Una's hands against her own, Rachel stood up, raising Una to her feet as well. She was smiling happily at Rachel now. The idea of going outside delighted her immensely. So happy was Una, she didn't realize or care when her blankets dropped to the floor, leaving her naked in front of Rachel.

Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the young woman's sudden stark appearance. "Oh wait a moment now. You can't go out like that."

Una looked down at herself. Feeling a sudden sense of shame, she reached down and pulled a sheet up from the floor, holding a piece just above her chest in her tightly clenched fist. With the other hand, she pulled part of the sheet around her back. Hoping she was sufficiently covered, Una looked up at Rachel, blushing a bit.

"It's all right, sweetie, I'll find you something." As she did the day before, Rachel opened the top drawer of the heavy wooden dresser and pulled out a garment. It looked like the same dress Una wore before, except for the color. This one had a pale gold tinge to it. "This one will do fine," said Rachel as she tossed it over to Una

Una automatically reached out to catch the dress, dropping the sheet she once held so tightly against her naked body. She found the bottom opening of the dress and quickly placed it over her head. She wiggled her body, sending it sliding down her body until she was completely covered.

Rachel smiled joyfully at her radiant vision. "You look so lovely."

Una blushed once more. "Thank you, Rachel."

"Are you ready to go?"

Una beamed at Rachel with the glow of the coming dawn. "Yes, ma'am."

***

The walk through the stark white halls was uneventful. Once again, Rachel led Una, hand in hand, all the way. As they walked, Una peered into the white walls. Their sterile appearance reminded her of the white rooms she was in before. Memories of her moments in those rooms crept over her, sending a cold chill running down her back.

Rachel, sensing her companion's change in spirit, tugged her hand. Una looked over at Rachel, wearing an uneasy expression over her face. Rachel blinked her eyes softly and smiled. That was all Una needed. Immediately, Una felt the tension lift from her body. Pleasing images of the garden filled her mind now, making her feel light.

After Rachel led Una past row after row of doors, she turned a corner. Down past another hall lined with doors the pair walked until they could go no farther. Standing in front of them was a blank wall. Rachel took Una's hand by the wrist and pulled her over to the wall. Una followed Rachel's direction, a bit reluctantly. Rachel then lifted Una's hand and placed her flat palm against the wall. After a moment the huge wall began to slide open. What Una saw made her heart sing. Outside the door laid the garden.

Una first noticed all the flowers. Sprouting from the grass covered lands, and blanketing the distant hills, were clumps of beautiful flowers of blue, yellow, and red. Darting from flower to flower were hundreds of beautiful butterflies with wings reflecting the sun with the colors of a rainbow. Above her head, flocks of magnificent birds layered with feathers of blue and white burst into the air from huge trees with thick lush branches that arched up toward the blue sky. High above her head, watching over the land, was the sun. Its constant rays covered the land with warmth and light.

Una, eyes, wet with tears of joy, looked at Rachel and smiled. Rachel rubbed the delighted woman's back and smiled lovingly in return. "What are you waiting for? Go on out," whispered Rachel in Una's ear. Una wrapped her arms around her shoulders and stepped forward.

A sweet sensation ran through her whole body when her bare feet first stepped onto the cool damp grass. The clumps of grass tickled her feet, forcing a giggle to bubble from Una. She stood there a moment, wriggling her toes in the soft green blades, hoping her feet would never forget the sensation.

A brisk breeze blew. It caught Una in its intangible grasp. The cool air rushing over her whole body made her heart sing. She raised her arms away from her sides, allowing the cool air to envelop her completely. She closed her eyes for a moment and imagined she were a bird, soaring high above the tall trees on the wings of the wind.

When the wind finally died down, Una found herself drawn to a nearby patch of flowers, beckoning her with their sweet sent. She knelt down and plucked one. She held the colorful bloom to her nose as she drew in a deep breath. Its sweet smell filled her senses. Awestruck by the sent, Una let herself sink slowly to the ground, covering herself in the blanket of flowers.

While Una lied there among the blossoms, a single butterfly dropped down, tickling her nose with its delicate wings. Una wrinkled her nose and giggled at the beautiful creature as it danced around her face. Una adored the tiny thing with its delicate fluttering wings and its fanciful fight. After a short while, the butterfly lifted off, flying high above Una's head. As it began to fly away, Una rolled over to her stomach and tilted her head up, keeping focus on the small insect. Unwilling to say goodbye, Una took to her feet and began to chase after it.

She chased after it down the side of a sloping hill covered in short white flowers. At the bottom, she lost sight of it. A bit winded from the chase, Una leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She rested her hand against the tree, but pulled it away quickly from the tree's thick brown coarse crust. The roughness offended her skin at first. She touched the bark once again with a delicate touch. She ran her hands over the surface, letting the roughness sink into her skin. Una's attention on the tree was drawn away when her elusive friend flew past her eyes. She cupped her hand over her mouth, muffling her laughter as she ran after it.

Una trotted down another slope and to the edge of an awesome field filled with strange tall grass. Each blade of the strange grass was long and tawny, with a puffy blossom at the top. As the gusts of air rushed over, the entire field rolled and swayed in chorus, tracing the path of the wind. Una stopped to marvel at the odd beauty of the great field of wheat, watching the mysterious dance between wind and land.

Deep in the ocean of waist high wheat darted the tiny butterfly. Una was about to continue the chase, but the field seemed a bit foreboding to Una. She was about to turn away, leaving her winged companion, when she heard something. It was a cry. It cam from deep inside the field.

