《The Space Between》


 The First Rest.

    It''s dark. It''s funny how dark it is, really. There''s always been light, whether it be the moon, or the sun, or some artificial torch, but for the first time in your life, you can''t see your hands in front of your face. If you have hands. You clench them. You have something there, that''s for sure. You can''t really know without... wait hold on. You take your hand in the other. Ah, yeah. They''re hands. A little squishier than normal. It smells unfamiliar here, too. There''s mildew, you know that. It smells like an old wooden desk. There''s something else there too, though. It''s not like you have a great sense of smell, but it smells like too many people have been kept too close together for too long. It''s not something that''s a super familiar concept to you. There''s not a lot of stuff going on noise-wise, either. You''d lick something to finish up the five senses, but there''s really not a solid surface to lick. You''re kinda just existing on arbitrarily solid ground. But there''s a pinprick of light far away. Or it could be really close and really small. That''s how perspective works.


    It''s only a long walk because you have nothing else to do. There aren''t any puddles to play in or passerby to talk to. It''s just moving towards a point on the horizon. You don''t know why you''re moving towards it, really. Is that an exit of wherever this is? You know you haven''t always been here, that''s for sure. Your mind doesn''t feel foggy, or anything, just lacking in normal connections. You remembered puddles, but you can''t think of a time when you splashed in one. You know you''re supposed to, though. It''s the natural order, really.


    The pinprick is getting bigger, you think. You wished you had some kind of reference to know if you were actually getting closer. Oh, what about that thing they taught you in... hm. Yeah you don''t know where you learned it. But you know it for sure. There were these ato- things. That was weird. You almost knew something that time, like there was a lag in the connection you almost made. Well there were these bright things and you knew if you were far enough away to be safe if your thumb could cover it. Safe from what, you didn''t know. You held up your hand at arm''s length, and lined up where you thought your thumb was. The light shined through.


    It had to be getting closer. It was a rectangle now. It was taller than it was wide, at least. It looked big, really. Especially since it started as just a pinhole. There was a game you played. When you had to walk for a long time in a straight line you closed your eyes until you felt like opening them and you could tell if the destination got closer more easily. You tried to close your eyes. The light shined through.


    You''re having doubts. You''ve been having them for as long as you''ve been here, of course, but you''re having more doubts now. Before, there wasn''t really a good way to tell if you were getting closer. It was just a small sliver of light far away. Now you know its shape, and it''s stayed like that for a while. It was getting harder to convince your legs to move. They weren''t getting tired. You knew they should be getting tired, though. As a matter of fact, you should be hungry and thirsty too. You weren''t until you thought about it. You were thirsty. Desperately thirsty. There was hot chocolate, you remember. You used to make it all the time. Sometimes you wouldn''t mix the powder in just right so when you got to the bottom of the mug there were clumps of chocolate powder to eat. You were having doubts. The light shined through.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    There was worry in your heart. Now that you were thirsty, you started to wonder if you''d die here. You have a lot of time to think about things, but death was never a fun topic for you. Your throat scraped against itself whenever you swallowed. Your lips were dry. You realized you had been letting your head droop. Your eyes were locked on whatever you were stepping on. You looked up. The light shined through.


    It was close. It was close. It was close it was close it was close it was close itwascloseitwascloseitwascloseitwascloseitwas


    You were standing at the light. You were laughing. You wanted to touch it. You raised your hand and pressed it against the light. There was surface, like cool glass. Your hand was a shadow against the light. It didn''t illuminate any of your features, as far as the light was concerned you had none. You punched the glass. You were angry. You thought touching it would fix everything. When you realized it didn''t, you got angry. You punched the glass again. Your hand grew darker against it. Another hit. You could feel it give beneath your fist. You drew back for this one. You thought about your walk. It was a nice walk, really. Good to get your steps in. The glass shattered beneath your knuckles. It shredded your skin. You could see it now, you were dark. You were inky blackness against an infinite light. The light shined through most things. It didn''t shine through you.


    When they found your body, they ignored it. There were lines in your skin, pulsing with something they couldn''t understand. To be fair, it pulsed with something you didn¡¯t understand, either. You couldn¡¯t understand much really, because you were dead. That¡¯s why you got up. Quite frankly, there was a lot you didn¡¯t understand. You looked up, and saw a gray sky. That was familiar. It smelled like rain, too. It was different, but you could feel the drops landing on your skin and hear the white noise it made. The ground was weird. Hard, and a gray like the sky. You kicked it with your bare foot. It hurt. It felt like stone, but rough and flat.


    There were buildings around you, you assumed. Tall structures, at least. Like the church towers you knew about but couldn¡¯t remember. They were purple and gray. It was a depressing color palette, really. You were in an alley, you¡¯d say. It was clean, as far as alleys go. You looked to the back of the alley.


    It was grungier back there. There were black bags that smelled bad sitting on their sides and paper sticking to the walls and floor. And there was a form, too. It was thin, and breathing softly. You drew closer to it. It wasn¡¯t like anything you¡¯ve seen before. It had white fur, matted from its ordeals. It had big ears, triangle shaped. It¡¯s two small eyes pointed forwards, attentively giving you the once-over as well. Its snout showed teeth as it started to growl at you, springing to its feet. His tail was straight out, and his hair bristled. You wonder what that means.


    This then raises a question. You¡¯re stuck in an alley you don¡¯t know with a creature you don¡¯t know, with very little direction. What do you do?

 Resolution One.

    You waited in the alley for as long as you could before facing the inevitable. You couldn''t stay in this cold, wet alley with a beast growling at you. You didn''t know what this creature necessarily was, but you knew it wasn''t exactly enjoying your company.


    You heard no advice. Sometimes, when you had to make a choice, there was a voice in your head, suggesting a course of action. Perhaps not so much suggesting as demanding your choices. Perhaps they would return at a later date.


    You clenched your fists. You thought you had injured them, but all that was on your skin were those soft lines, now barely visible. You weren¡¯t sure, but you thought you were a fighter. You stood your ground.


    The beast drew closer.


    You prepared yourself for whatever he would try.


    The beast¡¯s front drew low to the ground, and his rear wiggled.


    In a white flash he was upon you. He had lept at your head, trying to knock you down and pin you and rip into the soft flesh of your stomach and neck.


    You didn¡¯t give him the chance.


    You dove low, and he flew over you.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Shit.


    Now he had you cornered.


    Well, you didn¡¯t know if it was a he.


    Your thought process was interrupted by a second attempt to injure you. This time he charged and reared back.


    Oh, it was a male.


    You felt teeth sink into your chest and slice down to your stomach. It stung, but for some reason they weren¡¯t deep.


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    There was yelling coming from the front of the alley.


    ¡°Milo! We don¡¯t talk to strangers! Mom said so!¡±


    You didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mister.¡±


    You turned to the alley entrance. There was a boy hugging the white dog there.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you wearing any clothes?¡± he asked. He didn¡¯t look embarrassed, but his head was cocked to one side.


    You looked down. Hm. You weren¡¯t wearing any clothes. You understood why he wasn¡¯t blushing or anything. You had, in essence, the anatomy of a Ken doll, whatever a Ken doll was.


    ¡°Also, why are you.. uh...?¡±


    You looked down. Your skin was obsidian. You can¡¯t remember it being anything else, but you couldn¡¯t remember anyone else who looked like you.


    You shrugged.


    ¡°Are you from around here?¡±


    You were having trouble forming words. You shook your head.


    ¡°You¡¯re quiet. Mom said not to talk to strangers¡­¡± he trailed off and looked to his right, then left, rapidly.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± He whispers at you.