Chapter 2: Awakening
It feels as though I am drifting inside a black hole... My body is neither cold nor hot; I sense a white light trailing behind me. I feel as if I have been floating in this void for years.
Suddenly, the white light enveloped my small frame. The surface of my bare back glowed intensely with this fleeting radiance.
It felt as though it was sweeping everything out of my body—all the pain, the grief, the longing, and the sorrow—purging them from my being.
As I drifted within the black hole, I could feel a few warm tears escaping my cheek.
– "Iris... Iris!.."
A woman's delicate voice... muffled and distant. A voice that felt entirely alien to me. Her tone shattered the peaceful silence of the black hole. Was I angry? I don't know.
...
"Hah... Hah!.."
Lir's chest heaved rapidly, as if she were drowning. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was not the blackness of asphalt, but a ceiling made of old, knotty wooden planks. The scent filling her nostrils wasn't blood or exhaust; it was dampness, burnt wood, and a faint smell of medicine. Her entire body was trembling, drenched in sweat.
Looking down, she realized her small, soft hand was being held tightly by another delicate hand. As her vision gradually cleared, she saw the face of the woman standing before her. The woman looked exhausted, with faint dark circles under her eyes, but her gaze held a profound sense of relief.
– "Sweetheart, are you okay?.. Thank God you're awake!"
Tears streamed down the woman's cheeks as she spoke, her grip on Iris's hand tightening. Lir froze at the woman's overwhelming emotional reaction. Her mind raced; surviving that accident was medically impossible. "Where am I? Who is this woman?" she thought. Surveying her surroundings, she saw a stone fireplace, a wooden table, and dim light filtering through the window. This place looked nothing like where she had died.
Lir looked into the woman's face and spoke with difficulty:
"Who... are you?.."
The woman paused at the question. The smile on her face was replaced by bewilderment, and she straightened up, her voice rising:
"What do you mean? Don't you remember me?!"
Lir averted her gaze from the woman and turned to the coarse-textured blanket covering her. She felt the fabric with trembling fingers. "No... didn't I... die?" she whispered to herself.
"What is happening here?"
Lir's voice was sharper this time, more demanding. The woman recoiled at her daughter's alienated demeanor, reaching out to touch Lir's forehead.
"Iris, it's me... your mother, Elara. Your fever was so high; you've been delirious for days. Even though the doctor said there wasn't much to worry about..."
When Lir heard the name "Elara," no memories surfaced. All she knew was that she had died in a car accident, and now she was in this dilapidated, old wooden house with a stranger.
Lir's hands shook. "Iris?.. What is this woman blabbering about?" she thought. A cold sensation washed over her. For a moment, she pressed both hands to her forehead; the skin touching her palms was far too soft, and her fingers were much smaller than they should have been. She looked down at the blanket in horror.
"Which one of us is insane? Her or me?" she wondered. Her heart was beating too fast for this small ribcage to contain. She gripped the coarse fabric of the blanket with both hands, pulling until her knuckles turned white.
A faint murmur escaped her lips:
– "Fuck..."
Her voice sounded foreign even to her own ears—thin and childlike. She looked again at the woman standing beside her, gazing at her with affection. The woman's sincere agony only deepened Lir's sense of alienation. Unable to bear Lir's unresponsive state, Elara leaned toward her and said:
– "This shouldn't be happening. I'm sure your memories will return as the day passes."
Suddenly, Elara wrapped Iris in a gentle embrace. Iris remained frozen with a stunned expression, as if she had never tasted such longing and tenderness in her life; her eyes were fixed on the dark void in the corner of the room. As the woman's warmth spread through her small body, Iris's defense mechanism was triggered. She furrowed her brows and grimaced; this contact felt too alien, too real.
In a momentary reflex, she pushed the woman away forcefully and scrambled out of the trembling bed. A small, startled gasp escaped Elara's mouth. Iris headed for the door without looking back.
"Iris!"
"Wait!!"
Ignoring Elara's cries, she yanked the door handle and stepped outside.
Once outside, Lir's mind was completely shattered by the sight. The place resembled a marketplace, but the buildings were old, crooked, and possessed a completely foreign architecture. Pale-faced people in strange attire walked with heavy steps. Iris shuddered; even the air here smelled different. People's hair colors were outside the natural spectrum; their facial structures and expressions were stranger than normal.
Feeling Elara approaching from behind, Iris lunged forward in fear. She dove into the crowd with her small, weak legs; she ran and ran. Turning a corner, she suddenly collided with a very stout man and lost her balance, collapsing hard onto the ground.
"Kid, watch where you're going!" the man roared, raising his voice. He held a heavy wooden crate filled with apples, a few of which had tumbled to the ground from the impact.
Iris scrambled to her feet, but she felt as if she were suffocating. Her ribcage was too small to handle this pace; her heart began to beat rapidly like a bird's. She was breathless, the air entering her lungs sharp and insufficient. Her vision began to blur, the figures around her blending into one another.
"Shit..." she whispered, leaning against a wall. "If I were in a dream, I wouldn't be feeling everything so vividly! My body is so weak..."
All strength drained from her legs, and she suddenly slumped against the damp wall of the house standing beside her. While gasping for air, Elara's voice drew closer and closer. The name "Iris! Iris!.." was repeated over and over.
Just as Iris realized the woman was reaching her, her vision began to darken completely. The heavy breaths she took were no longer enough
"...I feel strange," she murmured. Just as Elara reached her and outspread her arms, Iris's consciousness faded once more, and her small body collapsed.