I began to stir as I lay on the floor trying to force myself back to the meadow.
“Mom!” I whispered as the tears rolled down my face.
“Ari,” I heard my father’s voice slowly filter through my brain. I opened my eyes and looked up at his worried face. It was dark outside by now and the house was empty.
The searing pain that had overtaken my entire body had finally sizzled into a burning sensation that resembled a very bad sunburn. My eyes danced from my father's to the surrounding room frantically searching for any semblance of where I was.
“I’m back,” I said after getting my bearings.
“You never left,” my father said gently as he reached for my outstretched arm.
My body hurt to move, but I needed to sit up to fully awaken from whatever “pain-induced fever dream” I had just come out o
