Perfectly, Imperfect

#5 Rob

(Unknown POV)

A feeling of weightlessness wraps around me as I float in..... wherever I am. I open my eyes, but still see nothing. It doesn't surprise me. I move my arms and my hands bump into a smooth surface. I feel around to find that it goes around me, encasing me in a solid tube. I bring my hands down to feel a grate at the bottom, with currents running through. But that means....... I'm underwater. I must be floating in a tube of water. I feel the thin webbing on my fingers and toes as I wiggle them. I brush the side of my neck to find rough patches. Fangs jut out from my mouth with a webbed spine that goes down my back and along my tail that's shaped as a paddle. It's strange to realize that I'm breathing from slits in the side of my chest. I wish I could see what colors I am. Maybe blue and green? Or even yellow?

Come on..... whatever my name is, I need to focus on the task at hand. I swim to the top of the tube, and I'm surprised when my hand breaks the surface. Is there no lid? I'm about to stick my head above the water, when I realize that I might not be able to breath the air. I hope I can, I'm pretty sure that I have lungs and gills. I swim up the last few inches to the surface, and my head breaks through. I gulp down the air and my gills seal shut. I can breath air! I mentally congratulate myself while gripping the side of the tube. I hoist myself up and over, only to plunge downwards. I hit the ground hard on my side and mentally curse gravity for being so painful. Ot hurts..... bad. My eyes are still open, but I can't see. I put my hands together only to feel the webs shrinking and disappearing. My tail and spine disappear as well, but my gills and fangs remain. I guess my tail wouldn't be very useful out of water.

I stumble and manage to stand up while leaning against the glass tube. Do my legs not work, or are they just that lazy!? It's hard to stand. I reach out to look for a wall to follow, but don't feel any within my reach. I could get lost if I'm not touching something. I lean forwards a little more to see if I can feel anything, but my hand slips and I fall forward. I squeak in fright as I hit the ground. What was that? Did I just do something? I squeak again, and I hear the squeak bouncing back to me. With the sound, I can tell that I'm facing a wall about a foot away from me. I turn to my left and squeak again. The sound bounces back off the glass tube and tells me that I'm only a few inches away from that. Is it...... echo location? Is that how I can see?

I manage to map out the room, squeaking all the way. I find the door and manage to jump up and reach the handle to get it open. I walk out of the room and enter another. I squeak and hear that this room is a hallway that stretches out to my right and left. If there are ends, they're too far away for me to hear them.

I take a step to the left before sirens go off. They pierce my skull and echo around the room, disorienting me from the sound. I stumble back and hang onto the handle of the door of my room for balance. I can barely hear the sound of small, running feet over the siren. Wait, feet! I listen again, and sure enough, I hear something running down the hall. I step back into the hall and collide with something tiny. We both screech and fall to the floor. They land on top of me, I can feel that they're warm, and only as big as my closed fist. He also wears clothes that I can feel the cloth of .Why so small?

"H-Hi", I nervously squeak. "Who are you!? Doesn't matter, we need to hide!", he shouts in my face. I nod and stand back up with him in my cupped hands. I rush back into the room and shut the door, sliding to the floor. "Are we hidden?", I ask. "I-I think so. For now at least", he replies. "That's good. But what are we running from?". "From the scientists. They're trying to keep me here, and I'm guessing you, too". "Can I ask a weird question? What are you? What do you look like?". "You can't see me?". I shake my head. "Well...... I'm wearing a black hoodie and pants. Umm...... I think I'm made out of lava, because random parts of my skin turn from peach to lava. On that note, how am I not burning you? Where ever I touch you, your skin turns blue and scaly". "Your made out of lava!? That's so cool! And, I don't really know how you're not burning me, you don't feel too hot. And I'm not totally blind, I can tell where objects are by how my sound bounces off of them. Can you tell me what I look like?".

"You're wearing a blue hoodie and black pants. You have brown hair and eyes. Every time you talk, yellow spots on your neck blink with each syllable. You also have fangs", he tells me. I smile at him, undoubtedly having my fangs stick out of my mouth. "So.......... are we going to try and escape!?", I ask with glee, "It doesn't sound too good in here". He laughs before nodding his head, which I can feel because of the vibrations in my hands. I get up place my hand on the door handle. Here goes nothing.