The Next First

Chapter 3

                                                                   Changes

His crusty eyes begin to open up; his vision of the couch leg fades in at a slow rate as his consciousness starts to edge back into reality. Cracked and dry, even the level of water in his body has been reduced to 50%. He doesn't notice, just the restriction of movement of his body like someone over-medicated on drugs. Tired from death or at least what he thought was himself dying. Was he dead? Or alive? He didn't know; didn't care. The further he comes back to life more and more pain seeps throughout his body. Aching, wincing as each muscle twitches back to life. He begins to scream in agony still half asleep and his body is as unresponsive as like you would when waking prematurely from a dream and your body has not recognized that you are in fact conscious. A night terror. Trapped in his own mind, stuck within the loop of the dream world. His agonizing screams amount to virtually whispers as his vocal cords are not yet active. Finally gaining control of his body the pain has completely vanished and a feeling of intense cold begins to wash over his nerves. His body has an automatic response when he gets up, seeking warmth. Shivering he walks into the bathroom and starts the shower on its max heat setting. The scorching hot water feels incredible and the coldness he felt disperses completely. Intense heat doesn't faze him, like when a devout man puts his hand in boiling water. Relaxed and now incredibly tired he decided to grab a quick bite of food and some water to wash it down before going to bed. Bed... sleep? Would it even happen? He wondered, pondering at the concept; hoping for reprieve from his current situation. Heating some canned soup while he munches on some vegetables and fruit while the stove warms up seems good enough for him. After finishing the food, still hungry, he felt that at least something in his stomach was good enough and goes to bed, passing out without thinking about what had happened to cause or why he woke up on the floor. Not a care in his mind, a blank slate of thought.

Waking up this time, comfortable and content with his sleep he doesn't feel warm or cold and decides to go out for a walk after grabbing an apple from the fridge. Opens the door, takes a bite and begins walking down the stairs when he realizes that nothing looks familiar.

*what the hell? I don't remember any of this stuff. Where am I? I guess I'll just walk around until I see something that's familiar.*

The people around seem detached from the rest of the world like an empty shell, only occupied by their internal thoughts. Almost as if they're ignoring the fact that it looks like it's about to rain. Not known to them felt odd. Odd because it was so obvious. Though one would assume that they had already seen the fact and are just rushing to find shelter from the rain. But they weren't, just in their own lives inside their mind as if they themselves were gods of their own realm. And by shelter, their destination will provide more than an adequate amount of. He notices a park off the side and takes a stroll through the grass ignoring the sign stating for people to stay off. It's clearly finished seeding and is most definitely strong enough to be walked on; the sign has been forgotten about and just left up. Lots of things were this way. Things just seemed to be forgotten. Unused... their potential wasted. Eventually coming across a bench next to a beautiful tree vibrant of various colors. Each hue matching the last, shades of brown, red, light and muted shades of a warm color palette. He thinks to himself while sitting under the tree over the bench, it must be fall. Just then a strong gust encompasses the tree and a dozen or so leaves fall off the branch confirming his suspicion. The stench of dry mold encompasses his sense of smell, particles being sucked up with each breath.