[...]

beep!

beep!

“...”

beep!

groan “Uggh….uuhuh?”

Wh…what…? my mind groggily said as it began to wake. My ears were ringing as I shook my head very slowly. My eyes opened, and I was greeted by a bright and blinding light.

“Sss…aaauh,” I shakily breathed out, my body aching all over. My mind could not process what had happened as an unsettling feeling in my stomach churned.

We hungry, fam, it messaged my mind telepathically. Feed us before we get hangry!

My brain tried to shut them up, but I continued to lay there in agonizing pain. Then, as my eyes opened again, the light normalized as I blinked several times. A ceiling fan up above spun slowly as I tilted my head to the right.

I noticed a small table beside the bed, topped with flowers and many balloons decorating it. The balloons stretched past my head as I finally realized the setting.

Is this…a hospital? my mind spelled out. It was difficult to process, but the machines on the left only confirmed my suspicions.

sigh “Okay….” I sighed, my speech remaining slow and methodical. Knowing where I was, I assumed something cataclysmic must have happened. And then, the memories of those tense moments in the other world returned.

Shit! was the first thought to reappear as the chase sequence through the town replayed. I…I remember that…but….

I looked around and believed I was back in the real world.

My world.

“My world….” I silently cried as my hands clutched my head. The IV tube shook as it was attached to my left arm, my sobs echoing through the room. It had happened again, and I didn’t know the reason or cause as to why I was here again.

After what felt like minutes, I slowly sat up and began listing out the scenarios. Had to have been a major accident then, my mind deduced as the other hospital trips I had had before flashed by. Unfortunately, I know this process all too well….

“Okay,” I sighed in relief, taking a deep breath and exhaling again. “I do know where I am…just have to find out what happened to me and how I can fix this.” I grabbed the bed sheet covering my body and retracted it.

Seeing my legs again gave me some semblance of reassurance, as the visible scar on my left leg stood out. I realized I was alive and back in the real world since the feeling in my bones and every minor movement made me hiss in pain.

“That…oww…hurts,” I groaned, bending my legs toward my stomach. Then, I moved my legs over and let them hang off the side of the bed. Surprisingly, the mattress was much lower than expected, and my feet softly crashed onto the floor.

A shock of pain vibrated across my frame as I grabbed the tops of my legs. A few tense seconds later, the pain slowly subsided, allowing me to take another deep breath. My breathing slowed as I began to examine the room I was in.

The room was like your average hospital room. There was a medium-sized sofa by the window to my right, a bathroom in the corner nearby, some shelving in front of me for some odd reason, and a small corridor that led to what I assumed was the room door. I shook my head again and clenched it in my left hand, an aching and disturbing feeling developing.

The harsh and stinging feeling began to hurt even more as I tried to relax, causing me to grip my stomach. It mainly happened in that area, which couldn’t have been good. My ears stopped ringing a few seconds later, allowing me to pick up on the faint sounds of the fan spinning and the machines beeping beside my bed.

Speaking of which, I looked at the table again. The table displayed some balloons and flowers and had some envelopes with ‘Get Well’ scribbled across them. My curiosity took a second to contemplate whether or not I had that many people who would be willing to leave one. But nevertheless, it seemed like a fair amount was there, so I shrugged it off.

As my right hand began to reach over to the closest one, my senses tingled another time. The hairs on my arm slowly rose as I looked to the right, where the balloons were.

I tilted my head in intrigue. The balloons were oddly shaped as if unnaturally bent in so many ways.

My hospital visits were obviously not ideal since they mainly occurred after major injuries, I reminisced, remembering the fracture in my wrist during a game that saw me leave for the E.R. during the match. That stay wasn’t as long as others have been, but no wacky and elongated balloons awaited me when I awoke.

These ones looked…different.

click!

creak!

========================================<>=========================================

My body froze in place as the door to my room opened. I silently remained still as I listened for footsteps.

klip! klop!

Those don’t sound like footsteps, Alex, I immediately thou-

gasp!

A voice behind me gasped in shock as my head slowly turned around. My body slowly did as well, and as soon as I had turned halfway to my left, my peripherals caught sight of something.

