Catch ThirtyThree

Chapter Ten (Shed)

 

 

                  I float through physical thoughts

                  I stare down the abyss of organic dreams

                  All bets off, I plunge

                  Only to find that self is shed.

 

My eyes opened, and I was back in the chamber with the snakes. They had maintained the size from when I had left, but they were still continuing to eat each other without shrinking in size. Instead of the fear I once held, I held questions and a strange serenity. I looked upwards at the mass of scales, and I yelled out “Why me?”

The blue orb pulsed, and another pathway, opposite where the previous orange tunnel had been, opened. I could hear the trickling of water. I ran over to the opened doorway, and saw that it was the beginning of a small creek of deep blue water, running down a hill that I could not see for how long. It looked so refreshing. I sat myself in, and did not care about my clothes getting wet. The water was icy cold, but it was wonderful.

The door slammed shut again.

Damnit.

The waters suddenly amplified to that of a roaring river, carrying me downstream, and I struggled to keep myself afloat. I gasped for air every time my head came above water. The waters pounded me forwards, and I quickly found myself in calmer waters. I coughed, spitting out water, and looked around and saw that on either side of me was a chasm. The water was flowing through air. Down the walls of the chasm were inscriptions that I could just barely make out to be my own formulae, with others that I did not recognize. The longer I stared into the abyss, the more I wanted to read the carvings. I looked ahead, and the river seemed to go on forever. But the great chasm beneath me had an end, which meant I could reach the bottom.

With that notion, I swam to the side of the river, where gravity abruptly kicked in, yanking me downwards. A great grin came over my face, and I was able to read every single formula as I fell. So many new ones, getting more and more complex as I fell. The air rushing past my face and body, it did not bother me, for I was at home, and I had everything I ever wanted in this very moment.

I looked down to see how far I had to go, and found myself kissing the hard ground as I emerged.