Apata - BoB Shimmer Contest Entry

Part One - Leggo My Eggo

A dull thud was the very first thing Apata was aware of.
A repetitive noise, a rhythm, a beat. She seemed to exist solely around this beat, her very purpose to simply live as one with the thump, ta-thump, ta-thump.
Soon however it became apparent that there was something more, as the steady, comforting rhythm faded, until it was but only the background soundtrack to this greater world, yet still everpresent. She had begun to move, at first just the occasional jitter out of her control, but eventually, small and eventually precise movements of increasing length. And not long after that, sight. A strange thing it is, to see for the first time. The sensation you now know as darkness forever cast in its own shadow, even though all you can truly see is small bits of light and movement.

This haven, void of fear or a sense of time, a place where you can rest in the comfort that your safety is all but entirely out of your control, is, like all things, not to last.

Cheeping, a loud chorus of greetings into the world, soon encouraged and prompted Apata to join them. It was then when she realized just how small her home had become. Kicking and shifting of limbs without problems had just been practicable seemingly but a moment ago; now she struggled to move at all, each attempt at reaching out blocked before she even moved. A new sensation arose in what she'd soon learn was her chest: Fear. Pure, unbridled panic blossomed around her tiny body, as she thrashed and struggled to free herself from this new prison. And then, a ta-thump, ta-thump, ta-thump. It returned to center-stage, and her thrashing and panic slowed as her heartbeat grew louder. Remembering peace, tranquility, she listened for a while to her own rhythm, feeling her fear seep slowly back into the depths from whence it came. In time with her heartbeat, she thumped her beak against the edge of her confines.
Eventually she spilled forth, into a dazzling, harsh light, the loud cries of her siblings that had prompted her to leave her egg now seeming like whispers in comparison to the calls and exchanges she heard now. But from the overload of senses and fear that this new world elicited, only one thought arose in this little oryctodremus' mind:

I miss my home.