Instead, it was someone. Some ‘thing’…something I didn’t even consider meeting.

My body began quaking at the sight of a white ‘horse’ appearing from the corridor. The outfit it wore signified that it was a nurse of some kind, with a red cross in the hat’s middle. She had pink hair, and her blue eyes widened.

But the unnerving sight of the thing made my mind scream in terror as it dropped the clipboard it was holding.

clack!

gulp! My mind couldn’t comprehend the best course of action, but my body decided to act first…by waving to it with my left hand. A simple gesture in my first encoun-

“AAH!!” the pony screamed, immediately turning and beelining for the door. My body fell backward as I jumped in fright. Being on the edge of the bed, I fell over the side and onto my right leg. My right arm had little time to brace the impact with the floor.

slam!

My body hit the floor hard as the ringing noise in my ears returned.

“IT’S UP!!” a voice faintly cried out from the hallway before being drowned out by my head continuing to hurt. My left arm was lying on top of the bed, as the tube to my arm was still connected.

My mind was beginning to panic as the hallucination I had thought occurred was just that…a hallucination. Did I take any drugs before going to bed? I thought nervously. Those sleeping pills help me fall asleep. That pill wasn’t laced, was it?...WAS IT?!

My fear index continued to rise as another thought popped into my head. Wait a fucking second…where the fuck am I? I silently cried out internally. After my futile attempts to relax and remain calm proved inefficient, an idea immediately presented itself as the table slowly emerged in my line of sight.

Quick! Check the cards, Alex! my brain commanded. It’s the only way to be sure of where we are! My right arm fumbled as I tried to twist my body. Then, stretching it over my head, I frantically searched for a card and grabbed the first thing that felt like paper.

Bringing it to my body, I noticed the cream-colored envelope and read the ‘Get Well’ message on the front. There’s gotta be a card in here, I thought. Holding the envelope with my teeth, I readjusted my right hand and tore it apart. A small card silently floated out from the packaging and landed on my arm.

Frantically grabbing it, I opened it and looked at what was written inside.

========================================<>=========================================

‘Sorry for mistaking you for a monster,’ my mind read out internally. ‘I hope we can meet face-to-face in the future and that this card will make you feel better.’

‘Thank you for helping me up, too.’

‘-Fluttershy’

========================================<>=========================================

“What?” was my half-hearted response as my eyes widened. The name on the bottom of the right side of the card made alarm bells go off loudly in the back of my brain.

No, it began to repeat. No, no, no…no….

flash!

plop!

My eyes shut as a brilliant white light flashed before them. My right arm covered them as I tried to regain my senses.

“Ah, there it is,” an unknown voice sighed.

“And it is awake too, dear sis,” another voice replied.

Both voices were significantly different from the ones I had heard before. Yet, as my mind contemplated its choices, it resorted to curiosity as they forced my eyes to open.

What stood before me was an unbelievable sight. Two creatures towered over me, their hair flowing infinitely…like…the waves in the ocean. Their wings retracted to their sides as their features slowly clicked into a compartmentalized image.

My brain mentally made notes of everything, including their facial expressions. The one on the right, coated in navy blue, was slightly smaller than the other. It had a picture of a moon near its flank and was wearing an expression of sincereness, worry, and curiosity.

The other…on the other hand, was a regal white. Its tattoo was a celestial sun near its tail, with a gold tiara atop its head. Like the smaller one near its side, its expression was pleasant, albeit serious and intrigued. They stared at me from their position as I lay there in disbelief. My mouth hung open as my head slowly capsized to the left, and my mind started to melt as I began to lose consciousness.

“Is it…is it alright?” the creature on the right asked. However, the one on the left observed in silence as my body slumped and fell asleep on the ground.

Fainting on the spot wasn’t ideal since I was in parts unknown and didn’t know where I was….

But an unnerving and painful reminder popped into my head once more. One that I remember from long ago when it was first uttered.

“Take good care of yourself, son,” the flashback echoed ominously.

“Because you don’t know if you’ll wake up the next day.”

Finally, the world faded to black.

Author's Note

Oh, so that's where he is.

As always, feedback is appreciated in the comments below. See you in the next one!

-Harpy