Robin's Egg

Eggspressing Emotions

Darkness.

A deep expanse of nothingness that seemed to stretch on forever. Time was irrelevant for there was no way to tell. However, it wasn't just the darkness. Sometimes there were flashes of color, weird shapes, sounds, and most important of all... emotions. Most of the time they were calm. Content. Then there would be moments of strong emotion: worry, concern, righteous anger, fear. There were others but they melded so much with the darkness that they disappeared before they could be figured out.

Worry was the dominant one. It was always there. The others would come in spurts with the worry always there as an ever-present undertone. Darkness was something that usually was scary. It was ominous, unknown. It set off the base instincts of a person when anyone has to go out at night or into a space lacking light. Bad things happened in the dark for there were too many opportunities to catch someone unawares. This darkness started off similarly. Fear was the predominant emotion that encompassed it but there was nothing that could be done. The darkness was everywhere. There was no escape. The only thing to be done was to give in or wait.

So waiting it was.

It didn't take long for the fear to dissipate. It made sense as to why it did. Because despite the constant worry that was around, there was another feeling that drove the fear away. Safety. Even within the unknown that the darkness held, the constant reassurances of safety pushed away any lingering traces of fear that managed to sneak in. Whenever the surrounding foreign feelings of fear, anxiety, and more were around, safety squished them down as it combined with the pure will that was protection. It made the darkness not scary and instead, the darkness was welcomed. A respite.

Eventually, the darkness began to fade and the emotions were starting to get stronger. There were more of them and they were getting harder to sift through. The shapes became more prominent. New sensations also started to filter in. Textures. Most of the time the world was soft. Other times there was a rough kind of softness but it wasn't unwelcome. Whenever that texture happened, the feeling of safety and protection was strongest as it pushed its way to the forefront of anything else. This sensation was the most favorite by far. It felt like a heavy blanket was being wrapped around it.

Then... there was a change.

Fear.

Fear was the only logical reaction to have. Familiar voices... familiar sounds... memories that held nothing but harm broke through the darkness. Horrible things had happened. One of the voices was here. It was speaking. He could hear himself scream and he waited for the pain to come. It always did. There was no escape. The darkness wouldn't go on forever. Eventually, it would go away and then the pain would return. He didn't want it to happen. He wouldn't let it happen.

The darkness shuddered and grew as the fear took over. A draining sensation hummed under it all but he couldn't stop. That person needed to leave. To go away. He couldn't let that person touch him. They had already gotten close once. There was a good chance that he would fade if they had the chance to do it again. The person wasn't the only one there. The presence that provided safety was there too. They spoke over the other voice, eventually silencing the one who hurts completely.

That didn't matter. It was only a matter of time before they came back. They always came back. As stupid as his captors are, they are insanely persistent. They would only stop if they died... or he did. The protector was speaking again but this time they sent out a wave of calmness that had the fear stuttering. The one who harms remained silent as the presence of the protector continued to get closer. The protector could come closer.

No one else was allowed.

Strong feelings of hope, protection, and safety swarmed the senses, pushing back the fear that was threatening to overtake everything. They disappeared for a moment only to return anew with the soothing voice. The feelings came in waves. With each rough but soft texture, the strong feelings along with the repeated thumping banished the fear. Each repeated motion was soothing. Calming. Until the fear that was so powerful before was simply a thought. The draining feeling stopped and settled.