Nostalgia

 

[GAME OVER]

 

    I flinched at the harsh light that shines brilliantly in front of me. I could feel a headache form at my temples, and my stomach began to turn. I felt like I woke up from a horrible nightmare, only to wake up to one even worse than before. I am confused. No, that’s an understatement. I can’t even wrap my mind around what is happening to me right now. It can’t be real.

 

    [RETRY]

 

    The words popped in front of me unexpectedly. My brain was in jumbles at this point, and I couldn’t even think straight. A strong impulse urged me to press my hand against the words. I tried to resist, thinking that it was a stupid idea since I have no idea on what the consequences will be, but I did it anyways.

 

    Darkness overtook me like a thick blanket.

 

    I woke up with a start, banging my head against something hard above me. I immediately layed back down where I originally was and placed my hand against my head in an attempt to soothe the pain. I felt something swell in my chest, and it took me a good 5 seconds until I realized I was on the verge of a panic attack. I needed to calm myself down.

 

    I placed a hand on my racing heart, listening to the loud beats rapidly increasing. I banged a foot on the roof of my prison, and heard something crack. I could feel a faint trace of cold air blow on my face. I kicked rapidly, getting faster and harder after each one. Finally, the roof of the imprisonment flew off, letting me free. I quickly climbed out desperately and laid on my back, taking a deep breath. The gears in my head turned, but I couldn’t process any thought of what had happened beforehand. I’ve seemingly come down with a serious case of amnesia, and have no one to help me.

 

    Snow fell to the ground and landed on my face. The ice cold ground made my muscles tense, begging me to go somewhere warmer. I slowly got up, bracing myself for what I was about to see. I inhaled the cold air painfully as I saw a coffin covered in fluffy snow. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a coffin. In the middle of nowhere at that. The coffin was deteriorated with mold and the wood looked as if it was a thousand years old. This was  surprising as it was encased with snow and cold weather. To the side of the coffin, the lid was sprawled out and splintered. There were also noticeable dents in some areas from my harsh kicks. I wanted to run away as fast as I could, and never come back. I’ve never felt more afraid in my life, not that I would even remember my past life and would know that anyways.

 

    The best thing for me at this moment would be to keep my mind off of the bad stuff, and think ahead. The task seemed almost impossible, but it is the only thing I can do. I fidgeted with the hem of my hospital gown, and started to walk. Not really caring what direction I was going, just so that it wasn’t in the direction of the coffin I climbed out of. My bare feet started to burn due to the cold snow I was walking on. The trees around me were bare, and had snow coated on the branches, glistening. Icicles hung off of the frail branches, entailing that it was below freezing right now. Not really a good thing when it comes to my survival.

 

    I could feel myself tense more and more by the second. The forest I was in was beautiful, but unnerving at the same time. I was all alone, or as far as I can tell, with nothing for basic survival. I didn’t even have a basic idea on where I was going. I felt like my toes were going to fall off at this point.

 

    After a while I met a section of the forest that had a pathway of trees going left and right. I went over to one of what I think is a path and kicked the snow away. Sure enough, a barely visible path showed. I felt conflicted with myself, I didn’t know what way would lead me to freedom, or further into the woods, a.k.a my doom. My stomach growled painfully, making me flinch at the loud noise in contrast to the deadly silent forest. A brush of warmth went against my leg, also making me jump. I took several steps back then looked at what touched me.

 

    A cat, it was a cat. Of all the things I was expecting, it was a cat. I felt myself calm down a notch, realizing it was a completely docile creature. The cat peered up at me and started to purr loudly. Its black fur glistened in the reflection of the snow, and it had a strange swirly white pattern etched into its fur. A sense of familiarity took over me, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I dismissed the thought and paid attention to the random cat that sat in front of me. I crouched down carefully and stuck my hand out slowly. The small cat padded over me and sniffed my fingers. I smiled a bit when it rubbed its head against my hands, signaling that they liked me.

 

    As quick as they came, they plodded off a few feet in front of me, like they wanted me to follow them. Catching on, I quietly walked after them. It felt like the cat was leading me in a random direction, but I decided I would trust this cat and see where this goes. At this point, I somewhat got used to the vicious cold. Probably not a good sign, but what do I have to lose anyway?

 

    The cat abruptly stopped, disappearing into a dark mist. My attention wasn’t even on the fact that this random cat disappeared into a weird mist, but the fact that there was a group of people in front of me, all staring at me. They were a group of 3, kids by the looks of it. The oldest of the group had long dirty-blonde hair tied in a low ponytail, decked out in warm clothes. Same with the other two. A younger boy was with them that had light brown hair and the youngest, who was a girl, had long auburn hair. They all wore thick brown fur coats, with black hide pants and black leather boots. I honestly think we surprised the both of us.

