Day 1


    I woke up to blindness. Everything was so utterly blurred as to be completely unrecognisable. All I recall was watching that meteor shower, with its spectacular colours, before I went to bed. Was it an alien invasion or something? Because while my ears seem to be working fine upon my first attempt at eavesdropping, after a few moments it became pretty damn apparent that I couldn''t understand a thing.


    Worrying. I could distinguish between tones, and the noise was clearly a conversation between a man and a woman. They seemed tired but happy,thoughthat''s beside the point. I couldn''t interpret one single word, heck, I couldn''t even identify the language or dialect they were speaking in. By the time I got to this realisation, it was a bit too much and my brain shut down.


    Day 2


    Waking up this time comes with a jolt. Literally. I am somewhere warm, which in itself is not bad. But I am moving and bumping and generally uncomfortable. Like being wheeled down a flight of stairs uncomfortable. I try to protest, but the words come out garbled. The response I get is a crooning, once again in this foreign language. It is seriously freaking me out. I swear I heard the word kill midway through it. Hopefully it is a word which sounds like kill, but means something nice, like ''you''ll be released from hospital shortly''. I can dream! Which I promptly do as my brain shuts down yet again.


    Day 3


    Still bumpy. And judging from thesudden changein light intensity, which I can now distinguish, I am awake for all of about quarter of an hour before my mind cannot take it anymore.Whatever ''it'' is.And thensaid mindproceeds toshutdown for a long time.Or at least untilnightfall.I cannot gather much more information today because I used up all my time countingthe seconds...Sovery, veryboring.Back to oblivion then.


    Day 4


    Today is a bit more peaceful, probably because it is night time. I''m guessing that all the other people/aliens/unidentified beingsaroundmeare not nocturnal then. There''s a slightly sweet taste in my mouth. Am I being drugged? That would certainly explain my near constant unconsciousness. This is really scary.


    I always used to scoff at fear of the unknown. Chances are that you will die of a known cause so why fuss about some probability totalling less than a single percent? The only reason I am somewhat calm right now is because I am soon to black out. Since I am able to sense the main warning sign for that, a tell-tale sense of fatigue, I try and fight it. But how can I fight against all-encompassing darkness? Still, up to my last second of awareness nothing I can detect nothing entering my mouth. So, they''re drugging me while I am out of it. Fantastic.


    Day 5


    I have come to the conclusion that whoever is doing this to me wants me to be unable to think clearly. The more I think the more exhausted I become. I tried solving quadratic equations in my head and only maintained five minutes of consciousness. I will attempt meditation tomorrow, see if thinking about nothing extends my limited amount of time. For now, though, it is goodnight.


    Day 6


    Find Inner Peace! Now if only there would be less background noise.


    …


    Okay,arough guess, since focussing on meditation and trying to keep time simultaneously is counter-productive to say the least... Thinking time while meditating seemed to be about half an hour? Doubled is pretty good, if I say so myself. Which I have to. In my head to boot, because whatever they are giving me seems to numb the body. My voice is garbled and my entire body is sluggish and unresponsive. On the plus side eyesight is improving so I might get some solid clues next time I come around.


    Day 7


    Or at least I think it''s one week since this weirdness began. This is definitely the seventh time I have been in control of my mental faculties. And I am so hungry! My stomach aches and I feel cold and miserable. I am still unable to see clearly, which might be good, or bad, depending what the circumstances look like. But most likely bad, on top of which I will reiterate that I am starving. Have I even been fed since everything started? I hate this!


    ...That kind of came out as a high-pitched wail. And the noise in the surroundings dropped slightly. Footsteps? I think they were footsteps coming towards me. Someone or something tilted a bottle to my lips and a sweet milk trickled into my mouth. Slowly though, most likely in consideration of my poor throat. At lasta sweet milk trickled into my mouth. Slowly though, most likely in consideration of my poor throat. At least my stomach is happier now. Yay for not dying of malnutrition.


    Day 10


    Over the past few awake periods I have been trying to learn a language. Specifically, the one spoken by the voices around me. No luck so far. Mainly because I cannot see what is being talked about, and moving is impossible so I can''tidentify objects by touch. The joy. I was pretty good at French during senior school, but that was lessons, and not fullimmersion.


    Then all goes dark, for once not because my brain has exceeded the limit, but because the lights around me go out. Still not any closer to solving the problems with my current situation, though I am adjusting. I feel calmer in general about all of this, maybe because of the meditation, maybe because of some form of StockholmSyndrome. I''m not too sure.


    Day 14The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I have come to the conclusion that my previous conclusions... were rubbish. Ihave decent visionnow, whichwas a work in progressbefore but still,Iam ashamed of myself. In my defence, the situation is beyond strange, but at the same time isbeyondall possibledoubt. I have somehow reincarnated. I must have-I am now in the body of a baby. A baby.No wonder my vision was so poor and my range of movement so limited – I had just been born.


    As for the circumstances of my birth, they remain rather puzzling. Both the utterly foreign language spoken by my caretakers, and the surroundings. Though recently several words ofthe languagehavebecome understandable.


    Which leads me to my second conclusion – this timeregarding the blackouts. My infant mind, and it really hurts to acknowledge that, cannot handle the complexities of adult level thought.Therefore,I presume I have a limit per day of ''thought intensity'' orhoweverit is measured. Once used up I revert to babyhood. This is also based on the fact thatthe women who care for me don''t act as if I amanything other than a normal baby.


