𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩 ; 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥

𝗢 𝗡 𝗘. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ ࿐ྂ

•·.·''·.·• •·.·''·.·

I wasn't sure exactly when I became aware. It wasn't sudden like waking up. It was more like dreaming. My sense of touch came first, my face, my lips, my nose. Then I felt other things, like a body but not. I couldn't move.

I slept, I think. I wasn't sure how much time passed or even if time was passing at all. I was aware and not.

I existed.

Maybe.

I had fingers. When did that happen? I flexed my hand, the movement ungainly and awkward. I had feet too. I kicked once, just to test the muscles, but the movement was hindered, like I was in a thick, elastic bag.

I slept.

There was warmth or maybe sound. But not. It wasn't heat exactly, but that was the closest comparison I could make. It was all around me, like a curtain of white noise. And it was inside me. It ebbed and flowed like water, and I found that if I paid particular attention, I could move it back and forth. It was like a game, pushing and pulling the warmth from my chest into my toes.

But it was also tiring.

I was so tired.

I slept.

I could move more easily. I kicked and reached out often, seeking anything in the dark.

But there was nothing. I settled back eventually.

And I slept.

And then I was awake.

The warmth, which had, up until this point, been a pleasant stream, surged like a burst dam, the sudden violence nearly scalding me. I reached out for nothing, the warmth crackling life fire, like lightning all around me.

Agitated.

No, terrified.

I kicked. But the warmth still pulsed and crackled. It no longer flowed into me in a steady stream. No, it flowed around me. And I was suddenly tired.

So, so tired.

I slept.

…

I was cold.

…

I had eyes. Of course I had eyes.

But something was wrong. Everything was blurry.

Why had it taken so long to remember that I could see?

And why had I never thought to open them while in the place with the warmth?

There was warmth here too, but it was different, not like the comforting warmth that flowed into my belly. This was different, alien. It flowed into my arms and neck. It felt strange.

Unnatural.

My muscles were weird too. I'd been flexing my limbs and kicking, but in the warm place there had been no up or down, as if gravity had no hold over me.

Here, though? Here was different.

I couldn't even lift my head. I tried to call out, but my lips were too puffy and my tongue was unwieldy in my mouth.

Somewhere, a baby cried.

I slept.

When I woke, there were giants around me, monolithic things whose shapes I could barely make out. They were able to pick me up and carry me around as if I weighed nothing.

I cried out in terror, but again all I heard was the screaming of a baby.

I stopped to listen, and so did the baby.