--smell--
It was the smell that took him back. The scents of rain and damp, fertile soil drifted through the window slit to where he lay, semi-conscious, on the cot. Resisting would have taken more effort than he was prepared to give. Besides, even this was better than what now haunted his dreams.
The last time summer had floated through his window, he had been just a boy, still on Ennth with his mother to sing him to sleep and his father to go exploring with after school.
They had never seemed farther away, but still he couldn't stop the memories.
--sound--
The sound of his own voice echoed back to him from the canyon walls as Zekk started counting. He could hear his friends scurrying away in search of hiding places. He smiled contentedly and gave them an extra five seconds before he opened his eyes.
It was over within two minutes. His friends reacted with annoyance, admiration and everything in between as he unerringly found them all. He knew some of the other children were already starting to whisper that he cheated, but principle wouldn't let him stop playing. He couldn't help it if he was good at this game.
--touch--
He was first in his class too, but he got along well with his classmates. There was one in particular, the girl whose desk touched his. She was his only real rival for first, and they both delighted in competing for it.
While walking her home one day, he discovered that she liked the same holodramas he did: tales of adventure and heroes and Jedi. As they parted ways, she glanced back shyly at him. "I think you'd make a good Jedi, Zekk."
He felt bigger somehow when she looked at him like that. He decided he liked the feeling.
--taste--
The air was different. He could taste it, a sulfurous taint in his mouth when he inhaled. His arms and legs felt too heavy, and he was always sweating. Restless, he walked to the window and looked out. The night was barely darker than the day now. The moon was so big that it filled the sky, and the planet trembled at its approach. He sighed. There would be no stargazing tonight.
His father, tall and solemn, came and stood beside him. Zekk could tell from the way his father's arm tightened around him that the disasters were coming back.
--sight--
The disasters came back, and they took everything.
He was on the refugee station when his parents died. No one had to tell him; he knew. He almost passed out when it happened. All the warmth and safety left his universe in one instant. He'd never felt so alone.
He let himself cry for three days before he started planning ways to escape from the station.
He wasn't staying. There was nothing left to stay for. He'd find a life somewhere, anywhere but this empty, broken shell of a world. Ennth was one sight he never wanted to see again.