After a few moments of silence, I took a deep breath and spoke out loud to myself. “Alright, first things first. We need to establish a base. Enough food, water, and a place for shelter.” I glanced at the waterfall, nodding to myself. “Water’s already taken care of, and I can gather mushrooms nearby. This seems like the perfect place to camp.”
I paused, thinking. “The only thing left is shelter. If there are any vines nearby or something sharp, I could use as a tool, that would be really helpful… but I don’t have either. Not to mention, I have no idea where I am. It might be better to explore the surrounding area, try to map things out.”
I started exploring the cave with George and a couple of mushrooms in hand. He was sliding back and forth right beside me, occasionally jumping or making his usual “peoor, peoor” sounds. I couldn’t help but smile at his little noises, even though I was still completely uncertain about everything around me.
As I moved further into the cave, I began collecting stones, placing them carefully on the ground in the middle of the path. So, I could always find my way back even if something were to go wrong.
I searched the cave for any sign of something useful or familiar, finding more mushrooms along the way. I came across a patch of orange mushrooms and George, who was right by my side, jumped excitedly. “Peoooooor!” he exclaimed, his tiny body bouncing in the air. Though he barely reached my waist when he jumped, it was clear he was excited. Whenever we came across those orange mushrooms, he’d immediately devour them. I guessed they must taste really good to him.
There was no sunlight in the cave, which made it impossible to tell how much time had passed, or if it was even night or morning. But the mushrooms were everywhere. It was hard to believe I hadn’t come across any insects. Usually, you’d see at least a few ants or something crawling around by now, but there was nothing. It felt wrong—unnaturally quiet, almost as if the cave itself was hiding something.
George continued eating the orange mushrooms, happily consuming them one by one, when suddenly, i heard him shout “peeeeooooooor!” I panicked, my heart racing. “What is it? Is it an animal? Did something hurt George?”
I looked over at him, and my stomach dropped. His light was fading, and his body was expanding, becoming more and more slippery, almost like water. “No, no, no, what’s wrong with you?” I muttered, desperate as I tried to hold him in my hands. His slimy texture made him even harder to grasp.
“Don’t worry, George,” I whispered, holding him tighter. “I told you we would do this together.”
George let out a weak “peor,” barely audible. My heart broke.
I tried to retrace my steps, but it was harder now. The dimming light from George’s body made it difficult to see where I’d been, and I stumbled over the rocks. His weak “peors” were the only thing giving me hope as I carefully moved forward, trying not to lose my way.
The cave that had once felt like an interesting place to explore, where I had been giggling at the silly habits of the slime and marking my path with stones, had turned into a terrifying maze. Every turn now felt like a trap, every echo a whisper in the dark, reminding me how alone I really was. I couldn’t shake the sense of dread creeping over me.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I reached my base. I hugged George tightly, making sure to give him the warmth he had always given me. Tears filled my eyes as I whispered, “I’m not letting you go. I won’t lose you, George. You’re my only friend.”
I cried until my mind began to fade, my heart clinging to the hope that when I woke up, George would be alright.
I didn’t understand what loneliness felt like until I had nothing but myself to rely on. I was always alone. My parents worked long hours, and when they were home, they were too tired to notice me. The teenager who babysat me wasn’t interested in my existence. She was always on the phone, more interested with giggling and texting her boyfriend than to pay attention to me. I’d try to catch her attention, but it was like I didn’t exist outside of her phone screen.
The swing in the backyard was my world—my only escape. I’d push myself high, higher, but i could never go as high as the other kids with their parents pushing their backs. But I was just… alone. I’d fly through the air with only the wind to greet me, and even that felt empty. No one ever played with me. No one ever asked me how I felt. It wasn’t even a matter of wanting them to, but more that I just felt… unseen.
Then, on my 10th birthday, my aunt came over. She’d been living in another country, and I didn’t expect much from the day. Birthdays never felt like anything special. The usual routine—wake up, eat, be ignored, go to bed. But when she arrived, I noticed something. It was the smallest change, but it was like the whole atmosphere shifted. She smiled at me and handed me something small, warm, and alive—a tiny orange kitten.
