"Wheee!" I squeal as I circle though the air. We loop and twirl in amongst the clouds before diving in a deep long arc towards the grass below.
"Yahooo!" I yell, but the air quickly vacuums it away.
We steer forward, both of us head first, as we use the momentum of the air's current to glide us along. When we near the ground I readjust my body, flick my wrists, and sail steadily above surface.
The grass blurs into long streaks of mismatched greens. I smile, close my eyes and allow the warmth of the sun to caress me.
A moment later, I open my eyes to a dark cloud looming straight ahead. My first thought is to fly above and around it -- but then I feel a drop.
And another.
And another.
I look up, careful to not lose my position, and see that a larger, darker, more volatile cloud hovers above. I strain my neck trying to decipher the actual size of the cloud, but there are no ends to it.
The winds suddenly become rough causing me to lose my control. I jumble and bounce. First high above the current; then below the current. I use my feet as propellers to drive me upwards towards more manageable winds, but somehow I can't.
Another drop.
And another.
And another.
The drops become like pellets causing me to lose my bearing and tumble fast towards the harsh ground below.
Another drop.
"Karen! You need to move, you're getting wet." Donna says as she tries to wake me.
I open both eyes and notice the rocks above us are leaking water which has formed a puddle all around me.
I try to use one of my hands to steady myself as I wake, but it slips on the wet rocky surface causing me to bash my chin.
"You ok?" Donna asks as she helps me stand. We both slip for a second but then I manage to steady myself. We walk towards the front of the cave -- it's still dark out.
"How long have I been sleeping?" I ask her. She tells me over 20 hours.
"The sun just set a little while ago, would you like something to eat?"
I stretch my arms and look at her funny. There's no fish. There are no animals. There's no fruit.
"It's like a licorice root -- highly regenerative," she says and reaches for some sort of vine. Some of the others spent their day exploring and have determined that the roots of this particular plant shouldn't be too contaminated.
I watch her take a bite, "No bad!" She tells me but I can see that there must be a funny taste of some sort because her eyes are watering.
I reach out my hand and bring the vine to my lips. It's bitter and tough, but I don't care. It's something my body desperately needs, and so I take another bite, and then another. When I finish the portion I have, Donna hands me another. This one is much larger -- but I manage to gobble it up in less than a minute. The taste no longer bothers me.
"How was it?" Donna asks sarcastically as I burp for the first time in weeks.
I smile from the sensation of a fully belly. Before I have a chance to respond to Donna I feel a sharp pain from deep within me, followed immediately by the contents of my stomach overturning. And, before I have a chance to react to what is about to happen - what's inside suddenly becomes outside. Over, and over, and over again -- until there is absolutely nothing left for me to expel.
When I'm done being sick I take a seat on the ground and massage my head.
"Don't worry," Donna tells me as she hands me a makeshift cup of water from some sort of thick leaf. "It happened to most of us -- you just need to eat slower next time."
I nod.
I'm glad I'm not the only one.
And as I watch the stars rise higher and the night enters its deepest shade of black, I know that I will try again tomorrow with the licorice. Only this time, in smaller amounts. I need to be realistic about what my stomach is able to handle.
I'm not the same person I used to be.
