A Strange Mourning

As he was sitting in a plastic chair in the hospital corridor, his head hanging down to his chest and his eyes numb from too many tears, he heard a noise. At first it didn't register at all, he was too far away, his mind at least was, but after a few minutes something inside his head clicked and he started wondering that this soft rustling sound, like the wind blowing autumn leaves across a breezy meadow, seemed out of place. Could there be a storm blowing outside? It was clear when he arrived earlier in the day, but even if it was a possible scenario, it was very unlikely and that wasn't the sound he was hearing. This was no storm, it was like walking in the Gavington Woods near home on a whimsy autumn afternoon, he could even smell the oak in the air!
And this at last made him lift up his head with his eyes closed, already sensing a clarity and a notion of open space that he shouldn't be sensing in a hospital corridor, and after a deep breath it made him open his eyes and look around.
As his reddened eyes adjusted to the clarity he found himself sitting in the middle of a small clearing, a tree stump under him and the light of the sun coming through the thin canopy above, igniting the morning fog all around him.
"Where the hell am I?..."