    It''s probably during those times that I have begun to absorb the meaning of a few basic words. Seems fast for anew-born, but hey, maybe that is the norm? Babies can hardly communicate that they understand the meaning of the word ''horse'' after all. They can''t speak. And people don''t remember their first year so... I don''t know. I really don''t. And though my ''adult thought time'' has gottensteadily longerover the past week or so, all this reasoning hasused it up. Back to being a baby, I guess. At least I don''t have to endure nappy changes. Yet.


    Day 16


    Now that I can actually see, there is the somewhat major downside of motion sickness. Caused by riding in a horse cart for the past couple of days. Don''t know where I am or where I am heading but thrown up milk tastes foul. Oh, themiddle-agedwoman holding me tries to comfort me, despite the nose twists whenever I cough up another mouthful of vomit, but I still feelnauseous.


    On the plus side, whenever the sick is cleaned up my position is raised enough that I can see the outside scenery. Which ishorses, cattle,goats and sheep. The formerbeing ridden or pulling the carts,and the latter threebeing herded by those doing the riding. Everything seems quite rustic, medieval even. Is this a one-offmigration or something?


    Day 18


    Nope, I don''t think this is aone-offscenario. I seem to have reincarnated intoanancient time, and a nomadic tribe of some sort.And the best bit; it''s in another world entirely. Why? Because magic.Might notbeagrammaticallycorrect sentence butit sure isan accuraterepresentation of my current awe. Awe is about all I can currently process due to the shock of seeing stuff being levitated around, and taken in and out of what I presume is a dimensional storageability?I''m just going to go and freak out. And then black out.


    Day21


    I don''t think that themiddle-agedwoman caring for me is my mother. Well I hope my hypothesis is correct, because not only is her clothing simple and coarse she seems to be a slave. Because the collar she wears isconspicuouslyabsent from any of the wealthy/important lookingpassers-by.On the other hand,I am not wearing a collar. And even though babies may be excluded, the tunic I wear and the blanket I''m wrapped in are embroidered and much better quality than anything of hers.


    Well, it is good to not be a slave, and good that my parents seem to be well-off enough to have one... but being in a society based on slavery is hard to accept. Can''t exactlydo anything about it though. Not as an infant, anyway.


    Day 25


    Finally, finally, finally we seem to have set up camp. And it''s a nice one. Camp is actually something of an understatement, given that the tent I am in is the size of abedroom, and has various other tents connectedto it expanding the available space furtherstill. Plus, despite the technology being on par with the Middle Ages, magic and magical items take care of most daily needs.


    Sofar,I have seen a woodenstaff which spouts water from the crystal at the end. That one was used for my bathwater. The bath was then made warm by having a red stone dropped in for a couple of seconds before it was scooped out with a large ladle. Then I was washed, a little bitembarrassingbut after being sick on myself several times due to horse cart-sickness, and only being wiped down afterwards... Being clean was definitely good.


    As was having an actual bed, by that read crib, to sleep in. It was warmer, softer and non-moving. What more could an infant want? I, personally wanted answers, but apparently that was not to be. Because just when I was observing the shadows created by the flickering candlelight, themiddle-agedwoman came in and blew them out. I''m really going to have to learn the language faster, calling her ''middle-aged woman'', even mentally, is awkward. And nowit''s pitch black, without even the moon and stars to look at. Boring.


    Day 28


    Thankfully I have not been stuck inside the tent the past few days. I am frequently taken outby a fairly pretty teenage girl while themiddle-aged woman has been busy with chores. Since she also wears a collar I''m guessing she''s a slave. Particularly given that I have managed to absorb the meaning of one of the more frequent words I hear used.


    "Young Master."


    That''s right, I am a ''Young Master''. Of what rank I do not know. More pressingly, I still haven''t seen any sign of my parents whatsoever. I do understand that they might visit when my mind is in full-on baby mode, and not when I am cognizant. But it has been so many days now that modern day logic dictates I should have met them ages ago.


    Well, the voices I first heard upon waking could have been my new mother and father. But everything is so hazy I only recall that there was a male voice and a female voice. Not much to go on when looking around on a trip outside. ''They can speak''. Pretty much applies to every single person I have seen. And I have seen a lot.


    It looks a bit like amodern-dayfestival. Tents are everywhere. The layout is a sort of organised chaos – everyone seems to know where they are and where they are headed, but I''ll be dammed if I do. I was one of those people who had to rely on asatellitenavigationsystem full time. So, it''s a goodthing I am hitching a ride in my new caretaker''s arms. And being higher up equalsa better view of the surroundings.


    Basically, more of the same. People casually doing magic, kids running around playing with each other. For the record, tag seems to transcend realities, it is the game of choice for the children. Might be due to a lack ofothertoys though? One thing I don''t get at all is that this is clearly a nomadic tribe. We''ve been on the move for about a month. We live in tents which are too well established to be temporary measures. So, yes, nomadic.


    So,can someone please tell me where we get fresh fruit and vegetables from when there is no agrarian element to our society? It''s not stolen. Nowhere to steal it from for a start. And certainly not in such high amounts. Maybe the magic storage skill pauses time foritscontents? That would mean the fruit and vegetables could be bought in large quantities somewhere else and stored for ages... I''ll go with that for now. Because Magic.