I sat on the parched earth, the midday sun blazing mercilessly above my head. My lips were cracked and bleeding, and bruises marked my arms and legs in angry shades of purple and blue. My hair, tangled and matted with sweat and dirt, clung to my face as if mocking my despair. The hem of my clothes was soaked in mud, clinging heavily to my skin.

I drew in sharp, labored breaths, my chest rising and falling unevenly. My hands pressed into the dry ground on either side of me, fingers curling into fists as I clawed at the gritty sand beneath my palms,my only anchor in that moment of chaos.