Listening So Close Part Two

On the first day, he awoke to a sharp pain. It felt as if a wedge had been forced into the back of his neck, separating it from the rest of his body. He opened his eyes, and a bright, white light flooded in. Had he died and somehow-- contrary to the less-than-heavenly lifestyle he had lived-- transcended some sort of barrier and passed though the golden gates? Was he in heaven? Had he been capable of coherent thought, this might have been the sort of place his mind would lead him. But no such luck. He opened his mouth to breathe in the air he so craved, but found only water and clamped his lips shut; forcefully swallowing the foul yet familiar tasting liquid in his mouth. Water, but something else as well. He was immersed in this tainted water. His mind, his thoughts, his stomach, his eyes, all burned because of this water.

He blacked out once more. After this, he would never sleep again.

The days wove in and out of each month, the first week passing no differently than the last. The passage of each twenty four hours marked by a period of well deserved darkness, wherein the light could no longer harass his eyes, even when shut. And, as it turned out, the water was all he needed. He did neither eat nor slept. His world was smaller than it had ever been. It could have been months, even years that he had been there, floating idly. But he didn't care. Such things were minor details in a world with no use for them.

As time went on, his thoughts began to piece themselves together; though they could form only questions. Questions like 'who am I?' and 'where am I?' plagued him day in and day out. He wondered about the tubes running from his nose to an unknown destination below him, where he could not move his head enough to see. And about why he could not move his body from the neck down.

The neck down? What was below the neck?

Save his first exposure, he rarely opened his eyes during his stay in The Waters. And with the exception of his first exposure, he rarely even thought about The Waters. The Waters were 'The Waters'.

The Waters were home.


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First, there came a knock. From where, he wasn't entirely sure.

Then there was 'The Voice.'

"Your name is Rene, and nothing more." It was a man, though his voice was indistinct, likely because of The Waters. He continued, " I am outside of the waters and only I know you. I know who you were, I know who you are, and I know who you will become. "

It astounded him, er, Rene, that one could know such things. Frankly, it surprised him that such things existed. He was intrigued and, at the same time, realized that he had been looking at things the wrong way ever since The Exposure. He had not been aware of a world outside and had not let his mind wander away from his world since. This outside world clearly existed, for the man outside said so, and he had clearly been a part of it. Rene couldn’t fully bring himself to believe this, but there was a problem--

Suddenly, the waters turned white and, in almost a split second, Rene found himself upside down, then right-side up again. A high shh escaped from the back of his neck, and he felt as if he was losing the air he‘d managed to retain for all this time. He kicked, his feet meeting a hard surface that hurt his toes as they glanced off. He felt it and yelled, his mouth filling up with that tainted water he had not tasted in so long. Rene screwed his eyes shut, praying for a peaceful end.

"Open your eyes," said the man, his voice clearer and much more impressive; Rene hesitated, then obeyed. "But prepare yourself, the lights only get brighter."