Intention Man (title in progress)

Unforgettable

Sharp breaths in, quick exhales. Lev's eyes pried themselves open to be met by darkness. He was dead this time, to be sure. For moments, minutes even—time stretched in blackness—he laid on the cold ground without moving a muscle. He evened his breathing until it was the only sound he could barely hear. Where was he? At the bottom of Fiutte?

Wait—there was something soft beneath him. Blankets. Layers of blankets. He felt around in the darkness as his memories fell back upon his mind. He was in Zora's tower. What time was it? How long had he slept? It had been a long time since he'd had dreams—nightmares. It had seemed too real—though unrealistic, looking back at it. Lev shuddered and pulled his top blanket around his shoulders. He ached from everything he'd been doing. Dull throbbing in all his joints.

Where had the light been? Where was Zora? Did he risk waking her? He wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now. He felt fully awake and as if he'd swallowed far too much water for his stomach, or anything, to handle. He sat for a few moments, contemplating the different routes he could take. One, just wait until morning—whenever that was. Perhaps by chance he'd be able to fall back asleep. But his mind wouldn't stop racing with questions. No, something else had to be done. He opened his mouth—cringing at the sticky sound it made from being so dry—ready to call into the dark. Or, at least, whisper. "Zora?" He waited. And waited. "Zora?" Still no answer. Where had the lamp been? He rolled into a crawling position. Perhaps it had been behind him. Definitely against a wall. He crawled forward, blanket dragging from atop him and getting tangled beneath his knees and feet. He rammed his head into something hard and groaned. Just one more thing to add to the list of pain.

His hand fell on something that felt like stone and somewhat tall. It had to be the pedestal. He reached up, feeling for the lamp. Something cold and vase like-met his fingers. There had to be a switch or something somewhere to turn it on. If only Zora was here. Where was she? Where was her room? He reached up further in desperate need of light. Would he be able to engineer it to turn on automatically? The system she used was surely far different than what he was used to. Nothing he couldn't rightly figure out. A knob was raised out at the bottom of the lightbulb casing and Lev pressed it. All at once he was sitting in the warm glow of the lamp. He sank to the ground and surveyed his surroundings. Everything was the same as the night before, save for a blanket on the couch. Is that where Zora had slept? Where was she? What time was it?

Lev stretched out his legs and massaged them. He never wanted to walk around again. But he would have to. For the answers. His sole objective was to find answers. To hopefully, finally, gain some understanding.

Pulling the blanket close around him, he stood, swayed a bit before gaining his balance, and moved to where the door had been. He pushed back the drape and cracked the door open. Darkness met him, but pink glided upon the horizon. A black lump sat at the edge of the roof. Was that Zora? Lev stepped out, leaving the door open. Looking up, he could still see the stars—faint as they were, but still wildly beautiful. How was it possible that they were easier to see on this side of the river than the other?

His eyes were drawn back to the shape at the end of the panels. It had to be Zora. Right? He inched closer, careful to take light steps, walked right up to the edge, and sat down.He could only just barely make out her face in the darkness. She was staring straight up at the sky and in the blackness she almost looked like the little girl that had sat at his grandparents' table.

Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "It is magnificent, isn't it?"

Lev's eyes were drawn back up. "Yes."

"I often find that if I stare into the galaxy for too long my mind wanders and I begin to float among the stars. When I was a child I used to pretend I was a star."