“What the hell?” Sarina muttered as she squinted her still closed eyes against the sudden glare of light. Her brain, relishing in the dark fog of sleep, rebelled against the rude invasion of reality. As a result, it took several seconds for her to realize that something was clearly wrong. She stretched reflexively as her still narrowed eyes skittered across her surroundings. Unexpected heat radiated across her bare legs. She was still dressed as she'd been for bed, in a nightshirt and nothing else. From her position, lying down, regardless of direction, she saw nothing but, what appeared to be, sand. The blowing sand, along with the sudden light and heat led her to the one conclusion. She was in the desert! “What the hell?” Sarina repeated, louder, jumping at the sound of her own voice. She bolted to a sitting position, her eyes wide. Her hands met hard packed dirt, not sand as she’d expected. Sarina dusted an area with her hand and picked at the dirt beneath. Not sand, dirt. Packed dirt, but dirt none the less. Did that mean she wasn’t in the desert? Or was this how the ground really was in the desert? Sarina thought frantically of every desert movie she'd ever seen, which, as it turns out, was very few. No, the desert was definitely all sand. Her mental pondering was interrupted by a much more pressing problem. She shook her head and frowned. Why couldn’t she catch her breath? One hand flew to her chest as she struggled to breath, panting heavily. Ok, clearly I’m having an asthma attack. I just have to calm down. She focused on slowing her breathing as she’d been taught as a child. But, that doesn’t make any sense. I haven’t had an attack since, since, well, I don’t even remember! Of course I’ve never woken up in the middle of nowhere before! She began to panic as darkness crept in from the edge of her vision. Oh God, I’m suffocating! I have to get out of the sun! Some desperate part of her brain gave warning about heat being bad for asthma. She tried to scramble to standing, her heart thudding painfully in her chest, but only managed to get to her knees. Every breath was a high pitched squeal as she madly tried to get air into her lungs, the same lungs which now seemed to be a burning fire raging behind her ribs. The surrounding sand swam in and out of focus. Pinpoints of dark and light washed over her and she wobbled unsteadily on all fours. I’m going to die here and no one will find me. Darkness flooded her head as she lost consciousness, falling face first against the packed dirt before falling sideways in a graceless heap. The parched ground bloomed a crimson and black halo around her nose as she lay.