Quiet. Empty stillness. Calm.

I opened my eyes to the feeling of nothing, the sky overhead pale blue. Not the usual bright, endless blue I was used to. This sky seemed washed out, a ghost of itself, even the small, puffy clouds that drifted overhead faintly transparent.

It took me a minute to process where I was, the feeling of grass under my hands, my head, the warmth of the ground, uneven in places. Emotion, too, was washed like ...