The Plug
By a bubble
It's like you've been surrounded by water; you can hear things, but it's hard to make out; you can feel things, but it's different as to what it should be; you can see things, but your view is contorted.
You always feel cold, which annoys you. You never did like the cold, but after so long you got used to it. It's better to just accept it, there is never going to be any warmth where you are - far from the sun's grasp, and in a watery world devoid of human contact. Long ago you searched for another, but you found they were in a world you gave up trying to get to long ago. A world where everyone perceives things just as they should be.
So it's a lonely little world.
And then one day you notice a blur of which looks like someone tugging at the chain of a plug. A plug that you were always aware of, but never really noticed was there. And you sit there and watch them as they try, after all, it would take so much of your effort to cross the void to stop them. And it occurred to you that you are indeed curious as to what would happen should they succeed.
Confusion sets on the person's face as the plug refuses to abide, and so they try harder - their curiosity forgotten, replaced by sheer determination to complete what they had started. And it works, but only in the slightest - after each several heave, the plug would only move an inch. And you are fascinated by this as you watch the satisfaction in the person's eyes.
And so they try harder again. The rubber rises out of its place and it then that you fear what will come with its removal, or at least, what will go.
This person does not understand the plug's purpose, after all, they are not from your water world. They simply got curious.
Then the panic sets in. you fumble with your hands as a means to calm yourself, you body telling you that you must do something. The repeated motion of letting the chain go slack, then whipping it back taut, is sending vibrations through the water that is pounding at your ears.
And that's when you feel it. The plug is lifted at an angle that lets the smallest amount of water to escape, but it's enough. The whirling motion of your world getting smaller begins to make you dizzy as you begin to feel sick, your gut almost screaming. And you decide, that you have had enough.
You begin to move, energy draining with ever step. You call out to them to stop but your voice comes out a meer whisper. So you run. The tiredness come almost instantly but all of it seems futile as the plug only appears to get further away. It's hopeless, and you feel as though crying. Though you have no way to tell, you think to yourself bitterly.
You stop to rest, it all becoming far too much far too quickly. Only to open your eyes finding yourself behind the person, swaying side to side from the motion of the water.
Something about them almost seems familiar. You step around them, momentarily forgetting what you came for, as you wonder at this person that is in your world. It feels the world just got a little less cold.
They remain oblivious to your presence, hunched over deep in concentration, determined to simply succeed at this point. But you know now that you must prevent this.
You sit down in front of then, and place your hand on theirs, surprised at the warmth simple contact could bring. You lift your head, and the person's eyes meet yours. They have your eye. They have your face. And you let them know, you have their voice.
"Juvia, no."
You lean your weight into the plug, and watch as it slowly disappears, as if it were never there in the first place. And so have you.