It was like a spark. I didn’t know what to do with it at first, but then I held it in my hands, and everything around me seemed to brighten. For a moment, I wasn’t invisible. She asked me what to name it, and I didn’t even have to think. “George,” I said, naming it after the monkey from my favorite show. For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t alone. I had something. Someone. The kitten looked up at me, trusting me in a way no one else did. And for a few precious hours, I could pretend that the world was different—that I was something more than just the lonely boy on the swing.
I used to be like everyone else—transparent, almost invisible, just another shape in a world of sameness. The slime reminisced. But I knew there was more. The elders always warned us about the forbidden lands, the places outside the “safelands” where dangers waited. The elders of the tribe were a striking contrast to the younger slimes. Their bodies were rough and textured, with an earthy, muddy exterior that seemed to blend seamlessly with the surroundings. Their gelatinous forms had taken on the appearance of weathered stone—dark, hardened surfaces filled with patches of deep brown and dark green, resembling the soil after a rainstorm. The surface was uneven, with cracks and crevices that added to their ancient and wise appearance, as though they had been sculpted by time itself. Their hardened skin had a subtle, almost tangible weight to it, and the faint smell of earth and moss seemed to follow them wherever they went, as if they were a part of the very land they had called home for millennia. These were beings who had lived through many seasons, shaped by the very land they inhabited, and their presence oozed both authority and the silent, unyielding strength of the earth beneath them. They told us to stay hidden, to stay safe. But I didn’t want to be safe. I wanted to be more. I wanted to be noticed.
So, when the others dared me to go, I couldn’t resist. I wanted to prove myself. I wanted them to see me. The world around me was silent as I crept deeper into the cave, feeling both terrified and exhilarated. I could feel my core shaking, but I couldn’t stop. I had to go further.
That’s when I saw it—a glowing light, blinding and strange. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt its power. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. At first, I thought it was some kind of creature, a giant, dangerous thing. The brightness burned my eyes, making everything feel wrong. I could feel the heat, the fear crawling up my back, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
I ran, rolling across the floor as I tried to escape. But when I returned, it wasn’t any better. They were all looking at me with fear in their eyes. I wasn’t the same anymore. The way they recoiled—it was like they saw something that wasn’t me.
My heart raced as I watched my brother disappear into the darkness of the cave. We shouldn’t have dared him to go. We shouldn’t have encouraged him. But now, all I could do was wait, and hope he would return.
“Should we tell Mom and Dad?” I asked, looking around at the other children who had been part of the dare.
“No,” my brother said, his voice tight. “Let’s just wait. He’ll be back soon. He has to be.” But I could see the worry in his eyes, the way his hands trembled as he spoke. He wasn’t as confident as he made himself seem.
Just then, the ground shook, and we heard something coming toward us. It was… an orange blob? But it was moving too fast, too erratically.
“Run!” someone screamed. We all scattered, terrified, unsure of what we were seeing. The orange blob was racing toward us, we all ran towards the elders.
The siblings slid quickly across the soft ground, their gelatinous bodies moving with a sense of urgency and fear. Their voices wavered as they tried to explain what they’d seen. “There’s an orange blob! It came from the forbidden lands!” one of them squeaked, her voice shaking with terror. The elders exchanged wary glances, doubt clouding their faces. One of them muttered, “A prank? This must be some foolish game…” But the children’s panic was palpable, and reluctantly, the elders decided to investigate. They rolled toward the edge of their territory, the unknown path growing ever more unfamiliar. As they neared the cave entrance, an unsettling feeling lingered. There, glowing faintly in the dark, was George, the slime, radiating a strange, blinding light. The elders froze, their once-stern faces now overtaken by unease. A voice broke the silence, trembling in its disbelief. “What are you?” The orange blob responded, its tone oddly calm yet filled with uncertainty. “It’s me… %!&%*!.”
