Falling. Screaming. Fighting. Darkness.
All I can remember.
I am tumbling through an endless black, no sight of escape anywhere. I don't know where I would escape to if I could. I don't know where I am or where I came from or where I'm falling to. I don't know why I'm screaming or who I'm fighting. I don't even know who I am. All I know is this eternal descent, this eternal shriek, this eternal struggle.
Spinning. Crashing. Clawing.
Rage and fear and desperation.
Then I feel a tug. And I'm falling not down, but sideways.
And I see a light.
And I hear a voice.
"...Legface McCullen, Artichoke, Penguin P. Steve - but I think the very worst name for this frog is - "
Name.
Face.
The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
I clutch at the light. A border separates me from it. A border is keeping me from reaching the world of life from this world of nothingness.
I claw at the border. I rip a hole through it.
I can return to the world.
I can survive.
I throw my enemy off and tear through the border.
The children he had seen are nowhere in sight now; he's fallen through into a different part of the woods. A woman gasps and whirls around at the sound of his arrival, blonde hair flying as she turns.
"Who's there?" she cries out.
He exhales. Loudly. He hasn't breathed in a very, very long time.
He's escaped the void.
It's still dark - the woman can't see him. But he can see her. He recognizes her, in some part of his slowly returning memory, but can't tell exactly who she is.
It doesn't matter who she is.
He's back in the real world.
He can feel his arms. Legs. Fingers. Toes. Head. Neck. Torso. He has a body. He has an identity.
He rolls onto his back. He's lying on cold, wet grass. The air is chill with the bite of autumn.
He exhales again. The breath turns into a moan. The moan turns into a laugh.
"Who's there?" the woman shouts again. "Show yourself!"
He laughs harder. Louder. Higher. Ecstatic, triumphant, insane. His back arches against the ground. He rises to his knees and laughs at the trees, laughs to the sky above him. He's scaring the woman, but he doesn't care.
There's a flash of light - the woman has lit a match. The tiny flame waves around, searching in vain for him. He stands, enshadowed. His laughter has worn out its welcome, and he is silent now. He watches the woman for a moment, then loses interest.
He can feel the void trying to pull him back. He won't survive long in this world - at least, not alone. He needs something to tie him down to this world. He needs something to keep him alive until he can return to his full strength.
The woman's light grows. She's lit a lantern that she found on the ground.
She shines the lantern right on him.
He shies away at first. Then he relaxes, and lets her see him in full.
She gasps, her hand on her heart, tears in her eyes, a smile on her lips.
"Light," she says. "I knew you'd come for me."
He knows who she is now.
He knows who he is now.
He knows how he will survive in this world.
He grins.
I will be the god of the new world.