Felicia Chappelle

From a Little Piece of Gold

Hailee felt tall when she stood up but there was nothing to measure herself against. Her body was soft and achy like when a fever breaks or after a long, unintentional sleep. As she stretched, her arms reached much further toward the sky than felt familiar and her elbow looked like two braided strands of a large knotted tree. Dust and a flat Earth spread as far as Hailee could see. She blinked as if to wash away a dream. Whipping her head from side to side, looking for color, or shape, texture, and density, Hailee wanted to make sense of the empty world. Her movements sounded like stormy winds.