I wake in shadow

Waking up buried alive... probably my worst nightmare

I wake in shadow; the smell of pine and must engulfing my nostrils. I look around and discover no source of light from which I can gain my bearings, and the ache from my back tells me I’ve been laying upon it for some time; silence echoing throughout my ears leaving me deaf.  I go to sit up from the place in which I lay when my head is rudely confronted with something solid only a few inches from my nose. In confusion I raise my hands above my face and feel something silken and lustrous; however, behind the tender fabric lays something hard and when struck, emits a hallow sound, furthering my befuddlement. My fingers run along the silky fabric reading every bump and crevasse in the substance beneath the fabric and they suddenly curve down towards my body sooner than expected. Realizing I’m enclosed I attempt to push whatever it is above me open, however it ends in vain. Feelings of terror and panic begin to wash over me like a crashing wave, leaving me to wallow in devastation and bemusement, as I fathom the realization of my confines. In my panic, anxiety fills my chest and threatens to crush my lungs, I begin to hyperventilate; hysteria lapping at edges of my mind. I flail about punching and kicking the impenetrable enclosure until my knuckles bleed, I scratch with such force my nails detach themselves from my fingers, splattering blood into my mouth and eyes; I scream until it feels as though needles are being expelled with my breath until I lay voiceless, still screaming, but silent as the tears begin to well and slide down the side of my face dampening my hair. Then the silence, oh the silence, thumps against my eardrums slowly and rhythmically like a pulse, soothing me.  I close my eyes and steady my breathing, and give in to the silence. I drift into a slumber and start to dream. It’s a lovely dream. I see white, and gold, perhaps a face; I think I can make out feathers through the blur…