Chapter 19: (part 4- The Beginning and the Unknown)
The night felt long on my first day in this strange world. 3 hrs passed I suddenly woke up, my eyes heavy and my body aching all over. My bladder felt full, and I knew I had to go outside.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my face. My fingers brushed against dried drool on my cheek, but I was too tired to care. My muscles hurt from all the walking and working I had done during the day. Even as the cold breeze slipped into the cave and made me shiver, I didn't have the energy to react.
I had no idea what time it was. The nights in this world were almost twice as long as normal, stretching on and making it hard to tell how many hours had passed. I let out a long yawn and forced myself to stand up, wobbling a bit as my legs protested.
"Ahh... is it still dark?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. "I need to pee. the cave will smell terrible if I do it inside, so I don't have any choice but to go out."
I glanced at the door and sighed.
"I hope I don't see anything... creepy like giant cockroaches or centipedes crawling around," I whispered to myself, still drowsy. "If something jumps out at me, I might just faint right here."
With sluggish movements, I walked to the door I had made to block the entrance. I pushed it aside, the rough material scraping against the cave floor as I stepped outside.
I realized forgot to bring the lantern with me because I was too sleepy and only focused on going outside to pee. My body felt heavy, and my eyes were still half-closed as I stepped outside the cave.
I expected the night to be pitch dark, with only the moon providing a little light. But to my surprise, the forest itself was glowing softly.
All around me, thousands of tiny, glowing orbs floated through the air. They were yellow-orange, gently moving like stars that had fallen to the ground. I realized they were *Lantern flies* its big maybe around 4 inches, their light dancing bellow the massive trees. The forest looked magically beautiful.
I stood still, completely mesmerized.
I tilted my head up, and my breath caught in my throat. The sky above me was filled with endless stars, twinkling like precious gems scattered across a dark sky.
My eyes widened, and I whispered to myself, "i never knew there could be so many stars... They're shining so brightly. It's like a treasure chest of diamonds and pearl up there."
The sky stretched out forever, filled with countless sparkling stars. The sight overwhelmed me, filling my heart with wonder and admiration. I felt so small under the vast sky, yet so lucky to witness something so breathtaking.
I stood there, lost in the beauty around me, completely forgetting why I had come outside in the first place.
"Beautiful..." I whispered, my voice barely audible against the stillness of the forest. "This is the first time I've seen something like this."
I stood there, mesmerized by the glowing forest around me. The lantern flies drifted through the air like tiny living stars, their yellow-orange light pulsating gently with each beat of their wings. The sight was breathtaking, far more vivid than anything I had ever seen in books.
"They glow even brighter than regular fireflies," I muttered, my gaze following a cluster of lantern flies as they twirled around each other in the air. "But the color is similar... maybe they use the same chemical to produce light."
I rubbed my chin quietly talking to myself.
"Fireflies use a chemical called luciferin. It reacts with oxygen, ATP — adenosine triphosphate — and an enzyme called luciferase to produce light. The whole process is called bioluminescence," I explained to no one in particular, my voice soft but filled with fascination. "It's a little different from the glow of sea creatures like jellyfish, though. Jellyfish produce light using chemicals like coelenterazine and aequorin, along with green fluorescent protein — GFP."
I exhaled slowly, watching my breath disappear into the cool night air, my mind still racing with scientific facts.
"The reaction itself is complex... it involves oxidation, enzymatic catalysis, and energy transfer," I continued, my words tumbling out like I was giving a lecture. "And jellyfish have photoproteins — something you won't find in fireflies."
I chuckled, shaking my head. "I sound like a complete nerd," I muttered, embarrassed by my own rambling. But the forest didn't judge me. The lantern flies just floating peacefully around, their soft glow illuminating the surrounding like stars.
Despite my exhaustion, I couldn't bring myself to look away.
Then, I suddenly felt my bladder again and muttered, "Oh, right... I need to pee. I almost forgot."
After relieving myself, I stayed outside for a while, sitting near the entrance of the cave. The cold night breeze brushed against my skin, carrying the fresh scent of the forest. Crickets chirped in the grass, and the leaves rustled softly as the wind passed through the trees.
Everything felt so peaceful, so unreal.
"This is really beautiful," I whispered, completely lost in the moment.
"This place really is surreal/otherworldly, but although I'm here, I still miss my old world because almost all of my memories are there. But even though I don't feel the suffocating sadness like before, but now, there is no worrying about money, the stress of being in school and working at the same time, and going home tired. Hearing your classmates and neighbors say bad things about you is finally gone. Maybe I should forget the things that happened to me in that world."
"I know that I might seem harsh to say that I should forget the happy memories and the important people that came into my life and forget about it easily. But the dead can't be revived, and memories will fade as we grow older. A memory can't be overwritten by anyone; you will forget it yourself or accept all the things that happened.
After sitting and watching the beautiful view for a while, I finally stood up, stretching my stiff limbs. The cold night air clung to my skin, and my body still ached from the exhaustion. I decided it was time to go back to the cave and rest.
But as I turned to leave, something caught my eye.
In the corner of my vision, barely visible through the shadows, stood a figure.
My heart skipped a beat.
It was tall and disturbingly thin, with arms and legs that stretched too long for a human. Its body swayed slightly, as if floating in place. The skin — if it even had skin — was fuzzy and out of focus, like it wasn't fully solid. Its face was the worst part: a smooth, white oval, completely blank, like a lifeless mannequin.
I couldn't move. My breath caught in my throat.
Dark, shadowy tendrils slithered out from its back, twisting and curling like living tentacles. They stretched and waved slowly, blending into the night as if they were part of the darkness itself.
For a second, I thought it was staring at me, even though it had no eyes. I felt a heavy weight pressing down on my chest, like something cold and unseen was wrapping around me.
Then, without warning, the figure blurred and vanished.
I gasped and spun around, but there was nothing there. The forest was quiet, except for the soft hum of crickets and the rustling leaves.
I rubbed my eyes, my body trembling.
"Maybe I'm just tired... maybe I imagined it," I whispered to myself, my voice barely above a breath.
I tried to brush it off, convincing myself it was just my drowsy mind playing tricks on me. It was late, and I was half-asleep. That had to be it.
Still, as I walked back to the cave, my skin crawled with the feeling that something was still out there — watching, waiting, hidden in the dark.
● First poem was given by the W■TC■■R.
"I never knew," I softly said,
My voice as small as all my dread.
The stars were countless, bright, and far,
A tangled web — not what they are.
I traced them with a trembling hand,
A pattern vast, too strange to stand.
Each line I formed, each path I drew,
Revealed a shape I somehow knew.
The stars aligned, a hidden mark,
A silent echo in the dark.
I felt their presence pressing near,
A distant voice I couldn't hear.
The night grew heavy, cold, and deep,
The air so still, I couldn't speak.
And that's the name they gave to me:
"The First to See What Should Not Be."