Chapter 46.3

The safe, nice, happy awesome person walked to a new place that was different, special, and being inside it made the nice person’s body more relaxed. She even changed her clothes to ones that were smaller, but the strangest thing of all was that another new part appeared on her body. This new part came from her back; it was long and powerful and and it moved and tapped and curled around things.The dancing lights weren’t just on her fingers, either. They also appeared on the flat thing nearby, underneath a pile of stuff that she pulled from the big box with the door. Something about this felt familiar, what was it? More time passed, and the dancing lights began to change the small pieces over it, filling the air with more air. Thicker air? It wasn’t the wrong air, it was… it was…

This was , where from the changed state before their very eyes. It turned from something unwanted to and because they used

The meal continued, the nice person and her trading looks and making unheard noise with their mouths. This, too, felt both familiar and foreign.

More time, more seconds and minutes. The second person left. The nice person, alone, started moving the meal things from one place to another. Her tail, her awesome special cool amazing tail moved just as fast as her hands, picking things up and putting them in and in the strange, small box underneath.

The small things, one of them was close. It was (liquid hot drinking careful) a , and it was so close to the edge of the surface.

For the first time in (how long have I been?) ever, they looked down. If the people looked through the eyes on their heads, surely that meant the rest of their bodies were down, right? They tried to look down without spinning the world, and the vaguest suggestion of awaited them.

Part of them extended, reaching for the mug, and they filled their thoughts with purpose. Ideas of presence and affecting and made them feel bold, daring, all sorts of new feelings that inspired tingly thoughts.

Their extension, their (can I say it?) touched the mug. It was solid! It was warm! They pushed harder, eager to assert themselves against the world, and the mug slid closer to the edge. Inch by inch, taking so much effort until finally it tipped over the edge and vanished from sight.

The nice person turned around, looking down at the mug that had just hit the floor.

Their hands rose to their head, the world retaliating with righteous fury for her having touched the mug. It was horrible, disorienting, whatever they were it felt like they were falling apart.

It waited. It always waited, just out of sight, just around the corner, always encompassing and eclipsing everything with its cavernous endless hunger and patience.

When the world returned, the space inside the space that held the nice person and her dishes, there were two of her. Was that possible? Can there be two of a person?

The second also had horns, a tail, big long (flappy flying spiky warm) and they were looking at each other from opposite sides of the space. Moving closer, looking closer, revealed they were not the same; one was older, with slightly different lines on her face.

The first one, the nice safe cool friend, suddenly rushed forward. Her eyes were sad, and wet like before appeared on her face but it meant something different this time.

The two of them fell to the floor, both sad together, then nothing happened. Not that nothing , there was stuff happening, not nothing, but they remained still and unmoving in the middle of the sad.

This wasn’t interesting, as cool as the tails and the horns and the wings were.

That friend had left and gone, but where? Surely there were more places than here and there, the other space with the many people. They had gone through many places to get here, right?

More movement, floating away from the first friend and through the

(blocking safety hard dry)

that separated the different spaces. So many different spaces and ideas but all so empty compared to the nice friend’s space. Were there other people? Where had the other friend gone?

More time, always time stretching out as spaces came and went. In between every space, behind amongst above below every space sat the Void, the infinite chasm that did not push but never hid. Ignore the Void, the Void was not them but it wanted them and their presence and their nothing because it too was nothing and it promised comfort and familiarity but the time was not now. Now it was time to find the other person.

How much time had passed?

Floating endlessly through the (comfort warm safe) that were all the same but also different until finally she appeared. The other friend! She had shorter hair, it was lighter than the other hair which was strange because shouldn’t there be more difference? Everything was so similar here, it was all the same but lighter and darker and some half-formed idea said this was wrong but how?

She sat on the floor, leaning against a wall just like earlier but now she was alone and without the nice safe friend. Alone she was different, her face made different movements and instead of wide and welcoming she was small and shaking. She held her legs close, squeezing them tight to become as small as possible and the shaking continued but why? There was so much space between this friend and the nice safe warm friend but they did the same things anyways?

Why were they so sad?

This one was also (sad wet hide alone) and kept crying for so long. Was there something they knew that was a secret that made them sad?

The decision made, they looked back to the world and found the other friend in (comfort soft squishy) . She had moved, but the sad continued and she kept crying, but she wasn’t shaking anymore. Ideas of purpose returned, but this time the purpose wasn’t to touch it was to because the secret they all had was , it had to be. Sound didn’t come from hands, though, it came from the head, the

Being here revealed the secret, the sheets rustling and the beeping from the walls but most importantly the other friend. She cried and sniffed and wept and under her breath she muttered something to herself.

“I miss you...”

That was a new idea. . This idea was lonely, scared, frightened, but now they were confused. Missing required something, but what? People miss… others. They miss people they like and when those people aren’t around they get sad. Maybe these people all miss the same person? Or each other? That had to be it, they were sad when not together.

The sound began to hurt, the world spinning and groaning and thrashing hurling skittering gnashing

The spinning stopped and the horrible pain stopped with it. The Void was still present, hiding and alone and threatening but it waited because it was eternal. Now was not the time, there was still too much that didn’t make sense.

Watching, waiting, this time they waited for others like how the Void waited for them. The other friend did nothing, however. When she finished crying she closed her eyes and just… stopped. This too felt familiar, this was (tired comfy resting) and they needed to do it for long stretches of time or else walking around was too tiring.

So they waited.