Comfort of the Inner Mind

In a light green hospital bedroom, there was a young, injured boy with silky black hair covered in bandages from head to toe lying unconscious on a white cot. He seemed to be all by himself with no one around. A few seconds later, a strong wind burst open the window next to him and smacked him as he laid there asleep. A minute went by and then suddenly...

The boy was on the ground lying cold, soaking wet; seconds later, he woke up and grasped his forehead, then he groaned. “What the?” he said, confused.” Why am I soaking wet?” Afterward, he fully opened his mesmerizing ocean blue eyes, and then he tried to shake the water off his silky black hair. “Wait, hold up. Where did my bandages go?” He looked at himself more intensely and checked out his body. “Not that I need them... It’s weird, how come all my injuries are healed?” Finally, he took a gander around. “What the…. Where am I?” he said nervously. “Well, I won’t get anywhere by just standing around.” The boy got up from his feet and then began to wander around. “Hello, is anyone around,” he yelled, but the only thing he could hear was the echoes of his voice. He fiddled with his hair. "My memory is pretty hazy, I can't remember." The boy was so frantic with worry he started running around then he screamed, "There's no end to this place! It keeps going on and on! And on top of it, it's so dark in here. If I didn't have such good eyesight, I would be completely blind... Help." It was so quiet like an owl's feather. "No luck." He sniffled, "Will I ever escape?" He started aimlessly running again, then moments later, he tripped over a small stalagmite and stumbled to the ground. "Oww," he burst as he was riding in agony. A lot of bloody scratches were on his left leg. "What the." He looked behind him and saw a sharp rock. "Huh, a stalagmite." He slowly pushed himself off the cold ground and leaned against the damp, rugged wall next to him. Seconds later…. A crystal ocean blue light shined and illuminated the entire cave.

Moments later, a beautiful crystal blue light flashed. “Amazing... Man, what’s up with the sudden light… Well, I guess it doesn’t matter, now that I can finally see clearly. The dark and damp place was illuminated, and the boy was shocked to find out where he was. “A cave,” he said, all surprised. Then…. A mighty wind blew towards him. Its heavy gusting winds were so powerful that they echoed all over the cave, making it sound like a person was whistling.

"I've never seen anything this cool before…. I feel so calm and relaxed. I have to find the source of it." Curious to know where the light was emanating from, he staggered on forward. As he went ahead, the light got brighter and brighter, and the wind blew more robust and faster. "Woah," he yelled. The wind was too strong, and he was lifted off his feet, pushing him back and was carried off. "Oh crap," he said, frustrated. Luckily, he brushed up a huge stalagmite and quickly clung to it tightly as the wind immersed him. "What's up with this crazy wind." But the wind was too strong, and his grip started to loosen. "Oh crap, I don't think I can hold on for much longer." Then, one of his hands slipped off, and the boy was flailing in the air. "I'm going to fall off." Moments later, the wind suddenly simmered and turned into a cool gentle breeze. "What the... Is this wind bipolar or something? Going from calm to raging to calm." A small wind storm suddenly surrounded him out of the blue. "Aw, come on... Wait, hold on... It's still calm... And not just that…" He sighed, "It's actually quite soothing. The storm eased his pain little by little as he was immersed in it, he then continued to limp towards the light. "Finally, I think I've reached the end." But as soon as he reached the peak of the light and it glowed so bright, he was blinded. "Ahh, so bright, I can't see." His vision was cleared up soon afterward, and he was surprised to see what was before his eyes. He said, shocked, "what the… What is this?" He looked closer and closer to get a better view, that's when he realized…. "I can't believe my eyes," he said, astonished. "Are-Are those buildings?" It was a vast underwater city. He sounded surprised, "Wait, I'm under the sea! How did I get here... Hold on, I should reason for a second. I don't think someone brought me down here since there's no scuba gear or any other diving equipment. Second, there must be some hole leading out of here; otherwise, I wouldn't have woken up drenched, and there's no water in this cave. Third, I last recall I was in a hospital wrapped in bandages. If I was transported by something or someone, the applications would probably still be on me...Just where the heck am I? Then, another gust of wind, weaker than the first, emerged and slowly began to push him out of the cave. “What the...I’m being pushed again…. I haven’t completely recovered yet, but I should be able to hold my ground and stop moving, at least for a few minutes. Hopefully, the wind will have dispersed by then. Or else the water will engulf me, and I’ll drown.” Ten minutes went by and then…. “What the... I feel all serene and tranquil like before, but it feels different this time. I feel lightheaded, drowsy; I could fall asleep.” Overtaken by his drowsiness, he didn’t realize his hand was reaching towards the water. Blinded by the gentle wind, he accidentally touched the water, then he smiled cheerfully, "Hmmm." Then... The water began to slowly suck in his arm. "Oh come on," he said, all pissed. He then tried to pull back his arm. "Huh, Why can't I pull it out?" He grabbed onto his arm, and with all his might, he tried to pull his arm out, but then...

He gasped, "What's happening?" The water sucked him even faster,

then he screamed, “No!” Then the unfortunate happened, he was swallowed up and the weight of the water dragged him down. “Oh God, please no!” Desperate,he tried to cling to the water. He tried to swim back up, but the water pulled him down even more. “Oh,crap.I’ll die if I don’t get out of here…. No.” Soon afterwards, he stopped resisting. “It’s no use… maybe- maybe I should give up.” He then drifted down a roaring current. “What the... This water, it’s making all my pain go away. Wait, hold on I can breathe, how is that possible.” He looked at the city as he was being dragged towards it. “Now that I've got a better view of it, I finally see who beautiful it is.” He tried to move once more, but he couldn’t as if he were trapped. The current wrapped around him was slowly dragging him down towards the middle of the city. “I’m getting closer and closer to the town; I wonder what’s down there.” Again he felt drowsy, so he rolled his eyes over and over. “I feel so relaxed, I could fall asleep.” He softly landed flat on the seafloor. “It’s so quiet and peaceful. I’ve never been this relaxed before.I hope to stay here forever.” He then went to sleep on the seafloor. Seconds later, he was back in the hospital bedroom. “What the.... I’m back.” He looked to the side to see a man wearing white doctor's coat with a blue shirt underneath and a black Windsor knot tie on was next to him with a smile on his face.

“You’re finally awake, sir.” The boy quickly rose up, and the doctor reached out to him. “Hey, don’t get up too fast.” The boy looked at him with a dull, lifeless expression etched over his face. “You’ve been in a coma for over three weeks.”

“I’m back, but how?”

“Huh, what are you talking about?”

“I was under the sea, and there was this city.”

“It must have been a dream.”

“But it seemed so real.”

“Lay back down; you need more rest.”

Before the boy rested his head on the pillow, a woman with long black silky hair and a girl with pink curly hair came barging in. With tears running down their face, they cried out, “Tristan.” The woman hugged him tightly, soaking him with her tears.

“Ma... Alicia,” he said quietly.

“We were so worried about you,” said Alicia.

“You look so worn out.”

“They’ve been here for the past three weeks.”

“We weren’t going to leave you until you were safe and well.”

The mother looked at him with a concerned expression etched over his face. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.”

“Keep him home for the next couple of days to recover.”

“Okay, thank you, sir, for taking care of my son.”

“No problem.”

“Come on, Tristan. Let’s go.”

Tristan got off his bed and left the room along with his mom and Alicia, then he began to think to himself. “What was that place? Was it really a dream... “I hope to return there one day. Back to that underwater city.”