"Howdy!"

I slowly opened my eyes, my head pounding incessantly. Aside from a dull ache in my chest, I felt utterly numb. Unable to make myself move, I tried to focus on what was in front of me. My vision was blurry and indistinct.

I'd landed on a bed of golden flowers – their softness reminded me of a pile of cushions. Lying flat on my back, the flowers towered over me, a congregating mass of yellow that played tricks on my eyes.

I recognised these flowers immediately. They used to grow in the town square and the fields near our house. When I was little, I would go out on sunny days and play in those fields all day. When I got tired, I'd lie down amongst the flowers and gaze at the clouds. Lying here now, there was no sky, no clouds, no Sun. Looming behind the golden flowers was a backdrop of complete darkness, punctuated by a small blotch of dim light.

I'm dead, I told myself. I died when I fell into the mountain. This is just a dream – a happy memory of a simpler time. I felt myself begin to drift off once more. I felt my eyelids slowly close.

"Hey, sleepyhead! Don't go dozing off on me!"

It was only now that I registered the voice. I snapped out of my stupor. As my eyes began to focus, I looked up at the flowers hanging over me. Sure enough, I wasn't alone in this place. One of the flowers was peering down at me, a cheerful expression on its face. "Took ya a while to come to!" it said. "Can you get up by yourself? I'd give ya a hand but..." The flower glanced down at its leafy appendages and gave a small, embarrassed chuckle.

I hauled myself up slowly. I felt stiff and disoriented. As I stretched, I could see that I was in some sort of cavernous chamber. A large patch of yellow flowers clustered around me, lit up by a light that was filtering down from above. The talking flower had somehow moved to the very edge of the patch, a few feet away from where I stood. It was still looking at me.

"It's been a long time since a human last fell down here!" it said cheerily.

Looking up, I saw the ceiling give way to an opening that went up and up. I couldn't see the top. I recalled my memories of the mountaintop. The rocky outcrops that dotted the peak of the mountain. Myself, standing at the mouth of the chasm, the depths of the mountain below. A moment of weightlessness as I went in, disappearing into the dark. Falling for what felt like an eternity. And then nothing – only darkness.

These memories were clear to me, and yet oddly distant. I felt as if I'd slept a thousand years. But the memories convinced me of one thing – I was alive. Somehow, I had not died from my fall. I hadn't even sustained any injuries – just a few bruises and this dazed feeling. And nothing else? I couldn't believe it.

"Where am I?" I asked the flower. It was strange to hear my own voice.

"You're in the Underground, partner!" he replied with a giggle. "Surely you've heard of it?"

I was suddenly fully alert. The Underground! The old home of monsters, before they all left for the surface. I'd heard all sorts of stories about this place but I never thought I would ever see it for myself.

"You had a lucky landing," the flower continued, sensing my confusion. "If you had missed the flowers, you could have ended up flat as a pancake! Splat!" he exclaimed, kicking off a cloud of pollen.

I looked down at the flowers – they reminded me of home. What were they doing down here? And how were they able to grow here? I never would have thought they were capable of surviving in an underground environment.

And then I looked at the flower in front of me. I was utterly puzzled. These flowers that had formed such a large part of my childhood – was one of them actually speaking to me?

"What's wrong? You look starstruck!" it said, winking at me with a sly grin. "Am I just that pretty?"

An unpleasant thought suddenly crossed my mind: I may have flattened one of its friends where I landed. I looked down at the flower patch with a sense of dread, but I could see no impression left by my fall. The flowers stood tall and healthy, their golden heads gently brushing my knees. At this point I was beginning to wonder if I'd hit my head in my fall. None of this was making any sense.

The flower gave me a troubled look. "You look completely lost. Are you sure you're feelin' ok?"

I nodded half-heartedly. "Listen," I started, "I don't want to sound rude but, well, are you–"

The flower beamed a great big smile filled with warmth. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Pleased to meet'cha!"

I needed a moment to compose myself. "N-Nice to meet you, Flowey," I answered. Just play along, I told myself.

