Chapter Text
Being a fully grown adult man is a blessing and a curse at this moment.
Of course, I have legs that can carry me 30 miles without breaking a sweat… but I'm also the biggest target in such an area. Even if I out run them, there's a great likelihood that I'll get caught again or by someone or something else. Either way, running is better for both parties.
Over grass and leaf litter I dash, jolting side to side erratically. A few shots are fired as their voices wilt into the evergreens. The bag is heavy and saggy on my shoulder. The air is drying my throat. The leaf litter thins, so do the trees. Light pierces the canopy.
Dreaming (?)
The world is screaming.
Glass shatters, blood splatters.
The faceless person is above me. They are telling me it's going to be alright.
They shove some sort of pill down my throat.
I feel the pain in my shoulder burn and flee.
There is a new person.
She has long flowing hair.
She is pretty.
A different man with black eyes tells me it is not worth it.
I know.
I am in torn clothes. The room is white and sterile.
The faceless person is there. They hold a clipboard.
“What is your eye color?”
“Chalcedony. Silicon Dioxide. Waves and waves of it."
They scribble onto the board.
“What is your name?”
“bɹˈɛndən bˈat͡ʃɛlə mˈɛdə͡ʊz”
Scribbles.
They walk away into the blinding tiles.
Now. Nonfiction.
The ground turns rough, angular. The air becomes moist and salty.
I am by the sea, on a rocky shore.
I do not know how far I've run. I think I've been at it for a few hours… which direction did I go? I look to the sun, it's behind me, a bit to my right. Huh. It's still low in the sky. I think it'd be around 7 am. I hear sounds, the waves crashing against the crawling rocks, the seagulls conversing. They speak of their breakfast and what they'll steal soon.
I step further to the water, where it submerges my toes. I sit, nestled on the edge of a curved stone. What I believe to be hermit crabs waddle from rock to rock. I let one crawl onto my hand and lift it to my face. It looks at me like I am its kin. Its eyes smile.
I recall that my whole family is dead.
Eh. Death is a part of life. I knew them, and I still know them. If they didn't tell me everything that's okay. Just like this hermit crab, I shall find a new shell, a new family, a new home. Maybe then I can sit somewhere without so much sand.