I looked up as soon as I heard the door latch, and curiously watched as another stranger entered the space. The large room was beginning to fill up with more and more people. I sat on a chair, my legs swinging under me. I stared at all the unfamiliar faces and silently watched as each new arrival greeted another, all of their faces etched with fatigue and trepidation. I eventually turned my gaze away from them and began examining the room I was in - or cave, to be more specific.
It wasn’t a scary cave, full of darkness. It was light, open and welcoming. Tall glass windows made up an entire side of the cave, allowing natural light to illuminate the space. The stone walls that made up the other three sides were ragged rock the colour of tan, casting a strong orange light. The floor, naturally, was made of soft sand. The room was furnished, with chairs and tables scattered throughout the open space.
I searched the now crowded space, desperately trying to find the person that would comfort me, an anchor in this strange situation. Finally, a space cleared in the crowd and on an armchair, curled up and reading a magazine, sat my mum. I jumped off the chair and ran across the cave, as fast as my little legs would carry me. Small clouds of dust sprung in the wake of each footstep, and sand filled the spaces between my toes. I pushed my way through a group of adults chatting, and leaned on the edge of the armchair, tilting my head so I could look at the woman sat there.
‘Mum, is this real?’
Her green-brown eyes lifted from the magazine she was reading and met my own.
‘Yeah, of course it is.’
My eyebrows knotted together in a frown. ‘Oh.’
My mum gave me a smile before resuming her reading. I turned away from her and looked down at my hands. I could see them clearly, my small fingers were all accounted for. I looked up and found that more people had entered the room. I once again pushed my way through the crowd of adult strangers who were all standing, waiting for something. None of them seemed to notice me as I pushed passed them, until I located the source of light in the cave. I finally arrived and sighed a breath of relief.
Before me stood tall, looming windows - the glass stretching from the sandy floor to the rocky stone ceiling. I looked in front of me and stared at my reflection. The seven-year-old me stared back, confusion and worry written all over her face. I frowned and focused beyond my reflection.
The desert landscape was unsettled, clouds of sand drifted across like the waves of an ocean. The waves of sand were all being drawn towards the centre of the desert, the tornado swallowing them and growing by the second.