Garnet didn’t know how long she lay there. Five minutes? Two hours? Several days, with the moon and sun passing over her while she lay in a haze? The trees and wind and sounds around her had no meaning. They occurred around her, but not to her, as she sat curled into a ball on a disused path through the thick of the forest.
When she did move, it was almost by accident, as a numb arm shifted under her and tilted her to one side. She fell onto her back, staring at the leaves overhead, blinking until the sky came into focus. With every movement on her face, she felt something dry rubbing against her, cracking so quietly only she could hear it, and she dared not reach up to see where it was.