Wake Me Up at The End of The Universe
It woke up.
It was a he.
No.
A she?
For now it settled for it.
Even though it felt slightly impersonal.
Personal
A thousand half remembered lifetimes scraped at the surface of of its consciousness. But they quickly fell away like shadows from a light.
Light
It remembered light. Nothing in particular. It was particularly fond of light. Somewhat strange as its memory so far went back moments. It decided to focus on the present.
It decided to pursue this light. It came to the conclusion that a good first step would be to open its eyes.
And so it did.
Blue violently blossomed into its consciousness. Worse yet shapes, patterns, and the first inklings of objects manifested into its mind.
It quickly reversed its decision, and decided to wait a few more lifetimes, still only seconds, before it attempted that again.
And so it did.
It decided light was not entirely what it cracked up to be.
Waiting felt like infinity.
More cautiously this time it opened its eyes. This time the experience was much more comprehensible. This time it saw.
It saw a room, well most of one. But room felt sufficient.
It realized that at this point in its life, it relied heavily on sufficiency. It reasoned that later he would gain a perfect understanding of these things. How ridiculous would it be if life was a constant search for meaning? He felt comforted by the absurdity.
It was done philosophizing.
The floor, walls, and ceiling were a warm white color of various textures. There were fewer objects than its original maelstroms of sensory over stimulation had suggested. Against one wall was a long squat object, held up by four solid looking appendages and made of a soft looking layered material.
Bench
No.
Bed
In the middle of this room was a flat solid slab held up, higher this time, by a similar mechanism. Quicker this time Table came to mind. It was surrounded by two objects he recognized as chairs.
On this so called “table” sat a round vessel full of water and deep blue flowers. Seemingly the source of the traumatizing stimuli.
It then dawned on it its place in the universe. Specifically, this room. Closet came to mind, but as far as it understood itself, it could find no reason why it would be standing in one. It was half standing half leaning against a slightly inclined slab.
A slight breeze and additional examination yielded two insights. First the question of gender, He was disappointed not to see the alternative, but he took it as further proof that his mind matched his equipment. Secondly, he realized he was naked. Something he felt shameful about for some reason.
A rectangle sat recessed into one wall. running down the rectangle was a seam.
Door
And along one wall was Nothing. An emptiness that seemed not just a boundary, but actually invaded the room. A darkness that greedily consumed every bit of light that had the misfortune of crossing it.
He realized why he was fond of light. It was much better than the alternative.
He attempted to take one step forward. And was surprised to see the ground rushing forward to meet him. The Impact made him aware of two more concepts, nose and after a moment , pain. He did not enjoy the latter.
Between this “pain” and the situation at large, his body activated its last resort mechanism for situations where things seem horribly wrong.
This did not make him feel better.
As he turned over on his side, a much simpler operation, he realized he had two new additions to his mental palette. Red, and Green.
Among the negative he had experience, he decided “pain” was much worse than shame.
He heard the door open. Before passing out naked in a puddle of his own blood and vomit, the figure standing over him caused one more concept to surface.
My Ex
He realized he was wrong.