And there is something else. Something new. Something that smells… familiar.
More than one scent.
It slips—
No.I grab for it, for that feeling, and hold on.
Don’t go. Don’t leave me here. Please.
The softness lingers as I try to remember. There was… something. It was important.
Breathe.
I can’t remember.
Breathe.
I don’t know how. How to do anything else but exist. To wait for those small scraps to reach me. I don’t know how to reachback.
So… I wait. And as those scraps reach me through the bars, I try to hold onto them. To gather them together, little pieces of a puzzle that I need to remember.
Kenny.
***
Safe.
I am safe here.
Nothing hurts anymore. There is warmth, and I curl myself into it, holding onto it. This is… better.
I stare out into the darkness. And – there.
A flash. Somethingnew.
Eyes. Dark eyes.
Familiar eyes.
But then it’s gone.
Breathe.
And this time, I recognize something else. It burrows into my nose, into my head. Different things. Spice, and sweetness.
Softness against my fingers. And words,newwords that don’t disappear. The bars beneath my fingers waver.
I can hear them. Hear—
Who is that?
I’m not alone anymore. There are others here, talking to me.
Come back.
Kenny.
I think… that’s me.
