Hectic!!

I wake up and I am alone. Alone, floating in what's like the ocean, a river maybe? I cannot see. I cannot hear. I cannot move. I feel meaningless without my senses. Like I am playing dead but I don’t want to. Then I do feel a wave. Wait is that an earthquake? Or a grenade that went off nearby. I am propelled to the rocks. I graze them rocks with my feet, almost crashing into them, but a chain pulls me back in the opposite direction. Great, I am shackled. What’s next?

I cannot fathom this reality. But weirdly, being chained gives me a sense of security. It saved me from the rocks, just then. That was so edgy. Weird, I now feel my heart beating. When it gets calm again. Late adrenaline? But then another wave hits me. I feel a lack of oxygen. Light-headed. I'm starving. I also need to pee. So I do. For a moment the ocean feels warm around me and I love the contrast. I try fiddling with the chain. The distraction helps me forget about the hunger. 

The numbness in my limbs starts to fade. I can move my fingers. And my toes. I am not paralyzed anymore. My eyes open for a brief moment but I can't take the excess of light. I try again. Too much. I can see glimpses of my surroundings. I see water. Maybe I am inside a cave. I open again but then my ears! There's this excruciating ringing noise. It’s sharp. It feels like a thousand needles beating on my eardrums. My wrinkly hands close my ears shut. That pain in my arms is so soothing. 

Then I hear muffled voices: a language I do not understand. I am not alone! I scream. Sounds don’t come out. I try again but my lips move, yet no sound. Like someone praying their car battery isn't actually dead, I try a third time. A word almost comes out but I gulp in a mouthful of the water around me. It tastes horrible. I move to the rocks again. I hit the chain against them hoping for some noise. "I need someone to help me!"

Nobody seems to respond. I panic. I feel claustrophobic. I don’t think I can stay here any longer. I feel tortured. I hit the rocks again, almost crying. Can someone hear me? One last time, with all the strength I can gather and all the pain I can endure, I hit the rocks. The whole place erupts! I feel the water whirling around me. The chain holds for a moment, then ruptures. I fall then I keep falling. The vortex has no depth. The pressure squeezes my body. My head is about to explode. 

I see blood. There’s a blinding white light. I see death.

I see a beginning. The exhausted smile of my mother. I see life.