Fight This
No. This isn’t you. It was never you. The World of Forms would never have burdened you with such a grotesque body. You need to fight this.
You tell Yhnhn that you’re leaving.
“Wait!”
She says, almost in anticipation.
“I worried you’d be fearful. We all are. If you’re fearful now, it won’t leave you later.”
That doesn’t matter. You’re not an animal, you’re a human being.
“I understand. And when you return, I’ll still be waiting.”
Something about Yhnhn’s words fill you with sadness, a strange, profound sense of emptiness, found in the words of a woman you don’t know and have never known.
“And I’m not waiting here… hopefully someone will be.”
The moment is long, silent and awkward. When you finally gain the courage, you run from the riverbank silently. Your legs take you the only place your mind can anchor itself: back to the portal. Will you only emerge seconds later? Will those who are there to greet you in the laboratory even recognize your face?
Hours pass before you find the portal, you’ve forgotten whether you’re staring at the entrance or the exit as you push yourself through. Moments later, you’re a mere set of dusty footprints in a landscape unseen by mankind.
Written by Martin Prance on 18 February 2016
The end (for now)