the game

ken

i wake up basking in the crackling warmth of a fire. opening my eyes slowly katie sits behind me. i look towards one of the large windows in the common room. the sun is breaking across the horizon. i can hear something. birds? morning life. it's odd. the way nature makes sound before the humans do every day.

"feeling better?" asks a groggy voice from behind me. "then you can get up," she yawns.

i sit upright blinking away my exhaustion.

"what happened? the last thing i remember was the pile of creatures i was killing?" i wait for her to tell me something. she smiles in that knowing way i wish i could understand.

"not important, now i need sleep, will you get up, you can use your rock from now," she doesn't wait this time but begins pulling away immediately.

i sigh as she makes her way back into the distance. i can already hear her barking commands for during her sleep shift. it's daylight, and the creatures are slinking back into the shadows. back under the beds to pull people under. back amongst the trees where they can hide among the green.

the silence of sleep falls slowly over everything. nothing but birds and other creatures brought here from the other world tend to do.

it's odd, one of the ways to tell which world we come from by our sleeping habits. there are even some flowers that only bloom at night. whatever the case is today, the only sounds are the rioting birds.

slowly the birds fade. but it is not a regular fade. it is as if an enemy were closing in. the creatures back away, the flapping of their wings can be heard above their caws of panic. what is out there? my heart beats more rapidly. instinctively i turn into a bear. i know we don't go over how to transform into animals until our second year but i never thought i'd live that long.

barreling down the hallway i make it to katie's door. i knock, rolling my claws into a fist. there is no response. a weird shrill pain runs through me. where is she? there is a terror running wild in my veins. what did they do to her? without another moment's rest i bight a hole in the door. it's made of wood. unlike the normal structures, the game structures are more primitive at times. it depends on the level.

and then as i look through the hole her fist finds my nose, and i reel back in pain as katie opens the door in her pajamas. the bear fur molts from my skin and my eyes turn from yellow to their normal hogue.

she shakes her head but as she does we both hear the nail down the chalkboard screech of the cannerie. we both whip around to look out of the window. what is happening out there?