The uncertainty, endless darkness, and terrifying silence have changed. Instead of the mysterious place where I had a strange and unclear conversation with 'The Universe', I now see a room that I can only recognize from movies. The room is built of large stones, with a wooden bed standing against the wall, lacking any bedding. Next to the bed is wooden door which separates this room from a corridor, lit by torches, that I can see through a small gap in the door. Instead of glass windows, there are metal bars set into the wall.
I can't move my arms or legs. All I can see are the legs of a very young boy, which led me to realize that this is not my body. I feel as though I am dreaming boy's experience, but to be more precise, it's like watching a movie through VR goggles from boy's perspective — only the difference is that I can feel both his physical and psychological pain, hunger, anger, sadness... the emptiness inside.
The door opened, and a man was thrown into the prison cell where this boy was. The man was very thin, as if he hadn't eaten properly in months. He had a beard and somewhat overgrown hair.
"Dad!" the boy jumped up from the floor and ran to help man who was lying on the stone-covered ground.
"My son," the man hugged the boy tightly and immediately pulled a moldy loaf of bread from his pocket.
"Please, eat," he said.
The boy snatched the loaf from the man's hands without hesitation, like a starving dog, and without bothering to chew properly, devoured the entire loaf instantly. Tears of joy streamed down the boy's cheeks — tears I could feel with him — all because of the single bread. The man kept stroking the boy's hair, looking at him with eyes full of guilt, and soon, he too could no longer hold back his tears.
"I'm sorry, son. I'm so sorry that you have to endure this pain," the man said, crying.
...
"Where's Mom?" the boy asked the man once their emotions had settled.
The man didn't answer right away. It took him half a minute before he finally responded to the boy's question.
"She... I don't know, but I hope she's safe." From the sadness in his eyes and the vague answer, I believe he's lying to his son.
"Thank God," the boy said. "I thought the king was still hurting her."
The man closed his eyes and lowered his head. He chose not to respond to his son.