 

    “Uh-crap. You look like you are about to faint. Come with us, we have warm food and clothes right this way.”

 

    The one who looked oldest grabbed my arm and gently led me in a direction. My brain felt like it was shutting down. The effects of the cold made me confused, not able to process what was happening. I didn’t have the willpower to say anything, so I let them lead me to wherever we were going. My shivering stopped, and I felt warmer. Hot even. I couldn’t think, it was like I was going to black out at any moment. I wasn’t even aware of the several arms holding me up and leading me away, or that I couldn’t move my hands anymore.

 

    I probably passed out at one point during the journey, because when I woke up I found myself on something soft, like fur. My vision was blurred, and I felt like a jackhammer was busting my head open. I fell back asleep several times and woke up again several times. Usually when I woke up there was one of the kids by my side, doing something that I couldn’t make out of. I woke up again, my busting headache almost gone, ebbing away. I still felt awful, but significantly better than how I felt previously.

 

    I eased myself up, slowly but surely. The feeling was like being awoken from a deep sleep, so I was slightly disoriented. My throat felt unbelievably dry, and my stomach felt like it caved in on itself. I immediately noticed that I wasn’t cold anymore, but at a comfortable temperature. A crackling fire blazed in front of me, and thick blankets piled on top of me keeping me warm. A part of me wanted to go back to sleep and deal with whatever is happening later, but sleeping is all I’ve been doing and that won’t help me one bit. With major effort, I managed to stand, wobbling around. I nearly fell over before a fair of hands grabbed onto me, steading me. I looked at who the hands belonged to, and it was the oldest boy that helped me. I still was in a state of shock, so I didn’t smile back when he did. He sat me back down and looked at me, like he was trying to think of what to say before he said it.

 

    “How are you feeling?”

 

    “..Bad, but better. H-How long was I out?”

 

    The boy winced, as if he was trying to avoid this question “About a week.”

    

    I flinched. I was out for a week? How? What happened to me while I was out? Questions swirled through my mind, making me dizzy. 

 

    “Before I explain everything-” he slowly started out “You should eat. Come with me, I cooked the food myself, so you better not hurt my feelings!”

 

It took me a minute to realize he was joking. I let myself calm down a bit and followed the boy to eat. I didn’t realize how hungry I actually was until I got a whiff of the food. My stomach growled loudly, it felt like stabbing needles were poked at me. My mouth began to water. Alex looked at me in understanding, and then nodded at me. Signalling to me to go ahead. I almost ran to the food, but I managed to control myself and calmly walk up to the food. It was prepared in large wooden bowls on top of a smooth stone table. The food varied from potatoes, different types of stew, fruits and vegetables were set out as well. I was too famished to ask how they got all of this in the dead of winter. All that mattered that it was there, and about to go in my stomach.

 

I gathered as much as I could on a wooden plate that I was offered and sat down at the stone table that was in the middle of the room. As I shoved food in my mouth as fast as I could without choking, Alex started to speak.

 

“Sooo...you must be wondering what's going on here.”

 

I paused eating, a dribble of vegetable soup dripping down my chin. I nodded and resumed eating.

 

Alex continued, ignoring my barbaric eating, “Well, in all truth, we’ve been here for a while. Like, a really long time. Not sure exactly how long, but it feels like we’ve been here for centuries.” He looked at the ground and shook his head. “You are the only change that has happened in a very long time.”

 

I finished eating and studied him quietly. He doesn’t seem to be lying, and with all of the things that's been happening I won’t be surprised if something even stranger is to come.

 

Alex raised his head and gazed at me, he opened his mouth, then closed it again. It was deathly silent in the room. At that moment the world seemed to stop. I can’t explain the feeling I experienced even if I could. A dreadful feeling of hopelessness overtook me, and a deep jab in my gut told me something was not right. I bit my lip in nervousness, and played it off as me being paranoid. I only snapped out of my deep thoughts when Alex pointed out something important that I have forgotten all about.

 

    “What’s your name by the way? Mines Alex. Out of all the time you were here I’ve never thought to ask.” He scratched the back of his head.

 

    I pondered for a while, knowing this question was coming. I have no idea what my real name is, or even the first enital is. I don’t want Alex to worry over me anymore, so I can’t tell him I forgot my name altogether. I’m going to have to make up one-and quickly.

 

    “Yuri….my name is Yuri.”