The Bubble

by A. Jarys

It’s warm in here. I don’t know how long I’ve been inside this bubble. The time seems to have stopped long ago. I used to have a lot of room to move my legs and arms, but now it feels really small; I feel like it’s gonna crush me someday.

I can hear voices outside, but I can’t see anything. I don’t know who they are, but I recognize the sound; I think they are the ones that put me here in the first place. Usually they shut up if I knock on the walls.

Once in awhile I see a yellowish light, I don’t know what it means, I don’t know where it comes from. When it happens I hear a strange noise that fills my ears like water fills my mouth. It’s annoying, I don’t know how to make it stop.

I’m sure it’s been weeks since I last saw a light like that. My bubble’s been shaking a lot these days; I don’t know what’s happening outside. Maybe they forgot about me? Am I going to stay here forever? The space here keeps getting smaller, I’m not sure how much longer I can take it.

Something is wrong. I can feel it. The walls are closing in. I feel like I’m being pushed down, as if the bubble would implode in any second. I think someone is crying outside these walls. The space around me feels a little warmer than usual. I hear new voices; voices I’ve never heard before, they all sound agitated, like something bad is happening. I’m scared.

The walls are closing in even faster, they squeeze me like I’m some kind of toothpaste tube. It hurts. Everything hurts. I’m starting to feel cold in my head, the walls still squeezing me. I can hear a lot of annoying noises, but my eyes won’t open so I can't see what is happening. The voices around me suddenly become louder and louder, the squeezing stops on my head and, for a couple of seconds, I can only feel it on my shoulders, and then I’m so cold I think I could die.

Everything feels strange and dry. I think someone is covering me with a blanket. I appreciate that. The cold in here is a nightmare. I feel something uncomfortable in my nose, I try to complain, but no words come out. After a couple of seconds I hear an agitated voice, I recognize that voice, I can’t understand what it’s saying, but I think it is calling me, I want to go there, it calms me. Suddenly, I feel someone pinch my skin painfully. No words come out of my mouth so I scream as loud as I can; maybe that’ll make them stop.

The agitated voice that I loved a minute ago is now laughing, like enjoying my pain, I feel betrayed.

I can’t control my body. My eyes feel heavy and my arms and legs feel weak. The blanket around me doesn’t protect me from the cold, I’m naked, and I’m cold.

I can feel how someone just lifts my body as if it were nothing, and takes me somewhere warmer. Under my bare skin I feel something soft, but kind of wet. Somehow I think of it as familiar, and I hear a sound that I think I have heard before. It has a calming rhythm, almost like a lullaby. I feel like I’ve been listening to that my entire life.

“Hello” said the same voice that was laughing, it calms me again. I hear it really close. I don’t know how, but I can tell they’re smiling.

I feel something soft and warm on my head, it’s a little wet and really gentle, it caresses my skin like a velvet flower. Some big hands grab my entire body and warm me a little bit. I feel comforted, protected; like I could fall asleep right here.

Another voice comes closer, and some cold fingers touch my face. I’m tired, I want to sleep. I embrace the warm hands protecting me, and I let my mind doze off.

For a brief moment, the words around me reach my ears and for some reason I can understand them.

“It’s beautiful” said the new voice before I fell asleep. “Do you have a name yet?”.

The voice near my head breaks for a second.

“Yes” I hear. “Riley”.