We the Good Spirits [incomplete/on hold until further notice/critique welcome]

Chapter 6: Into Another [Torture and Sick Warning]

Soft, smooth. Warm, welcoming.

It's the touch! I suddenly snap back out of yet another trance on what I expect to be hard, cold, dry ice. But I slide into a seat easily, and my eyes have to adjust to a blurry, peach-pink light. Underneath me is soft, and cold and wet. My right elbow still hurts and it's throbbing like crazy... but everything is warm and pumping through my body. My skin is so dry and warm that it almost feels soft.

Besides my heartbeat in my ears... I'm quiet, quieter than the rest of the atmosphere. I let out a sharp, soft Ha between my teeth and lips, which still ache. My skin is finally still, but my heart is rapping steadily inside me.

I'm alive again.

In front of me is a soft pout in cream yellow lips... a pleasant smile. It's a bit intimidating, but I smile at it anyway, against my will. I feel refreshed, and it freaks me out. Above the smile emerges, from pink mist, a set of bold orange eyes with long lashes. In front of me is a thin, soft looking lady, dressed in the pink mist... and coming from all of it is a sweet, strawberry-like, sugary scent, kind of like a special type of flower in fresh bloom.

Like it's spring here.

"Hey." Her whisper is gentle and whooshes like the brush of a soft wave against a beach. Her cheeks are rosy, her skin is bright and sunny, and her hair is curly, almost rainbow, I think...? No, it's different, sparkling shades of pink and yellow, differing from hair to hair, blending together in an orange glow... but it's in dark, soft shades. The sun is behind her.

I look up into the sky to see if it's the same, and she chuckles softly. I think I've been rescued. I meet her eyes again, and a breath of relief falls into my chest—hard. I have to gulp it down, and my eyes suddenly get warm as well, with tears. No, I don't want to cry, it's too early. But I'm too relieved. So many things are still wrong, but I'm alive and warm and I can move!

"Thank you...!" I gasp and nod my head, attempting to keep my composure.
She laughs. She's very friendly. "See?" she asks in a whisper; "It's good to have friends, isn't it?"
"O-of course. Th-thank you! How did you find me?"
Her eyes narrow, relaxed; "I was watching over you." Her soft, mysterious voice drifts over me like a scent; hers becomes more potent, and my nostrils open in response.

I can't do this. I quickly sniff outward and sit back. Even if it's a bit rude. "Sorry," I tell her, "I feel a bit worn out. You don't mind if I have some space, do you?" If she says that it's not O.K., though, I'm going to have to demand it from her, for my own sake. We both want to keep me alive, right? And I want to stay as sane as I can, for as long as it can possibly last.

"And I have to go back home," I add, "soon."
She frowns shyly; "I'm sorry. I'm not scaring you... a-am I?"
"Not you. Everything about these places... I was... I never meant to come here. I was having problems with my body—my human body..."

I don't want to tell her everything about what happened this morning. I don't know anything about her... or if she even saved me. ...I'd just assumed, and her presence felt so warm. I never thought I'd end up so close to a stranger—

—I almost saved someone from drowning. I failed. She might still be at the bottom. A high-pitched gasp slips from tongue and I look at the lady's worried, pouted expression. If she was really watching over me, she would've seen it, right...? But it was pretty deep in the water.

"Hey," I tell her, "that—that woman, who was also..." I stop. I don't fully trust her. I just entered this situation... woke up, really, jumping to conclusions. Because I woke up to her. Complete and classic first-come-first-serve bias. I shake my head. I'll just get to the point: "Is she O.K.? Did you see what happened?"