Ivy lay sprawled across the scorching ground, the heat searing through her body even within the haze of the dream. Her breathing was labored, each breath dragging painfully through her chest as though she were pulling needles into her lungs.
Every inhale burned. Every exhale came out shallow and strained.
And yet, she kept breathing.
Her body seemed determined to continue even when her mind had already begun to wonder whether there was any reason left to do so.
She lay there, barely able to move, enduring the pain in silence as the heat beneath her only grew more unbearable.
It was instinct that kept her alive.
Ivy hated it.
Even now, when every part of her screamed for an end to the suffering, her body stubbornly clung to life. It was an instinct older than thought, refusing to le
