Warm blood ran down from my head to my face and eyes. ….

There were countless broken pieces of terra cotta pot on the ground, all shattered everywhere. The soil was everywhere, and the higan flower petals were red as blood.

I did not remember how I fell down on the solid ground, and how the pocket watch escaped from my hand again and rolled to a spot right in front of my eyes.

Tick, tick, tick…..

The hand of the mini clock was ticking second by second, or it was ticking my life away. Blood kept coming down my right eye and blurred my version and made the whole world red as the higan flower. There was an enormous ringing sound in my ears, so loud that I couldn’t even hear what the crowd was saying, and…..

What Lan was saying…..

She was kneeling beside me, but so afraid to touch my body and kept her hands over her mouth, couldn’t speak a single word. Her tears were rolling down her face endlessly.

I wanted to reassure her that everything was all right, because a damn flower pot couldn’t kill me, right?

It was just a flower pot!

By the way, who would put a flower pot right on the edge of a balcony, especially on top of a ten or twenty story building? Whoever that person was probably did not even realize that the pot would fall down and so coincidentally hit someone’s head and possibly kill that person?

What an innocent murderer!

I was the “lucky” one, but then, if I have the same kind of luck with lotteries, becoming a billionaire wouldn’t be a dream.

The crowd was getting bigger, like many shadows casted over my body. They were talking and whispering with each other, and were quite panicked and shocked. Many of them took out their smartphones, probably calling an ambulance or just taking a nice photo of me and sharing it with their web of friends, or even taking a selfie with my body in the background.

Ahh…..Why did I still have energy for such silly thoughts in this kind of devastating situation?

The ringing in my ears was getting unbearable, and the sight started to get even more obscure (not that I can do anything about the situation). I couldn’t even feel the pain on my skull. Maybe it was too painful that it felt numb or that the rush of adrenaline helped to ease all sensations. All I could move was one of my fingers. I couldn’t even speak a single word.

I tried really hard to say something.

After a few tries and noticing no words came out, I suddenly realized that there was a possibility that I could die.

No way…..right?

It was just a flower pot. In today’s prosperity in the medical field, there was a great chance that the ambulance would get me to the hospital on time, and that whoever was treating me would be knowledgeable enough to save a shattered skull.

Suddenly I felt scared.

I was so scared to die.

I just graduated from high school. There was a long future ahead of me. There were so many things I have not had a chance to do yet. I wanted to enjoy my college life, meet new friends, try what red wine tastes like, and maybe even find someone I love and spend the rest of my life with him.

What about my pet paradise fish Yoyo? If I weren’t home, nobody would know how to change his water and feed him everyday.

Most of all, Mom and Dad were still waiting for me to come home for the celebration party. If I did not get home before seven o’clock, they would be worried. I hadn’t got a chance to say goodbye, to say thank you and tell them how much I love them, and how much I appreciate their support all these years.

Please…..I don’t want to die yet…..

Tick…..Tick……Tick………….

The pocket watch was still running, but the life of me seemed to faint away as the seconds went by.

This world was farther and farther away from me, and finally everything blacked out.

******************

“Nana, You are going to be late for school! Come on honey, wake up now, or I will pinch your ears……”

Mom……?

I felt a tickle on my ears as I slowly opened my eyes.

Stunned…..!

WHERE AM I?

I blinked out for a couple of seconds, and suddenly remembered everything. Wasn’t I standing in front of the karaoke bistro when that flower pot hit my head and then completely lost consciousness?

Here I was, lying on the ground of the wilderness, and absolutely stunned by this unknown place. I touched the top of my head in a panic, but strangely there wasn’t any pain at all, and no sign of injuries. I searched around for the handbag because inside of it was my phone, but there was nothing except not far away……

There lay that strange antique pocket watch……

I picked it up and the watch was still running. It was morning 10:05 am right now. That was weird because we arrived at the karaoke bistro around 4:30 pm. How could I have slept through the night without noticing, and where was my head injury, and how the heck did I end up in the middle of nowhere? This place reminded me of an African savanna that I saw on some random Google images.

Everything just did not make any sense.

Could it be that I was kidnapped, but then why would the kidnappers abandon me here, and the most important thing of all was where was my head injury? Or, could it be that everything that happened about the flower pot was just a bad dream, and that I sleepwalked all the way to this place?

But I can’t recall myself being a sleepwalker all these years.

Or…..could this be a dream itself?

I pinched my face real hard, and it really hurted! Nope, this was not a dream at all.

Anyways, it was not the time to figure out whether the flower pot accident was a dream or not, but more importantly get out of this place and find my way home. Mom and Dad must be super worried about me because I did not go home last night. They probably had already called the police to report my missing. Thinking of this, I put the pocket watch necklace around my neck, and got up to my feet.

Not that I really liked that necklace, but more like there was nothing else around that I recognized. It was better to have something in hand than nothing.

As I walked through the golden field, there was a strange creep through my spine. Suddenly remembering all the wild animals that could pop up in the wilderness: lions, hyenas, leopards, or just elephants could stomp me to death. I love elephants, but not in this circumstance since wild animals have unpredictable moods. Thinking of the long and sharp teeth of a lion gave me a shiver from head to toes.

I was afraid before reaching home, I would end up as some animals’ breakfast.

What a way to die!

I pushed all the negative thoughts away, and continued to march on. Fortunately I did not come across any wild animals, but just a bunch of wild red berries.

My stomach growled.

Of course it growled because I had not eaten for quite some time now.

I picked some red berries and examined them on my palm. They looked like cranberries, but were cranberries supposed to grow in such a hot climate? I was not an expert in plant species and their geographies, therefore did not dare to give them a try, knowing the outcome of putting strange food in the mouth.

What if these berries were poisonous, even if they just irritated the stomach to cause diarrhea, that could be fatal to lose so much liquid on such hot days. For someone as dumb as me, at least knew that water was much more important than food in any survival setting. Without water, a human could only survive three days, but without food could last for several days.

Plus those berries had black dots on them, making them look like ladybugs, therefore it was definitely not worth trying.

I kept on walking straight for two hours. My mouth was getting crispy dry, and the sweat made my back super wet and sticky. I only had one layer of clothing on, and it was also short sleeves. It wasn’t like I could take off my only shirt. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand, and looked 360 degrees around. There was nothing in here, but golden grass and red berries.

Not even a tree!