“You’re not my son, you look nothing like him!” my father’s voice rang out, harsh and filled with panic. He didn’t see me as his son anymore. It felt like my very existence had been erased. I was no longer a part of them.
My core shaking once again as I faced the crowd, the elders, the ones who had raised me. And then my father, the leader of our tribe, conjured a rock from the very air. It was like a force of nature—sudden, sharp, and angry. He shot it in my direction, and it shattered when it hit the ground, sending splinters flying. I flinched, feeling the pieces cut through the air, but it didn’t touch me. It was the sound of my exile.
“Be gone and never come back!” he shouted, his voice thick with hatred and fear.
I ran, not knowing where I was going. I didn’t belong anymore. Not with them. Not anywhere.
Many years had passed since I was cast out. I wandered, searching for food, searching for a place that would accept me, but everywhere I went, I was met with rejection. No tribe, no home. I returned to the cave where I had seen the light, hoping to find something, anything, that would make sense of it all.
This time, the cave was different. There was no bright light. Just darkness. But deep inside, I found something else. A giant creature—just like the ones my mother had told me stories about. The legends. But this one was real.
At first, I didn’t know what to do. It was huge, massive compared to me. Its size intimidated me, but there was something about it that felt warm. And when I touched it, it didn’t feel like a monster. It felt… like me.
The giant at first threw rocks at me at first, as if to scare me away. But they didn’t hurt. Instead, it rebounded, going back the way it came from. The giant screaming as the stone flew past him, wounding him in the process, as the giant faints to the ground.
I reached out, my instincts taking over. I touched its wound, just like my mother had done for me when I was hurt. And to my surprise, the wound stopped bleeding.
Ever since then the giant took care of me it fed me my favorite mushrooms, it sheltered me, it made me feel like I was back at my home. It was like I had found someone who understood. Someone who saw me, not as a monster, but as something to care for. The giant took me in. I finally felt like I belonged. A place I could call home.
The flames inside me grow fiercer, hotter, as the grey lines rush to my core. I feel their pull—intense, unavoidable—like a tide dragging me deeper into an unknown ocean. The lines—they are not just lines—they are alive, pulsating, tugging at the very essence of me. The heat surges from within, spiraling up, and for a moment, I forget everything but the fire.
The burning doesn’t hurt—it is strange, more powerful than pain, more like a force consuming me from the inside out. I can feel the fire spreading through my being, transforming me, making me something else. The heat doesn’t stop—it grows brighter, blinding, a radiant, molten glow consuming my form. It feels as though every part of me is being reshaped, twisted into something new, something alien. The grey lines pull me further, faster, until I am nothing but light and heat, a creature of fire.
The world around me is consumed in flames, the cave now a darkened silhouette against my blaze. I can feel the walls—cold, hard stone—now heating, responding to the intensity of my fire. I am no longer just George the slime; I am the fire itself, the lines, the burning force that seems to have no end.
But within the chaos, within the fire, there is something else—something more profound. It’s not just the heat that consumes me—it is the unknown. I feel as though I am being pushed forward, as if this transformation is my purpose. This burning—it is not random. It is a calling, a beckoning to something greater than I can understand.
The deeper I go into this blaze, the more I sense it: the force is not of this world. It is something ancient, something that has always been, now awakening inside me. My very core—my being—is unraveling, reshaping, and the fire is not just physical—it is something beyond, something spiritual. I am being remade in ways I cannot control, and the only certainty is the heat, the overwhelming heat that consumes all.
But still, I cannot stop it. I am powerless to resist. And for some reason, I don’t want to. I am drawn to it, the pull of the fire, of the grey lines, as if they are leading me somewhere. I don’t know what awaits me, but I know that this—this transformation—is inevitable. I am becoming something new, and I can’t help but embrace it.
The boy beside me, still asleep—he is unaware of this. He does not feel the heat, the change, the growing fire. But I feel it. And it is everything.
