You've been awake for a while now. A couple hours. You know because the only thing you can really do right now is lay in bed and read the clock. Every time you try to sit up, your body just hurts and you fall back. If you try to talk, nothing comes out. With some effort, you raise your hand up and touch the thing over your mouth and nose. It's clear. There's a small tube going from it to... ...something you don't even know how to describe, next to your bed. The Something Next To Your Bed, you think, is putting air into The Thing On Your Face and it's helping you breathe. You feel like you would have a pretty hard time breathing if it wasn't there, so...you hope the Something Next To Your Bed understands that you're grateful for its presence, even if you can't actually say it right now.
It's not much, but. You prefer looking at the clock and trying to communicate with the Something Next To Your Bed. Because if you weren't doing those things, you would probably be looking at your chest and seeing... ...
You close your eyes and turn your head. You don't want to go back to sleep. But you also just...don't want to see it right now.
The door opens. You open your eyes back up and look. For some reason, you get your hopes up for a second --
...it's not her.
You don't know why you got your hopes up.
"Good morning, Nessa," the woman says in a very soft voice as she approaches your bed. Something is in her hand, which she puts down on your bed and places a hand on your head. "How are you doing? Did you sleep alright?"
She's asking if you breathed the entire night. With the help of the Thing On Your Face and the Something Next To Your Bed, you did, but. You still didn't really sleep well. You nod anyway. The woman seems to pick up on it. A small grimace crosses her face.
"...did you have a bad dream?" She asked. You don't know how she figured that out, but. You nod again. "...do you want to see mother?" She asks.
You start to sniffle. You nod again. The woman reaches down and wraps her arms around you. You try to stop sniffling. You can't. Before you know it, you're crying. The woman just holds you a little tighter.
"I know. I know, Nessa," she says. "I'm trying so hard to find her. I miss her too."
The woman... ...
Your older sister. Agnis.
She has the same white hair as your mother, and the same purple eyes as you and your mother. But she has a patch over one of her eyes.
She doesn't let go of you until you've stopped crying. She wipes your eyes clean with her sleeve. She very briefly lifts The Thing On Your Face off so she can wipe your nose too.
"Do you want some water?" She asks. You nod. "Do you want to try holding it?" After some hesitation, you nod again. She places the cup into your hand and very gradually guides it to your mouth. Your grip on the cup is very, very tenuous but you try your hardest to keep it in place as you drink out of the cup. Once you're done, Agnis puts The Thing On Your Face back on.
"Do you want to get some rest?" She asked. "Or..." She holds up what she brought in with her. Your eyes widen. "I brought some books I thought you might like."
You arm feels so heavy, but you raise it as fast as you can to point at the books. Agnis smiles and sits down on your bed.
"Okay. Here we are. Chapter 1, an Unexpected Party..."
---
"The mother of our particular hobbit...what is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have became rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off." Agnis reaches a hand out and lightly touches your stomach when she says 'large stupid folk'. You think she was expecting a smile when she did that, but you just furrow your brow a bit. Hearing that these 'hobbits' don't have magic doesn't do a great job of endearing you to this story. You want to ask Agnis to tell you a story about witches, the kind mother told you, but...you can't ask her for much of anything right now, so you just keep listening.
---
"Thereupon the twelve dwarves - not Thorin, he was too important, and stayed talking to Gandalf - jumped to their feet and made tall piles of all the things. Off they went, not waiting for trays, balancing columns of plates, each with a bottle on the top, with one hand, while the hobbit ran after them almost squeaking with fight -- please be careful! Please, don't trouble! I can manage! But the dwarves only started to sing. Chip the glas..."
Agnis pauses. She looks at you, as if checking to see if you're still awake. You are. You wonder why she stopped. You want to hear more about....well, mostly just Gandalf. You've decided fairly quickly that you like Gandalf. Agnis looks at the book, then looks at you...she stands up and clears her throat.
Then in a very animated way, she starts moving back and forth and singing.
"Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Blunt the knives and bend the forks! That's what Bilbo Baggins hates- Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Cut the cloth and tread on the fat! Pour the milk on the pantry floor! Leave the bones on the bedroom mat! Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl; Pound them up with thumping pole; And when you've finished, if any are whole, Send them down the hall to roll!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates! So, carefully! Careully with the plates!"
During all of that, Agnis did things for punctuation such as splashing some of your water on the door and kicking one of her shoes off across the room where it smacked into the wall. She's so animated that by the end of it, you can't help it. It's exceptionally weak, but, you let out a couple of laughs. You see Agnis smile as she notices you smiling as well. She rubs the top of your head a couple times and sits back down to continue reading.
---
"It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle."
After a while, Agnis stops reading you the story about Bilbo and Gandalf and the dwarves. You were disappointed, but she says she thinks you'll like this story too, about a girl named Dorothy.
"...but soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear and dragged him into the room again; afterwards closing the trap-door so that no more accidents could happen."
You blink a couple times. Your eyes had closed for a few seconds there. It takes you a minute to realize that you had almost fallen asleep. Agnis glances up from the book at you. She seems to have noticed, too.
"Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her. In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind...." Agnis closed the book. "Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep."
Agnis leans over. She briefly puts her hand on your forehead, then she strokes your head a couple more times. She's definitely noticed the way you're having trouble keeping your eyes open by this point.
"Why don't you get some rest, Nessa," she says. "We'll read some more later." You give her a nod. She leans in and gives you a kiss on the forehead. Then she leaves, closing the door behind her.
As you drift off, you think about the books Agnis read to you. About Bilbo, who hated adventures, but wound up going on an adventure with Gandalf and the dwarves, and of Dorothy, who was away from her aunt and her uncle and her home, but was trying not to be scared.
...
hhhhhhh...
...
hhhhhhh...
You tell yourself....to try to not be scared....and you turn your head to look at your own chest.
You see it. The soft violet glow surrounding it. All of the lights sparkling inside of it.
For a few seconds, you stare at the glass bubble embedded halfway into your chest. You don't know what else to do. So you just stare at it, quietly breathing in and out until your eyes slide shut and you fall asleep.
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voidhearts) wrote2023-01-23 07:50 pm
QUEST: THE SISTER
01
hhhhhhh...
...
hhhhhhh...
...
hhhhhhh...
You've been awake for a while now. A couple hours. You know because the only thing you can really do right now is lay in bed and read the clock. Every time you try to sit up, your body just hurts and you fall back. If you try to talk, nothing comes out. With some effort, you raise your hand up and touch the thing over your mouth and nose. It's clear. There's a small tube going from it to... ...something you don't even know how to describe, next to your bed. The Something Next To Your Bed, you think, is putting air into The Thing On Your Face and it's helping you breathe. You feel like you would have a pretty hard time breathing if it wasn't there, so...you hope the Something Next To Your Bed understands that you're grateful for its presence, even if you can't actually say it right now.
It's not much, but. You prefer looking at the clock and trying to communicate with the Something Next To Your Bed. Because if you weren't doing those things, you would probably be looking at your chest and seeing... ...
You close your eyes and turn your head. You don't want to go back to sleep. But you also just...don't want to see it right now.
The door opens. You open your eyes back up and look. For some reason, you get your hopes up for a second --
...it's not her.
You don't know why you got your hopes up.
"Good morning, Nessa," the woman says in a very soft voice as she approaches your bed. Something is in her hand, which she puts down on your bed and places a hand on your head. "How are you doing? Did you sleep alright?"
She's asking if you breathed the entire night. With the help of the Thing On Your Face and the Something Next To Your Bed, you did, but. You still didn't really sleep well. You nod anyway. The woman seems to pick up on it. A small grimace crosses her face.
"...did you have a bad dream?" She asked. You don't know how she figured that out, but. You nod again. "...do you want to see mother?" She asks.
You start to sniffle. You nod again. The woman reaches down and wraps her arms around you. You try to stop sniffling. You can't. Before you know it, you're crying. The woman just holds you a little tighter.
"I know. I know, Nessa," she says. "I'm trying so hard to find her. I miss her too."
The woman... ...
