Maps and Atlases

Started by Eliminator Jr. March 20th, 2010 6:17 AM
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Age 30
Male
Melbourne, Australia
Seen January 8th, 2013
Posted April 30th, 2012
1,031 posts
14.1 Years
I'm tired. I cannot get to sleep. I'm procrastinating. It is late at night and the only person I want to talk to at the moment is away somewhere. To be blunt, I'm not expecting this to be that creative. I am writing this to get my mind off things. It was originally a typical Pokémon journey but I changed my mind. If anybody does read this, I hope you enjoy it.

Maps and Atlases


You could call this a prologue. I'm in the process of chronicling past events that lead to where I am now. It began when I was fifteen.

Speak to me, it said.

I didn't comply. I was too scared. I didn't know where I was, or what I was doing. How I got here. Questions, possible answers, meaningless thoughts, all of these things passed through my mind in an eternity and in an instant at once. The voice echoed through my head, a fake, repeating voice mimicking three words that came from nowhere and everywhere. The real voice didn't speak again. I couldn't hear the voice again except in my mind. I was starting to think that I only ever heard the voice in my mind.

I spent a while pondering over what would have happened if I spoke back. Where I would be now. Where was I now?

The kind man in the desert


My clothes were filled with sand, my skin was dry and my body was aching. I opened my eyes as a large gust of wind came my way. Hastily I shut them, partially because my eyes were sensitive to the light after being closed for so long and also out of instinct - I was covered in sand, so the wind could also be carrying sand. Shielding my face with my hands, I opened them again and let light filter through the gaps in my interlocking fingers so I could adjust to the bright surroundings. When the wind passed, I drew my arms back to my side and tried to establish just where I was. There was sand all ahead of me, continuing so far away that it merged with the bleak, grey horizon. The sand was a light yellow colour. Almost white. I was sitting up, my back rested against a large rock that came out of the ground. It was brown, and it was the only thing I could see that wasn't sand in all directions.

It was safe to assume that I was lost in a desert. It was hot. I panicked, sweating not only because of the temperature but from anxiety too. I was alone, so I didn't speak for a long while. When I did, I was angry. I kicked sand and I kicked the rock, shouting out gibberish in frustration (I didn't know how to speak Common then). One of the sharp points of the rock pierced through a gap in the front of my sandals and made a cut on my big toe. I screamed in pain and sat down, applying pressure to it with my hands. It wasn't until this point, after all the yelling, that I realised how thirsty I was. I tried to conserve energy by not moving, despite the sun burning my skin. I tried to stay alive by doing stupid things, like swallowing my own saliva as if it would save me from dehydration. I got a headache soon after.

I almost died by the time the man got there. He was wearing khaki coloured shorts and tshirt, and a wide conical hat suitable for the surrounding environment. He was clearly elderly but could walk properly and seemed quite fit for his appearance. By this point I couldn't make out much at all, I was so exhausted, but he had a thin beard on his chin about the length of my index finger and light grey hair. He picked me up with abnormal strength and proceeded to walk with me off into the desert. I never doubted that the man had only good intentions. I was just so relieved to be rescued. I lost consciousness before the rock faded into the distance.
Age 30
Male
Melbourne, Australia
Seen January 8th, 2013
Posted April 30th, 2012
1,031 posts
14.1 Years
The second installment. Things are better.

The hut and the cave


I soon learned that the man's name was Chester. I soon learned a lot of things. Over the three months that I stayed with the man I had discovered a lot. I still didn't know who I was, but I could speak basic Common by this point. I knew where I was. I knew that the landscape was called a desert, and that I was in an area called Coral Canyon. Of course, at this time I wasn't anywhere near the actual canyon, I was in one of the large deserts that surround it, but most of those areas were grouped under the same name. Not that it was important to me. I lived a very simple life. I collected water from the nearby oasis, I tended to the two horses that the man owned, and in return he offered me shelter and food. Once every couple of weeks he would disappear for a few days and return with food and other supplies, so I was aware that I was somewhere near civilisation. This didn't encourage me to leave the hut. Not after the ordeal in the desert. Instead I just trusted Chester and hoped that I could keep living like this forever.

He only spoke when he had something important to say, and as time went on we talked less and less. None of our dialogues were deep or meaningful. I couldn't properly speak his language, so most of the time we talked he taught me words. However there was one conversation we had over dinner one night which remains solidified in my head even now. He told me that he would die soon. I didn't understand. How could a man know when he is about to die? I didn't want to be left alone. I begged him to remain alive but after that he wouldn't speak. When I had calmed down, we sat in silence for a few minutes before he brought up the cave. He said to me that when we arrived at the cave, "all shall be gained and all shall be lost". I didn't know what he was talking about at the time, but I try not to believe him while I write this.

All shall be gained and all shall be lost


It took two hours of navigating through the desert to reach the cave. It only took a few minutes from when the hut faded from my sight to be lost. Without Chester guiding me I wouldn't be able to find my way to shelter and I would die. I was relieved when I saw the large, rocky opening as we grew closer to the cave. Seeing something, anything, after so much of nothing was a relief. Ever since that time when I was alone and dying I have been terrified of being alone in any situation. Unfortunately, that is something that I have had to learn to deal with. It was early morning and it was only beginning to get warm outside when we sat on the rocky surface at the entrance to catch our breath. Inside the cave was complete darkness. I couldn't see in. When I was told to go inside I refused. Chester pushed me in after I complained.

I am real, it said. You are not.

It was the same voice that had spoken to me before I awoke in the desert. The same voice that was my earliest memory. I was once again frozen in fear. Since being forced into the darkness, I felt my feet leave the ground and my body hang suspended in midair. My mind was racing. I couldn't see anything. My body was cold.

Decide what is real.

I spoke back this time, my voice laced with fear. "You are not real."

Then why am I still here? the voice mocked.

I felt weak and for a moment I felt like my soul was being drained out of my body, but within seconds I was once again alive and breathing. I was no longer inside of the cave. Chester was waiting for me on a rock nearby. He said nothing. I walked over to him and together we walked back to the hut. We didn't speak much after that. I had questions to ask, but Chester died a week later.