Flowey's gaze wandered off for a moment as he pondered something. "Y'know, it's funny," he eventually said. "When I first found you here I mistook you for someone else. Strange, right?"

Strange is an understatement, I thought to myself. I already knew this was impossible. I had never met a monster before – let alone a talking flower of all things.

I held that thought. You're speaking to a flower, I repeated to myself over and over. A talking flower. And yet, to my surprise, I found I was already beginning to accept this as fact.

Flowey's eyes narrowed as he examined me. "Still, there's something oddly familiar about you. You really DO remind me of someone," he reminisced. His eyes darted rapidly from my face and hair, down to my khaki shorts and finally to my striped hoody. "Why is it always stripes?" I heard him mutter quietly to himself. Conscious of his prying eyes, I quickly checked that my left arm was fully covered. I winced slightly as I ran my fingers over the fabric of the long sleeve.

He looked up at me, smiling sweetly. "You're not them though. You look a little older, for starters."

I nodded. "I just turned fourteen recently," I told him. My birthday had been a mere two days before all of this had started – before I climbed the mountain. It's amazing how much can change in the space of two days.

He glanced down the hallway that led out of the room. "Can't tell ya how relieved I am to have some company at last," he continued. "The Underground is pretty quiet these days."

He turned to face me. "But now that you're here, I bet we'll have all kinds of fun! We'll be best pals before you know it!" At this point, I really wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into.

Flowey held a leaf up to his face in a ponderous manner. "Now, what can we do?" After a moment of intense thought, he suddenly sprung to life. "I've got an idea! Let's play a game of hide-and-seek!" he exclaimed, shaking with a playful energy. He could barely contain his excitement at this idea. "I'll hide somewhere nearby – you close your eyes for ten seconds and then try to find me!"

Obligingly, I closed my eyes and slowly counted to ten. I heard a faint rustling as the flower searched for somewhere to hide.

Upon opening my eyes, Flowey was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the room for any other potential hiding places but nothing stood out to me. I glanced at the pillars on the far side of the room – big enough to hide behind, but maybe a bit too far away to consider. The room was circular and cavernous, with a lack of crags or alcoves to use as hiding places. My gaze switched to the only other feature of the room – the golden flowers gathered at my feet.

I'll bet he's trying to blend in with the other flowers, I thought to myself. I just need to look for one with a face. But there were none. I examined each and every flower in the patch but they all looked the same – plain yellow flowers that seemed to cluster together in silent communion.

Then I had an idea. Crouching down, I ran my index finger along the stem of the flower closest to me. As expected, there was no response. I tried this again on another flower but got the same result. I repeated this for the flowers in my vicinity and gradually expanded outwards. Eventually I noticed one flower lurking on the edge of the field, its head slightly tilted away from the patch.

As before, I ran my index finger down the stem of the flower. I felt it tremble slightly. I repeated the action, and again the flower shook. As I tried this a third time, the flower erupted in ticklish laughter as Flowey reappeared, a hint of irritation in his voice. "H-hey, c'mon! That's cheating! You can't do that!"

I smiled. "That's a neat trick. You can hide your facial expression whenever you feel like it?"

He nodded several times in succession. "Uh huh! I can do way more than that – check this out!"

What happened next shocked me. His facial features twisted and shifted to form a new face entirely. It took me a second to realise that the face now imprinted on the flower was my own - an almost perfect replica. Then he spoke to me in a new voice. My voice.

"Just like looking in a mirror, huh?"

Gasping, I stumbled backwards in my shock. I lost my balance, landing on my back in the middle of the flower patch. Flowey's features immediately returned to normal as he laughed in delight. "The look on your face! Priceless!" he exclaimed.

I picked myself off the ground. "How on earth did you do that?" I asked once I had gotten up.

"Just one of the things that makes me who I am!" he said, giving a small shrug with his leaves. "Now it's your turn to hide. I'll close my eyes and-" He stopped himself short. "A-Actually, forget I said that!" he stammered, laughing nervously. "We can play something else. I've got a ton of ideas for games!"

