章 4: New World
This time, cool water splashed against Emile's cheeks. He tried to take a deep breath, but more water found its way into his lungs. He pushed himself up out of the water and coughed the fluid out of his lungs as best he could.
Looking around, he spotted Emma half a mile down the shoreline. Emile went to take a step, but his body was so devoid of energy that he stumbled and fell back into the shallow water. Steadying himself, he clomped towards Emma until he finally kneeled beside her.
Emile put his ear to her chest and heard a faint heartbeat. With a heartbeat, Emile knew he shouldn't do CPR, so instead he rolled Emma onto her side and struck her back hoping she would cough up any water left in her.
Emma awoke alongside a violent coughing fit. After it subsided, Emile pulled her up and they both took a moment to observe their surroundings.
The two somehow washed up on a white, pearlescent beach, as if marble were crumbled down to sand. Beyond the shore stood hollow husks of what Emile assumed used to be trees. The bark had long turned to a gray, ashy color. Some of the husks stood as tall as Emile, while others towered over him by a large margin, perhaps 20, even 30 feet tall.
Nothing of significance stood behind the trees, just more white sand and more hollow husks. Emile turned back to look towards the ocean, only to now realize that the ocean was colorless. Looking above him, the sky too was devoid of any colorful life. Gray trees, a gray sky, and a black ocean.
"What the f—" before Emile could finish his sentence Emma smacked him across the back of his head.
"Hey! What was that for?" Emile demanded.
"We—this is a dream right?" Emma choked, tears swelling in her eyes.
Emile wanted to say something at first, but decided against it. He knew nothing he could say would help Emma process what laid before their eyes: a barren wasteland, lacking all signs of life, and most certainly not a beach you could find on Earth.
"Emile!" Emma sobbed, "What is this!"
Emma's voice tore. A unique pain struck at Emile's heart. He turned away from Emma, tears swelling in his eyes too.
"I don't know Emma…. We're—we're somewhere else. Somewhere far away." Before Emile started crying along with his sister, he let out a soft chuckle, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
Hearing Emile choke up, Emma went stiff. Emile never cried. That made her even more scared than she was before. Emma took a step closer to Emile's back and wrapped her arms around him.
For a few solemn minutes, the brother and sister cried together. Both of them gazing at the bleak, black offing in front of them.
After a few generous sniffles, Emma asked, "where's the sun?"
"What?" Emile asked, confused at the question.
Emile raised his head once again and looked around the gray sky. To his surprise, there was no sun nor moon. No stars in the sky or other planets nearby.
"This is hell…" Emma pouted, "we died and we're in hell."
"We didn't die Emma—" Emile said while rolling his eyes, "I think."
The two stopped crying soon after that since they were forced to accept the reality they found themselves in. Emma pinched herself a few more times and kept bringing up all the little things this world seemed to be missing.
Meanwhile, Emile was walking around the shoreline. Sifting through the white sand, looking inside the hollow husks, digging for sand crabs, trying to find any resemblance of home.
"We need to eat." Emile finally declared.
"Oh—yeah—great! Thanks for the revelation Emile! I hadn't considered that!" Emma barked.
"Well talking about the lack of birds and sun over and over isn't going to feed us Emma!"
"Where are we going to get food, Emile!"
"We'll look!" Emile finished.
Emile walked back to one of the hollow husks and broke off part of the decrepit bark. He was hoping it was at least sturdy enough to piece a lizard or bug, if life even existed in the rolling white hills.
Emile walked off the shoreline deeper into the heart of the white desert with Emma eventually following him. An hour of walking in silence turned to two, and then to three.
During this time, the sky didn't get darker or lighter. The air didn't get warmer or cooler. Emile turned around to see how far he'd come and he could still see the black ocean, but it was a good distance away now.
Thanks to Emile stopping to look back, Emma caught up with him. Emile turned to continue walking, but Emma grabbed the sweatshirt strips wrapped around his chest.
"What?" Emile asked.
"Your cuts—" Emma noticed, "they're gone."
Emile quickly put his arms around his back and started feeling where the lacerations used to be. Just as Emma said, they were gone. Healthy smooth skin replaced where they used to be, not even a scar was left.
Emile then noticed that the shallow cuts from running through the forest were gone from Emma's arms too.
"Could we have just been unconscious for so long that they healed?" Emma tried to reason.
"No," Emile responded, "we'd be starving."
Just as he said it, realization struck both of them. They weren't hungry anymore. When Emile first woke up on the shore he was hungry, lethargic, lacking every nutrient the body needed. But slowly over the last few hours the hunger went away, their bodies revitalized. Emile felt good. He felt great actually.
Before they could discuss whatever phenomenon was happening to them, the ground beneath them started rumbling and the hills of sand in the distance started shifting.
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