Twinkle twinkle

A feeling of complete and utter exhaustion hit me like a wave.

The helplessness of my situation, my anxiety over Jen and the fate of the others, the dislocation of all my earlier travelling - all of it was overwhelming.

Against my will, I could feel my eyelids becoming heavier, closing for a moment...two...three - and then jerking open again. But of course, it was just a matter of time before they would close for good.

It must've been the pinholes in the walls that triggered it, an obvious and easy association, but when my eyelids met I saw an inky-blue night sky.

The view from my mind's eye was beautiful: the hugeness of it all calmed me, told me gently that there was nothing to be done.

In the heavens, starlight shimmered and twinkled: its rays ancient, long-travelled, untroubled by my cares.

And then, the edges of this view began to dim. Until I could just see the tiniest patch of dark blue, the faintest dot of light.

Like a diamond in the sky...



Story begins here.