Exhaustion was still weighing down both my body and mind but sleep refused to come back to me. There were no programmed lights in this dank, chilled room and no way to gauge when morning was upon us. Every second felt like it stretched on forever, and at the same time ticked by far too quickly. I imagined it was like being stuck in a wormhole. I wanted my parents rescued but I also dreaded the mission with such an intense ferocity that every time I thought about it, a sinking sensation whirled through the air and caused me to fear losing consciousness. I closed my eyes and practiced stillness; something we learned a few years ago in the classroom that had to do wit...

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