As he proceeded to rattle off a list of ideas, I let my eyes wander to the patch of golden flowers. I quickly realised that I was completely transfixed on them – their effect was almost intoxicating to me. I felt a deep longing to return home – to go back to those golden fields. Nostalgic daydreams aside, I couldn't reconcile these desires with my own thoughts. Had I forgotten the reasons why I ran away in the first place?

Flowey had finished running through his list of games. He looked at me expectantly. "So, what do you fancy?"

I decided there was no good way to phrase it. "Flowey, it's been a pleasure meeting you," I told him. "But I'm afraid I can't stay. I should really be getting back to the surface." I paused, struggling to get the words out. "Back home."

Flowey immediately deflated. "Oh..." he breathed. He turned away from me, clearly disappointed. His petals drooped a little as he stared at the ground in silence. He remained like this for a while.

I was unsure what to do. His sudden sombreness had me concerned and I was already feeling a bit guilty. I felt I should at least try to cheer him up a bit. But, as I looked closer, I noticed to my shock that he was trembling slightly. I opened my mouth to say something but he spoke first.

"I see. It's only natural that you'd want to go home," he sighed. He turned to face the passage leaning out of the room. "It's some way from here, though. The path that leads back to the surface is on the other side of the Underground – it'll take some time to get there by foot."

Suddenly, he spun around. "B-but I can help you!" he said, almost breathless. In an instant, his solemn expression was gone. "I know this place better than anyone. I can show you the way there!"

"That's the sort of thing a friend would do, right?" he postured. "Well then, I'd say we're on the way to being good friends already!"

He turned away from me, eyes set on the corridor leading out of the room we were in. "And who knows? Once I've shown you around, you might decide you like it down here. Maybe you'll like it more than the surface!"

Before I could utter a response to this, he dipped down into the ground and vanished. I looked all around the room for him but he was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone? Was this another game of hide and seek?

And then I noticed it. There was something lying a short distance from the flower patch – a long, stick-like object with a handle. I approached it and, kneeling down, picked it up off the ground. I recognised it as one of the hiking poles I'd used on my journey up the mountain. The climb to the peak had been far more difficult than I'd anticipated, so the pair of hiking poles had proven vital in my ascent. The other pole was nowhere in sight. Next to it was the leather shoulder sling with a quiver-like bag which I'd used for storing the poles and carrying them with me.

I sighed. There was hardly any reason to take these with me if I didn't have both poles. Unless…

I examined the field tip on the end of the pole – it was made of steel and razor sharp. As flimsy as the pole was, it crossed my mind that it might serve as a makeshift weapon. I had no idea what dangers I might encounter in the Underground – it would be best to avoid taking any chances. I placed the hiking pole back inside the leather bag and slung it across my shoulder.

I looked behind me. Flowey had reappeared by the hallway leading out of the chamber, jittering about excitedly. "Come on! Follow me, buddy!" he called out, visibly eager to get going. I stood up and took one last look at the room. It was a truly peaceful place. I felt a gentle breeze against my skin – it was drifting down from the surface, causing the yellow flowers to sway ever so slightly back and forth. I swore I could even hear faint sounds as they echoed down from the peak into the depths of the mountain. I felt a subtle temptation to stay there for a while longer, but fought it off. There was much more to see and my companion was getting impatient. I ran to catch up with him and we set off together into the Ruins.

And that's how I met Flowey. So much has happened since then. As I sit here now in bed, trying to piece it all together, I still can't make sense of everything I experienced in that place. And I'm not sure I ever will.

I will document what I can remember here, along with some materials I wrote at the time. I am tired and they told me that I need to rest – but I cannot sit here and do nothing. Sleep doesn't come easily anymore, anyway.

I am still unsure how this will end, and what may happen next. But, in writing this, I hope I can someday share my story of our journey through the Underground, and how, together, we escaped a fate of incomprehensible cruelty.

This isn't over. I need to honour the promise I made to him. I need to go back.

There's still time to set things right.