Jake Rukima

1. Lost memories

The world around him began to spin faster and faster, as if everything had suddenly lost his balance. Reality felt like it was tilting backwards, slipping, whirling uncontrollably. His vision became cloudy, foggy, he couldn't identify at all between figures, houses, streets: it was only confused spots, colors that blended with each other in a vortex that didn't leave space for anything tidy. His heartbeats could be heard kilometers away; they exploded in his chest with a violence that recalled a crazy drum, a non-stop rhythm that was not ceasing to play, that echoed in the bones, in the temples, even in the throat.

What was he feeling? Fear? Tears? He didn't know. He was so confused that he couldn't comprehend what was happening inside of his own body. The tummy felt strange, a mixed feeling of terror and a fierce, inexplicable crave to destroy the world was crossing it. It was as if a part of him wanted to run away and another wanted to fight everything that was scaring him.

But could he really go back? To HIM?

The chest was pressed, tight, painful, almost to take the breath away: every breath was a fight, a desperate attempt not to surrender. What happened that morning didn't help at all to ease this feeling. It was making it even worse.

The adrenaline in his body had increased so much that he couldn't think straight anymore. The thoughts were shattering, breaking, slipping away without a shape. The bag, plushies, a window maybe? Open or closed? How did he leave it? Was HE following him? What clothes was he wearing? Was he wearing shoes? Doesn't matter. The legs were moving by themselves, pushed by a primordial force. Every step was a bump, a bounce, an attempt to get away from something he couldn't mention.

All he could do was run.

All he had to do was run.

Run as fast as he could.

Run so fast that no one could catch him.

He was running.

And as he was running the world started to dissolve behind him, as if every meter could eliminate a piece of the fear and create a new one, different, deeper.

-- 🦊 –

When the boy opened his eyes, a bright white light blinded him. It took him a moment, a very long moment, to adjust to that light. Once his eyes had finally adapted his brain began to scan the surroundings: white roof, white walls, machines, lots of machines, an annoying "bip" sound and... people? Crying? Not all though. Three were crying beside him, but the ones dressed in white were not crying. They were actually smiling while touching his body with a strange object that had two long tubes and a big circle at the end. They had a happy expression while listening to the boy's chest.

Once the man in white moved away from him, the boy had no time to figure out what was happening that a woman came closer to hug him without a warning. Not even two seconds later the woman was flying around the room.

"Jake! Calm down son" a man that was crying shouted gently from his side, placing his hands on Jake's arm. That made everything worse. Jake got so scared that he had made the man fly around together with the woman. The men in white tried their best to catch the flying people and eventually, after a while and a few scratches, succeeded.

"Mommy! Daddy! Are you hurt?"

It was a gentle feminine voice coming from a little girl that still had tears in her eyes. Jake followed the little girl's movement until she reached the woman and the man lying on the floor. They seemed fine, luckily. However, in the air laid a shared feeling of confusion: was he supposed to recognize those people? But he had never seen them before that moment.