Lost Change

Chapter 1

Warm...

Warmth was all around me. I wasn't sure how, or why. It was dark, and quiet, but most importantly it was warm. It felt so... peaceful. Relaxed. I was curled up in a tight ball, and something firm was holding me. I thought my eyes might be closed... but I was too perfectly content to bother opening them.

My body felt too soft and heavy to move. There wasn't anywhere I wanted to go, either. I drifted for a few more seconds, then fell back to sleep.

Another moment of awareness came. The warmth was still around me, but it wasn't as strong. My head and back felt warm, but a bit of chill had begun to creep in below me. I tried to move, with a half-formed idea of turning over, but my body still felt too soft and heavy. It was just too much effort to move, too much effort to even want to move. I floated aimlessly in the dark like that... then sleep took me again.

Cold.

I woke to the sensation of cold all around me, and a pounding ache in my head. I felt a shiver run through me, but it felt strange, like parts of me were shivering that shouldn't have been, and parts of me that should be shivering weren't. I had a vague thought that the lack of feeling might be a bad sign, but the lack of warmth was a much more pressing concern.

I struggled to open my heavy eyelids and tried to make sense of where I was. There was nothing - just darkness all around. I lifted a hand and tried to feel around, and immediately felt a wall in front of me. I pushed against it and felt a similar pressure against my back.

That explained it - I was in a small area of some kind. Walls all around me, and... I pushed my head up and confirmed that a ceiling closed in right above my head. I was trapped in this... thing, whatever it was. I felt around for a door or a gap - anything that might lead to an opening and help me get out - but I couldn't find anything. There must be something though, right? How else had I gotten inside?

I had a sudden memory of a group of shady men emptying a moving truck as I was walking by, with one suddenly dropping a couch to grab me.

The memory faded as soon as it appeared, and I shook my head in confusion. My head bumped into the wall, which did not improve the headache I had, but I felt the wall give way a little. I paused for a moment, trying to understand why somebody would have trapped me inside a tiny room with such weak walls. Especially one that was so small. This must be a box of some kind, then. Though... the curve to the walls seemed strange. And who would have put me in a box like this in the first place? And why?

Another shiver ran through me from the cold and I shoved those questions aside. I needed to focus on getting warm first. And there didn't seem to be any way to do that inside this... whatever it was.

I used my hands and feet to push against the wall, and after a moment I added my head in too. The wall flexed and bulged against my motions... then the walls rocked around me. I pulled my hands back but it was too late - everything wobbled and I tipped over.

The darkness around me suddenly seemed a little brighter, and I felt a thrill of excitement. I was lying on my side, but the roll must have damaged one of the walls. I felt around with my hands some more, then found the source of the light - a fracture, running the full length of the wall along my side. I squirmed to get a better angle and pushed at it, tearing out bits of the wall to make it wider. Suddenly, the walls around me split apart, and the world was filled with light.