The ground spun. Stars swirled in her vision. As consciousness started to drift back into her, she soon came to realize that she had been out cold. It was a rather lucky thing that she was flat on her back, for if she had been standing she surely would’ve thrown up from the dizziness.

The only thing that kept her from drifting back into unconsciousness were the cold drops of water that kept tapping against her face. Camilla finally opened her eyes. She looked above her and wasn’t sure what to think.

Storm clouds hung in the sky, but they weren’t like any she had come to know. Giant, rolling, purple clouds moved above her, flashing with thunder. She had seen the sky take on many different colors, orange and purple sunsets were common, but there was something entirely unearthly about these colors. The purple clouds sparked up with green lightning. She stared at the sky. It stared back at her, seeming almost as confused as she did.

Reality was starting to sink back into Camilla. She fought against her stiff muscles and managed to hoist herself up. The first thing she noticed was that she was covered in quite a bit of mud. The second thing she noticed was where all this mud came from: the grassy, steep, ditch she was laying in. But it was the third thing she noticed that really drew up panic in her; this was not the same ditch she was in before.

She swung her head from side to side. She was still groggy from waking up, right? That’s why things didn’t look the same, right? She kept looking. There was no bridge under construction. There was no sidewalk. There was no bus stop. Camilla stood up on her feet and looked around.

On every side of her, in every direction, stood endless, open, rolling, plains.

There’s no way, she thought. There’s no way I got washed into the country!

But all of the signs were there. There was no sign of civilization. No houses, no streets, no cars, just field upon field of billowing brown grasses.

“Hello?” Camilla screamed out, praying that someone would answer. When only her echo came back, she screamed out again.

No, no, no! ran through her head as she put her hands through her hair, and then flung them to her sides in defeat. Why didn’t I listen to my mom? was the only other thought she could muster.

Camilla looked in front of her, and then looked behind her. The large ditch she stood in went on for what seemed like forever in both directions. There was absolutely no way to tell which one led back into the city and which one led into more country. But it was the only kind of landmark she had. She looked back down into the ditch. Nearly buried by a mound of mud was her backpack. She dug it out, dusted it off and flung it over her shoulders. She reached in the pockets of her shorts. Sure enough, her phone wasn’t there.

With no phone, and no family, Camilla came to full realization of her situation. She was completely alone. And completely lost.

She scurried out of the ditch and onto a dirt road . A light but persistent drizzle drifted out of the melancholy sky. Seeing no other options, Camilla hoisted her backpack over her shoulders and headed forward, following the ditch’s path the whole way.