After hours of deep sleep, Alana finally awoke from the darkness to a strong white light directed down on her face. A groan escaped her lips in a hoarse tone, her eyes immediately closing, pushing her back to the darkness as she only started to get used to the light. Her blue eyes pierced as she looked around the room; white walls, white ceiling, a heart monitor and an oxygen mask placed over her nose and mouth. Took her almost no time to realize she was in a hospital room. But the question was, how did she get there?
A few scattered images and uneven thoughts rushed to her mind in the form of incomplete memories. There she stood at the edge of land, less than a few steps away from falling into the beautiful blue river. The feel of the warmth of the golden sun rays over her face along with the soft summer breeze made her shiver, as the soft wind blew her long golden locks to fly behind her. Green leaves of trees behind her swished in a singing song to the soft wind along with the voice of the sweet birds, singing a lullaby.
The forest was a dangerous place for such a girl to go alone, full of lions and wild creatures that would attack with no second thoughts, but she was strong enough, fearless enough and stubborn enough to cros8s the woods every day, only to reach that place, that heaven. After all, you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.
Alana’s eyes fluttered closed as she enjoyed the beautiful feelings, her arms spreading to her sides. For her entire life, Alana had feared the water, though it seemed very beautiful from afar. The thoughts of jumping and trying out something new ran through her mind. She imagined the feel of the tepid water on her skin and her hair getting wet, floating behind her. But soon, the image of her drowning came in front of her eyes as they fluttered open and a short gasp of fear escape her thin lips.
The girl felt thirst; thirst for the new, the terrifying, for courage. She felt her heart leap, thumping in her chest at a racing rate.
Alana looked down at the water, glistering under the sun’s light, looking so beautiful. She wondered if she had the courage to jump. She feared new, and most of all, she feared the water, the lack of oxygen, being unable to swim or breathe. The sixteen year-old took her time making her decision, a decision of a lifetime; one that would change her life forever, if she had anymore life to live.
Life was full of possibilities and not all of them were good. Not everybody makes the right decision and not everyone has the courage to take the risk of trying something new. But for Alana, she didn't want to be one of those people. She wanted to try everything she never tried, no matter how scary or risky it could be. And she did.
Courage took over her body and without a second thought; she was flying her way down to the water. A beautiful shudder ran through her body once the water touched her skin, splashing around in small waves as she smiled at herself at the feeling, only to have it disappear in a few seconds of realization that she can’t swim. Her body started going down deeper under the water surface as she can no longer breathe. The blonde struggled with all the strength and courage she had to rise up again and breathe, getting tangled in her own yellow hair. Water replaced the air in her lungs as she choked. Fear took over her body, replacing the courage as her life flashed before her eyes.
Tears streamed down her face in fear and pain, before she saw an image of the most beautiful creature ever; a man, a lion.
His long golden locks floated under the water, his golden eyes shined and pierced and his sun-kissed skin glistered to the sun rays. For what seemed like a moment, their eyes locked, and she felt herself floating again, breathing again, though she was never above the water. His eyes were capturing as they held the strength and courage of a lion but the softness and humanity of a man who held a beautiful soul.
But his eyes were one thing, and his hair was another; very soft looking, a unique brownish gold color that gleamed under the sun. Alana wasn’t in full realization of what was happening before she reached out her hand, only to have her finger tips graze the soft skin of his face.
She was pushed up above the water and a gush of air was fiercely pulled to the inside of her lungs in a desperate need of oxygen, but the girl was always far gone.
“Stay with me.” A silky masculine voice sang into her ears and she could only feel a gentle touch on her forehead, touching the tips of her dripping hair as she could barely breathe again, but not for long, as she had fallen into the darkness.
After she woke up, the girl wasn’t sure if she had really seen him, if he really existed or maybe he was death in its most beautiful phase. Alana wondered if she would ever see him again or maybe he was just a beautiful dream, a new hope for her. She thought of the strength of his arms to both hold her and get them out of the water, the feel of his skin on hers, the courage to get himself in danger, only to save a stranger; one he might not ever meet again. When her fingers touched him, she knew herself, she knew love, courage and touched heaven as her soul exploded with the most beautiful colors in its darkest corners.
After the incident, Alana had gone to the same place over and over, on hopes of seeing him again, finding him there, but never. Not once he was there and in every time, disappointment drowned her in sorrow. But the girl never gave up because in each time, she had the feeling of being watched; watched in a beautiful way, like being looked over by an angel, by the force to take everything down for her, by him.
He was a man, an angel, a dream and a beautiful creature; a lion that she had fallen in love with.