I Wasn't The First

I woke up in a cave hundreds of miles below the planet's surface. My body was crumpled as it sat shoved in between a couple of boulders. It was a nightmare that a claustrophobic would dream about. If a normal human were in my situation, they would've died; their bones and organs crushed (they would've died even before that).

Yet I lived. I torqued my arm until I had stretched it a couple of inches upward and grabbed onto one of the boulders. Slowly I felt myself being pulled up. It was rough at first, but my blood soon made me slip out like oil.

I don't know if I screamed or not, but I do remember the pain. It was raw, like someone pouring alcohol on an open wound.

The cave was dark, and not even the hole I fell in (more like was shot down) was open.

"They must've closed it back like a sick grave," I thought.

I stepped forward, and each step felt like needles shooting up my legs. I didn't understand how I was alive and when you survive a death-like experience, you tend not to ask.

I traveled a long distance in that cave, hearing only the sound of my footsteps, water dripping from stone teeth, and the grunting I managed to squeeze out of my body.

Would I find an exit? Would I be able to see my family again?

Family, a bitter word that has now stung me twice. Once in my world, when I told my first mother that I wasn't going to pay for her addiction any longer. We argued, and evil words were said, and I never saw her again.

And now, in this world, my sisters took my truths and twisted them into lies. They never wanted me to catch up but to stay home in the village with our sickly mother and drunken father. While they left for greater heights. They didn't want me to succeed. They wanted me to grovel and depend on them. I thought there was a bond between siblings, one that is deeper than blood. Had I known how fragile it was, I would've broken earlier when it was just budding.

I remember Fiona as crystal clear as breathing. It was anger, not because I pleaded with her but because she thought I had possessed her dear brother's body. My body, the body I was given to be reborn in. I didn't steal anything. My DNA down to the smallest part was her little bother through and through. My soul was only living twice in a new world. Oh, the irony when she learns what she's done. The irony, the irony that when they attacked me, I had medicine to cure our mother. The irony.

I don't know when I arrived at the open illuminated room, but it was beautiful. Luminescent crystals protruded from the walls, a mix from orange to blue: water and earth crystals.

A stone bed and a table with a couple chairs laid in one corner—a large pool of water in the other. An open door or tunnel was on the other side of the room. It looked like it went down forever, never-ending; it looked handmade.

I headed over to the water and kneeled in front of it. I was thirsty. The floor was smooth only with a layer of orange powder. Whoever had lived here had used the floor frequently. It would have only become this smooth from walking, stomping over it for many years.

I peered down in the water and to my surprise, what I saw was not my face. It was the blackened skin of a thin, starving man. My skin was black as space. I noticed that not even the light from crystals reflected off of me. My hair was gone, and my eyes were empty. How could I see without my eyes? My nose was gone as well, along with my ears. At this point, could I still be known as human? Maybe my sister was right.

I reached into the water a cupped it between both of my boney hands. I brought it to my lips and drank. It was delicious, fresh spring water.

"Had I known I was getting a guest, I would've made another bed," said a voice from behind. It was deep but not because of the size but because of the power behind it.

I turned around to see a large woman—her body thick with muscle and her hair a dark long, and loose brown.

"I'm sorry," I said by habit, not because I was sorry for drinking her water. I was thirsty, and I needed it.

She bent down and touched my head.

"This is your second life, no?"