It was a sorrowful cry, long and mournful, like a wounded animal. Una was again about to turn away, when the wailing started again. Una felt torn. She wanted to run, leaving the sorrowful creature far away, but she also felt an unexplainable need to run into the field. A single tear ran down her cheek when Una finally made her decision.

She began to wade through the rough field, following the sound of the cries. The wheat was dry and rough. The bristly tops of the swaying stalks felt thorny, pinching the skin on her arms. When she finally reached the location of the high pitched wails, Una knelt down. She parted the tall wheat, forcing it away with a wave of her arms. The harder she pushed, the more her arms stung. Her instinct told her to let go and run, but some other higher emotion begged her to stay. Una pushed the grass aside and looked down at the source of the plaintive cries. What she saw sent a blinding streak of fear down to her core.

Lying before her was a strange being. The creature was slender and smaller than Una. The creature's skin was a dull and green. Two dangling appendages, which Una surmised to be legs, lay folded in awkward angles at one end of its body. From the center of the creature's body stuck out four hook-like arms that flailed wildly. A diamond shaped head sprouted from the short body, connected by a thin neck. On its smooth head were three wildly rolling eyes; below the eyes was a small v-shaped mouth gasping for breath.

Una screamed and fell backward, collapsing in the rough wheat. Ignoring the prickly tops of the bent grass forcing themselves into her arms and back, Una turned and began to crawl away with tears of terror springing from her eyes. The creature cried out again, almost begging for help. The sorrowful cry tugged on Una's heart. Swallowing her fear, Una forced herself to turn back to the creature. She wiped her wet face, clearing her eyes and forcing herself to look again at the thing.

At her second look, Una realized why the creature was suffering so. Oozing from orifices all over its body was a yellow liquid. It was the same liquid that burned and agonized Una not long ago. "Oh what do I do? What should I do?" yelled Una in a panic. Then an idea struck her. "I know, I'll take you to Rachel. She'll help you."

She rubbed her hands together, trying to stop her shaking. She then thrust her trembling arms under the suffering creature and picked it up. She felt the weight of it in her arms. It was heavy, but not as heavy as she expected. The creature wailed in agony again in Una's arms. "It's okay, I take you to Rachel. She'll know what to do," Una said through her sobs.

She ran, arms stiff and legs tired, up the hill and passed the trees. Her tears were so thick, she could barely see. As she ran, the creature continued to expel the hot yellow liquid. The ugly poison dripped down Una's arms and legs, burning her skin. The terrible burning pain forced Una cry out in utter anguish.

The garden seemed to mirror Una's somber emotional state. The wind began to blow more fiercely, ripping the tender leaves from the trees. Deep rumbles echoed through thick clouds filling the once bright blue sky. The entire garden grew dark, giving it an ominous appearance.

She continued to run, sobbing louder than the poor creature she held. With her dress soaked with yellow liquid and her face soaked with tears, she ran up the knoll that led to the garden's entrance. Shock gripped her when she finally met with what she thought would be the entrance. She expected to see Rachel standing there, waiting for her to return. Instead, all she saw was the large white structure, with the outer door sealed shut.

Una looked down at the creature. Its three eyes were closing and its musty breath was getting shallow. Una, muscles aching and skin searing, was now overcome with panic. She cradled the small suffering thing in one arm and banged on the white wall furiously with the other. "Rachel! Help, Rachel," she screamed with all her might.

She had to get inside; she had to, but she didn't know how. As the wind howled around her and the sky grew darker, Una finally remembered how Rachel opened the door. Una placed the palm of her hand flat on the wall. After what seemed like forever, the wall began to slowly slide open.

Before the door was completely open, Una lifted the creature and ran in. "Rachel!" she yelled in a hoarse voice. The long hallway was empty. Rachel didn't come. No one came. A cloud of confusion sunk over Una's trembling body. She didn't know what to do.

Then a gust of wind blew in. Along with it came the butterfly. It flew in, past Una, and down the hall. A strange tranquillity washed over her. Without knowing why, Una started to run, following the butterfly's path of flight.

She chased after it, huffing and sweating as she ran. She cried no more. A kind of determination had taken her over. The butterfly darted around a corner and settled softly on a narrow blue door, one of the many doors lining the hall. Una stood in front of the door and waited for it to open. She was about to back away from it in favor of another door when it magically slid open on its own. Quickly, she ran in.

Una studied the room. It was shaped much like her own, and yet it was quite different. The ground under her bare feet was wet and slippery, covered with a deep dark green liquid. She slid her feet across the floor and over to a large basin. The large tub-like object was also filled with a green viscous liquid. Una hesitated a bit, then slowly lowered the unconscious creature in. Soon after submerging, the creature began to spin and swirl violently around under the green liquid. Una stood there, covered in green slim and yellow fluid and cold sweat, watching the odd creature perform its strange act. She lifted her tired head away from the thing and looked up at the window. Like in her own room, the window here looked out onto the world, but this world was unfamiliar to Una.

The world outside the creature's window was hot and arid. The land seemed dry and rough, covered with red sand and heavy rocks. In the yellow sky, two bright orbs pounded the ground below with an enormous blanket of heat and light. Forgetting her weakened state, Una stared out, intrigued by what she saw. The tremendous heat pouring in from the window washed over her exhausted body. She reached up with the back of her hand to wipe her damp forehead, spreading yellow and green on herself in the process. Slowly the world around her began to turn gray, as if all the colors were being washed away. The room started to spin around Una at bizarre angles. She struggled to compose her balance for a moment, but it was no use. The world turned black just before her body hit the floor.

[Chapter 1: Purfication] [Chapter 2: Examination] [Chapter 3: First Meeting] [Chapter 4: Second Test] [Chapter 5: Second Meeting] [Chapter 6: The Begining]