Your older sister. Agnis.
She has the same white hair as your mother, and the same purple eyes as you and your mother. But she has a patch over one of her eyes.
She doesn't let go of you until you've stopped crying. She wipes your eyes clean with her sleeve. She very briefly lifts The Thing On Your Face off so she can wipe your nose too.
"Do you want some water?" She asks. You nod. "Do you want to try holding it?" After some hesitation, you nod again. She places the cup into your hand and very gradually guides it to your mouth. Your grip on the cup is very, very tenuous but you try your hardest to keep it in place as you drink out of the cup. Once you're done, Agnis puts The Thing On Your Face back on.
"Do you want to get some rest?" She asked. "Or..." She holds up what she brought in with her. Your eyes widen. "I brought some books I thought you might like."
You arm feels so heavy, but you raise it as fast as you can to point at the books. Agnis smiles and sits down on your bed.
"Okay. Here we are. Chapter 1, an Unexpected Party..."
---
"The mother of our particular hobbit...what is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have became rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off." Agnis reaches a hand out and lightly touches your stomach when she says 'large stupid folk'. You think she was expecting a smile when she did that, but you just furrow your brow a bit. Hearing that these 'hobbits' don't have magic doesn't do a great job of endearing you to this story. You want to ask Agnis to tell you a story about witches, the kind mother told you, but...you can't ask her for much of anything right now, so you just keep listening.
---
"Thereupon the twelve dwarves - not Thorin, he was too important, and stayed talking to Gandalf - jumped to their feet and made tall piles of all the things. Off they went, not waiting for trays, balancing columns of plates, each with a bottle on the top, with one hand, while the hobbit ran after them almost squeaking with fight -- please be careful! Please, don't trouble! I can manage! But the dwarves only started to sing. Chip the glas..."
Agnis pauses. She looks at you, as if checking to see if you're still awake. You are. You wonder why she stopped. You want to hear more about....well, mostly just Gandalf. You've decided fairly quickly that you like Gandalf. Agnis looks at the book, then looks at you...she stands up and clears her throat.
Then in a very animated way, she starts moving back and forth and singing.
"Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates-
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl;
Pound them up with thumping pole;
And when you've finished, if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!
So, carefully! Careully with the plates!"
During all of that, Agnis did things for punctuation such as splashing some of your water on the door and kicking one of her shoes off across the room where it smacked into the wall. She's so animated that by the end of it, you can't help it. It's exceptionally weak, but, you let out a couple of laughs. You see Agnis smile as she notices you smiling as well. She rubs the top of your head a couple times and sits back down to continue reading.
---
"It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle."
After a while, Agnis stops reading you the story about Bilbo and Gandalf and the dwarves. You were disappointed, but she says she thinks you'll like this story too, about a girl named Dorothy.
"...but soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear and dragged him into the room again; afterwards closing the trap-door so that no more accidents could happen."
You blink a couple times. Your eyes had closed for a few seconds there. It takes you a minute to realize that you had almost fallen asleep. Agnis glances up from the book at you. She seems to have noticed, too.
"Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her. In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind...." Agnis closed the book. "Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep."
Agnis leans over. She briefly puts her hand on your forehead, then she strokes your head a couple more times. She's definitely noticed the way you're having trouble keeping your eyes open by this point.
"Why don't you get some rest, Nessa," she says. "We'll read some more later." You give her a nod. She leans in and gives you a kiss on the forehead. Then she leaves, closing the door behind her.
As you drift off, you think about the books Agnis read to you. About Bilbo, who hated adventures, but wound up going on an adventure with Gandalf and the dwarves, and of Dorothy, who was away from her aunt and her uncle and her home, but was trying not to be scared.
...
hhhhhhh...
...
hhhhhhh...
You tell yourself....to try to not be scared....and you turn your head to look at your own chest.
You see it. The soft violet glow surrounding it. All of the lights sparkling inside of it.
For a few seconds, you stare at the glass bubble embedded halfway into your chest. You don't know what else to do. So you just stare at it, quietly breathing in and out until your eyes slide shut and you fall asleep.