The Rude Awakening

Untitled Part 1

There is nothing then there is a bright light that fills the world. The spirit romps and plays through the golden rays, feeling the joys of no longer being earthbound. Then as quickly as it had appeared black inky darkness starts to encroach. The spirit tries to run, but all around the shadows spread through the light like thick frost. The spirit dashes to hide in a flash of fading golden warmth but the blackness sinks in like sharp claws. Violently yanked back the spirit is hauled down by the shadows. Its icy claws sink in deeper and the spirit writhes in pain. The entire heavens disappears into frozen blackness filled with the anguished cries of other tortured spirits.

The creature's eyes open and all at once she is wracked with headaches, nausea and confusion. The pain is so great and immense that the young animal instantly faints. She slips in and out of consciousness, each time she wakes up the pain is less. Finally opening her eyes she finds that the dark clouds have evaporated from her mind. But in its wake it has left a sort of hollowed emptiness, a warm comfortable glow that she revels in. With her vision finally clear she takes in her surroundings. She is covered in darkness and lying on a piece of...her brain struggles and works desperately to find out the words. She is lying on a piece of moss! And with that piece of information the glow starts to lose its warmth. She drags herself a few feet away on her belly through the darkness. A flash of warm light spills in and splinters the shadows into pieces and fragments. "I see that you're awake," a strong, gentle voice says from within the blinding light. A shape materialized out of the darkness and confronted with the foreign mass she faints. Over the next few days the Voice starts to teach her, gradually the knowledge starts to flow back into her brain. One day the warm glow was gone but the Voice told her that that was good and that she shouldn't be frightened. Eventually she had a vision of someone calling her "Sophie" and he said that must be her name. The Voice is a small, brown-furred animal with pointed ears who identifies himself as a "cat". He told her that she was a cat too and this mad her sad because she figured that meant that she was just as ugly and disfigured as him. "Come let me show you something," the Voice said one dark and gloomy day nudging her outside of the shelter. Walking through the grass he leads her to a small mass of water with leaves floating on it. "This is called a puddle they can be much smaller than this. Now lean down close to the surface," he encourages her. A stunningly beautiful animal is staring wonderingly up at Sophie. Long sleek, silky white fur seems to glow from within the puddle and the creatures blue eyes twinkle with stars. The animal's body is slender and graceful and its feathery plumy tail sways side to side in the puddle. "That is your reflection..." at a blank glance from Sophie he continues on. "It is basically what you look like and what others see you as," the Voice finishes his explanation. Sophie wasn't ugly at all! This wasn't what she would have expected herself to look like. A breeze ripples across the puddle and the air grows frigid cold. The other cat's eyes glaze over and his ears go flat against his head in fear. "Come we have much work to do," he whispers heading off into thick undergrowth with the beautiful she-cat Sophie hot on his trail marveling at her newly discovered appearance.