My body hurts everywhere with the slightest movement. And the pain, it seems to come from within. As if every bone in my body is on the verge of snapping, if not already in pieces. And my stomach, did I burst a gut or something? It hurts.

My hand feels extremely itchy due to what feels like… a lot of sweat flowing along it. I can’t speak and my throat feels extremely dry. I want water to drink.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone around me, or they would’ve come to help me when I started coughing earlier. Meaning I can’t ask anyone for help. Nor can I get up. My body just doesn’t want to listen to me. I feel that the bones in my arm will snap apart if I try to do so forcefully… It was already bad enough when I tried to check on my eye. I can’t risk it or things might turn worse than they already are. And there seems to be something rough covering my eye. It surely wasn’t skin. As if… some sort of cloth.

And my hand, when it bounced off the thing I am on, it seemed to go lower than my shoulder. Am I on an elevated surface? And the bounciness itself… is this a bed or something? What if I fall down? And what about my legs? I can’t feel those either.

Will I ever be able to walk again… What if I can’t… How will I travel the world and see different things then? As I felt my thoughts steering away from what was important, I moved my left arm back into position, using the pain to get back on track. Ouch, it hurts. It hurts. It hurts. But most of all, I can’t use my left eye… I can’t see… So what’s the point even if I can walk. It doesn’t change a thing.

Wallowing in despair of being unable to move or see — Wait a minute… The majority of the pain I feel when opening my eyes is from my left eye. Not right. What if I — a sudden realization struck me.

My face felt hot from all the embarrassment I felt as I pondered over the idea, feeling it to have some weight behind it.

Why didn’t I think of it earlier? The pain I felt was mostly from my left eye, almost like nothing of it was my right eye.

Remembering the pain made me tremble involuntarily. Gritting my teeth, I formulated a plan of action.

Taking in a deep breath, I steeled my resolve. Preparing for any potential suffering, mostly pain I would feel from my eye in case I was wrong, about to come, I took a deep breath.

Once bitten twice shy, but here I am, asking to be bitten for a third time. The thought amused me, helping me calm my throbbing nerves.

The pounding in my chest grew calmer while my breathing was no longer as erratic as before. Although my throat still felt dry. I couldn’t do anything about it, so I decided to not think much of it.

Once again reviewing the plan, I tried to open my right eye. I did it as gently as I could, doing my best to not disturb the left one. Even then, I couldn’t help but suck in a deep breath whenever my left eye-lid twitched, the pain was nothing to scoff at.

What greeted me was a wooden ceiling. The wood looked a bit aged, but still sturdy enough to keep holding on. Upholding the ceiling were walls of stone. Similar to the wood in the ceiling, although aged, they looked sturdy enough to keep holding on. The surroundings began twisting and turning as my vision became blurry.

I can see! I can see! I can see! That was the only thought going through my mind. Elation coursed through my veins as my gaze traversed every lift and bump of the wooden ceiling, like a husband looking at his wife.

Following the rush of initial excitement, my eye felt dry. Keeping it open began stinging slightly. Closing my eye, I lay there silently, the night breeze brushing against my face. A cold, humid scent wafted into my nose, mixed with the freshness of pine and the fragrance of nature.

After calming my beating heart, I started looking around. To my right, I could make out the window from which the breeze poured through. Curtains danced in the wind while the moonlight spilled in. Sky overhead appeared like a large, deep river with twinkling stars drifting atop it. The moon hung high as clouds drifted past it, occasionally covering it like a blanket. The mountain peaks below, covered with snow, reflected the moonlight, making a spectacle of their own.

It’s such a beautiful night. I’m glad that I got to see — oh! It’s night! No wonder no one is here. Or maybe I’m just all alone here… all alone and abandoned by everyone…

Excitement drained from me as thoughts like those began occupying my mind. Sighing inwardly, my eyes wandered around, searching for more details as I kept trying to forget about the unfortunate thoughts.

Through the corner of my eye, I could barely make out a bookshelf at the bottom right corner of the room. Someone stacked the books neatly, as the books were waiting to be read. After looking around for a while from my viewing angle, I confirmed my previous assumption. I was on an elevated surface, a bed to be particular.

With the ticking noise from up above my head, the clock should be somewhere in that direction. As for the door, a sense of forlorn filled my chest as I wasn’t able to find it. After a while, I sighed and assumed the door to be on my left.

What about — No point in getting all worried. I forced myself to not think about all the unpleasant things as my gaze turned towards the window. All I can do is wait till the morning. The night sure looks good…

While savoring the scenery visible through the window and enjoying the breeze, I began humming a tune in my head. Before I knew it, my eyelid was closed, and I dozed off like a log.