Some stories last for eternity, others are limited by the ticking of a clock.
Tick, tock …
Hands ticking forward, then going backwards.
Tick, tock …
Chapters are hours, days are minutes, memories are seconds.
Tick, tock …
By the time this clock breaks, everything will fall apart.
Tick …
(XII)
Darkness falls.
Everything seems to be fading into black tar, swallowing the world in a similarly dark ocean.
You desperately try to fight the shadows' embrace, although there seems to be no ground to grip.
Water drips over the vast prison, faintly echoing through the space you're trapped in.
You try to locate the dripping ceiling, but you fail miserably.
Despair drains the last ounce of strength you have, and you contemplate the painfully slow drowning you'll be subject to.
There, something seems to emerge from the bubbling liquid, making you cling to a dying wish.
The blurb slowly forms into a solid shape, then gain colors you're surprised to see.
A human hand caresses your cheek, red eyes lock with yours, and lips move to utter something.
"Why the long face …?"
You seem confused, salvation going far beyond the reach of your hand.
"After all …"
Fear takes over when you recognize your interlocutor.
"It's only you …"
Your double cackles, then lunges at you and takes you down with it.
"... Chara"
The last thing you could hear was something shattering, muffled by the air escaping your lungs.
Tock …
(III)
The strange feeling of having a functional family.
The reverberating laughter of your actual sibling.
Things you thought were lost in the Hell above.
This is just a dream, is it not? It cannot be real, you feel you do not deserve that at all. Deep down yourself, you know you sinned. You just don't how, or when, or where.
The weight of your past burdens your shoulders, and you cannot fully trust anyone just yet.
Someone calls you for dinner, someone you just called Mother out of nowhere. Instead of being irritated by the title, they accepted it wholeheartedly.
You blushed at your blunder, but you liked the fluttering feeling in your chest.
You enter a bedroom, it looks quite furnished. Items of humans your age are all over the place, seems your hosts were prepared to greet you down here.
You change into whatever pajamas you could find, and they fit you perfectly. The familiar scent of a person you knew lulls you to sleep, but perhaps that was also just your imagination.
Tick …
(IV)
The pink walls were covered in lush vegetation, which spread around enough to cover half of the structures.
Beyond the red-leaved tree n the center, you ventured to look around with your giggling brother.
Similar creatures populated the area, some hopped around, and others fled whenever they saw something.
They were a few hostile encounters, but your brother managed to get you out in one piece.
You went back where you fell, on some flowerbed and above a grave. Your sibling seemed tense, unable to go into the ray of light.
You shrugged and bathed yourself in the lukewarm sunrays. They were no traces of your fall left, and you had not disturbed the slumber of the dead either.
You wanted to know why the ones who gave you love cried every night.
Your fluffy brother blurted out where "they" died, picking your interest.
Brushing away the flowers covering the grave, you couldn't make out something of the text.
You hurried to call your brother out, but they were already gone.
You felt a little tired, the exploration had took a toll on your young body.
Napping in a flowerbed, near a gravestone, couldn't be that bad now … could it?
Tock …
(VII)
The forbidden room was opened, one similar to your own except for the lack of furniture.
The human slept there soundly, almost like they never died. You wanted to go there and wake them up, but you felt content watching their chest rise and fall. Every breath they took felt like nostalgic, yet you still cannot tell who that was.
Your brother followed suit, and asked you to wake them up for breakfast.
You tried poking them gently, but they simply groaned and turned aside. Shaking them further made them rise, looking at you with a groggy red orb.
"Good … Morning …"
"Sorry to wake you up that way, but …"
The human hugged you without further notice, and mumbled a thank you before crawling out of bed.
You were left blushing on someone else's mattress, unable to hear your brother calling out for you.
"Hey, you two ! Breakfast is ready !"
You darted out of the room, trying to suppress your increasingly fast heartbeat. Neither embarrassment nor fear could describe what you felt in that embrace.
As your brother went down again and munched his meal, you were absentminded. A tap on the shoulder made you jolt, followed by a chuckle.
"And I thought you were the one to wake me up."
You could even tell that voice was one you heard before, but you miserably failed to name the owner.
Tick …
(IX)
Like yesterday, acquaintances of the Dreemurrs dropped by to greet the newly revived kid.
Today, there was the doctor, which your brother greeted as he opened the door. Another monster came from behind the doctor, and noticed you cuddling the human they're visiting.
With a half-cheerful, half chilling voice, they beckoned your « partner » to them.
« hey there, kiddo »
They turned around to see a skeleton, as they parted from your embrace.
« Yes, Sans ? »
The skeleton extended a hand, which they shook carefully. They were cautious around that Sans person, for a reason you do not know of.
« uh, welcome back and all but … »
Sans pulled them closer, just enough to whisper out of everybody's reach.
« haven't forgiven or forgotten what you did, kid. »
You wondered what was the most intimidating, between their smirk and the blazing glare Sans gave you. The skeleton then shook your hand without a word, webt to greet everyone else then left the house
« you should drop by with your little friend over there »
« I will »
You nudged them, wondering why would they accept that kind of invitation.
« You sure you wanna go there ? They did not look too happy to see you back to the living. »
They shrugged it off and cuddled you, making you blush at the unneeded attention. Your family aww'ed, giggled or smiled at the scene, while someone took a picture of you and whispered OTP.
You felt even more embarrassed, but they had you caught in a mellowing embrace. It felt really safe, and not that cold anymore.
Tock …
Clonk …
