“Ughh” I gasped, clutching my pounding head, running my thin fingers through unruly curls. “Is, is that blood?” I stuttered, staring at my hands. Just to be sure I ran my fingers through my hair again, feeling for any spots that could be the source of the bleeding. I found a gash on the top of my head, I must have hit it or something, but I couldn’t remember what happened. Do I have amnesia? My legs weren’t in much better condition, they were scraped and bruised, I felt sharp pains as I shifted around on the hard ground where I lay. My whole body hurts, how did I get here?

    I glanced around, taking in my surroundings. It looked like I was in some sort of forest, how did I get here? I can’t remember a thing, where am I? Mustering all my strength, I propped myself up and slowly stood up, ignoring the sharp pain that surged through my body. My eyes kept darting back and forth looking for something I recognized, to no avail. I have no idea where I am.

Near an old looking oak tree my laptop bag and purse lay sprawled on the ground, some of the contents of the purse overflowed near the roots and dirt. I had a habit of carrying larger purses, stuffing it full of things I never actually use, you know, just in case I would ever need it. I immediately rush over to my precious laptop to be sure nothing on it had broken, after all this is one of the best high end gaming laptops you can get on the market right now. It's ultra thin and high powered but it gets so hot you could bake cookies on it, and the battery life sucks. Totally worth it though, gaming on it is beautiful, you just have to watch how toasty it gets. I don’t know what I’d do if the screen was all smashed, I wouldn’t be able to afford another one for awhile. Luckily it looks okay so I pack everything away and pick up the makeup that had rolled out of my purse. I barely wear makeup anymore, after all who am I trying to impress? However, I keep it in my purse in case I ever feel in the mood to wear it. You never know when your work is going to spring a photo op on you, or surprise they’re taking new ID photos!

Still confused, I slung my laptop bag, which was similar to a messenger bag, over my shoulder, it fell right into place. The same spot I frantically carried it every morning on my way to work, juggling my caffeine drink of choice and my miscellaneous bags. I swear, it didn’t matter how early I woke up or what time I left, I was always on the verge of being late due to traffic so at one point I just gave up. Might as well have a little extra sleep anyway before the real nightmare began, right? These are the two bags I grabbed this morning on my way to work, but I don’t remember how I got here. What happened? I did make it to work right? The harder I concentrated, the larger my migraine was; I don’t understand, I don’t have amnesia, I can remember pretty much everything about myself, not that I wanted to anyway. Or is it some kind of selective amnesia? I can remember who I am and all that, but not how I got here. At the age of twenty five, I’m still waiting for my ship to come in, as they say. Not so much so that I don’t have my life together, like most people my age complain about; no I would say compared to others in my age range I’m doing fine, however, I’m just not happy. My job is a soul sucking, lifeless desk jockey position, where I go in day and day out and repeat the same old grind. I make someone else rich while I constantly complain to myself, silently muttering under my breath, how underpaid I am and unhappy. I get paid enough to live comfortably, but the stress and the pay level just don’t level out, and I’m left at the end of the day going home and laying in bed watching tv for the rest of the night too depressed and tired to do anything else. When I picture my life, I just can’t see myself doing this forever, yet I will have to. I’ll never own a mansion and have lavish month long vacations. I’ll never be able to live comfortably without working the forty hour a week grind for the rest of my life. All I’ll ever do in life is grind away until I die. I wish there was more to life than this.

Overhead in one of the surrounding trees, an owl hooted, it echoed through the forest, nightfall was growing close; just how long have I been gone? I know somewhere on the internet I have read that if you ever get lost, stay close and wait for help, but who is looking for me? Does anybody even know I’m gone? This reminds me of a jumpscare video game I recently played but couldn’t get through due to my nerves. What should I do? It could be dangerous to stay here, but it could also be dangerous to wonder about, afterall it is getting dark. I have to snap out of the depressive thoughts and figure out what to do!