My writersgroup homework
When Elizabeth hears the song Jolene by Dolly Parton she remembers a very special memory that she enjoyed quite well. It's a strange one but it means a lot to her. It will be something that she always will be searching for, for the rest of her life, a state of mind.
It all started a few years ago when Elizabeth was an active member of the local church. She was always away on different camps and church activities, sometimes she went because she had to, and other times she went because she wanted to. This was one of those times she really wanted to go. The group she was in were about to spend the weekend in an old house in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the woods. The group Elizabeth was in was a mixed one with some of her old friends and then there were some new ones that she didn't meet before. On these kinds of camps they had all kinds of things planed, playing different games - both inside and out, cooking, baking, talking, singing and meditation. But the most important thing was to get to know each other, which Elizabeth had no problems with because she is a very active person and she talked to everyone and helps as soon anyone needs a helping hand. All Friday they played games to make sure that everyone gets to know each other and to make sure that everyone is heard which is very important in the church society. And the games continued on Saturday until lunchtime.
Elizabeth is that kind of person that do believe in the supernatural and she knew that the house they were staying in is haunted by someone or some ones, because there are more than just one. And by some reason Elizabeth can't sleep when she's in the house, she can't say why, she just can't.
The thing Elizabeth remembers the most, is what happened on the Saturday afternoon. Everyone in the group was put into smaller groups of 3-4 and they where delegated a special assignment and Elizabeth's group were in charge of bread baking. Before they were about to begin she went upstairs to get a friend that were in the same group as her. But before they went down Elizabeth started to talk with her friend Mary about anything else then bread making. As Elizabeth was standing up she felt a flow in her body of tiredness and she needed to sit down. For some reason there was a mattress on the floor with a pillow so Elizabeth lay down with the pillow under her arms and head. Just after that she falls asleep. But not the kind you think, it's like a coma kind of sleep. Her entire body was asleep but her mind was working as usually.
And she could hear everything, she could hear the people outside, the wind, the people downstairs and she could hear the music someone forget to turn off. Luckily it was Dolly Parton, one of her favorite artists. Elizabeth woke her arm up to move the CD player closer to her and then she put Jolene on repeat and then she went back to her coma sleep.
After a few hours Elizabeth heard one of the guys asking where she was but no one knew. Laying there under a few blankets someone had put on her, (that she didn't remember that anyone had done) she was prepared for anything but she didn't wanted to wake up from this strange lovely sleep. It was like her body and her brain was disconnected, even if Elizabeth wanted to wake up, her body didn't. It felt like she was floating on water, but in the air over her own body. A perfect state of mind and a perfect way to meditate.
When the guy who had asked after her, found Elizabeth he was a bit naughty, because he turns the volume up so high that the people downstairs told him to turn it down. But because Elizabeth was prepared so she didn't move a muscle and that scared him so much he went down to get her old boyfriend to see if he could wake Elizabeth up. When she heard that she panic and tried to go deeper into herself then she ever had. When the guys returned almost everyone came along to see if he could wake Elizabeth up or if they should call 911.
Meanwhile Elizabeth felt warm and sweaty accept for her feet, they were ice cold, for non explainable reason. When Elizabeth's old boyfriend came up and he tried to take her pulse on her wrists but that didn't work because she had her arms so close and to tight to her body, so he tried to take it on her throat. That hurt so much that Elizabeth had to turn around even though she didn't want to. He talked to her all the time to get some response from her but Elizabeth didn't talk back because the only thing she wanted to do was to fall back into the strange lovely sleep she now was about to wake up from. After a while she came around and opened her eyes to stair right into his concerned and worried eyes. A few seconds later the only thing she could hear and see in his eyes were relief but she felt exhausted.
It was a special moment and after that day she tries to find that perfect state of mind again. The balance of being a sleep and at the same time be as awake you can in your mind. It's a strange memory but it gave her hope for the future, a hope that she one day can balance her life.
The thing Elizabeth enjoyed so much was the thought that there actually is a person out there that cares for her. But the one thing she enjoyed the most was the feeling to be free, not connected to anything just being balanced and free.
