Ara and Sensation

Chapter 1
Part 1 - Ara

The sun glares at me, like it wants to melt me into the lake beneath my feet. I watch as the sweat drips into the water from my dangling toes.

“Guess you win,” I say, giggling, facing the sun.

I look back to my bobber, which has been still as the wind for hours. I sigh, as I’m about to stand up and reel in my line, I see the bobber dip. I freeze, my eyes sternly watching and my hands gripping my rod tightly. It dips again…

“Ara!” I yell to my mother, bursting into our home.
“Ohh! You scared me, son. What is it?” my mother yells back.
“Look what I got! It’ll be enough for us both, right?” I say excitedly, with a big smile as I walk into our small living room.

My tiny mother sits on our worn-out couch, sewing. “Hehe, wow son, well done. But how about you clean it before running around the house next time?” she protests, setting down her thread and needle.
“Hehe, yes I will, sorry Ara,” I respond, immediately turning to run out. But my mother calls and stops me in my tracks.
“Iris!”
“Yes, Ara?” I stop and turn.
“Thank you,” she says with her heartwarming smile and kind eyes.
I just smile back.

I chop off its head with my dulled knife and drop it into a bucket with the rest of the organs. My friend Siri watches me.
“Wow, is that the biggest one you’ve got so far?” she says in envy.
“Yeah, but next time, I’m gonna get an even bigger one,” I respond, nonchalantly.

I run to the small stream next to our house, throw the guts into the bushes, then wash the fish and the bucket in the water. I put the fish back in and walk up to Siri again.
“Ew, it looks gross,” Siri says with a frown.
“Don’t worry, I’ll let you do the next one,” I tease.
“Ahh! No way,” she screeches running off. She stops a bit further away.
“See you later, Iris!” she yells back waving, before running around the corner.
“See you, Siri!” I yell and wave.

“Can you help me put out the cutlery, dear?” my mother asks while frying the fish on the stove.
“Yes, Ara!” I respond and hurry to the small cabinet in the living room, where we keep most of our kitchen supplies.

Our house is small: I sleep in the living room, and my mother has another little room. The kitchen is just a stove and a small fridge, so we usually eat in the living room.

I set the plates, forks, and knives as fast as I can, then run back to watch my mother cook. I stand beside her, staring at the fish in the pan.
“Is it done yet?” I ask.
“Soon, son,” she says with a smile.

“Wow, doesn’t it look so good, Ara?” I say, watching her place the pan on our small sofa table. I want to see her reaction.
“It does, son. Eat as much as you can,” she replies with a smile.

We both sit down. I start reaching for the fish while holding my plate, then hesitate—I want to serve my mother first. I put down my plate and stretch my hand toward her. She looks at me and says:
“No, Iris, you take first, dear.”
“I want you to taste it first,” I argue.
“Fine, but I’ll still wait for you to serve yourself,” she complies, looking proud and happy.

When we both have fish on our plates, we look at each other and say together, “Thank you for the food.”

I watch my mother without touching my own fork. She picks up a piece of white meat and raises it to her mouth.
Just as she’s about to eat, a siren goes off…

My eyes open slowly, my vision is blurry. I can’t see what’s in front of me. My body is pinned under something. I try to move my left arm when a sharp pain tears through my back. I scream, the pain snapping me further awake. My vision clears, and my senses rush in. Fire surrounds me, sweat pours down my forehead. The air stinks of dust and sulfur. It’s unbearably hot.

I cough and spit out blood. Panic grips me when I see the blood staining the ground.
“AR…” I start to call out, but my voice breaks when I see her.

My mother. She’s under a pile of planks and stones. All I can see is her arm.
“Ara? ARA!?” I scream.

I try again to move, dragging myself forward with my right arm. The pain grows worse with each pull. My hand stretches toward my mother’s—but I’m still too far. The last thing I see is her hand twitch, reaching back for mine.

Part 2 - Sensation

I hold a woman with white hair and beautiful green eyes in my arms. Her small body feels fragile against mine, blood dripping from her forehead as she coughs. She reaches out with a trembling hand and touches my cheek.
“My Ziak,” she whispers and smiles.

Wind gushes past me, pulling at my limbs and yanking my hair backward. As I open my eyes, it feels like a stone drops into my stomach. I realize—I’m falling… falling toward the earth. I scream, cry, twist in panic, clawing at the air as if I can hold onto it. The ground rushes closer, faster, unstoppable. Just before I hit, I gasp and tense.

I burst out of water, coughing, dragging myself onto the bank of a pond. I collapse onto my back, staring up at the canopy of towering jungle-like trees and vines. Everything is sharp, impossibly vivid—the colors alive even in the darkness. Birds cry out, strange creatures echo through the air. Their voices aren’t just around me—they’re inside me.

The earth beneath me caresses my skin. I feel every grain of dirt, every hair of the vegetation. Phantom pulses beat against me from every direction, as if the world itself is pressing into me. I’ve never felt anything like it.

Suddenly, a croak screech in my ear. I jolt up, instantly, as if I’m weightless, my heart pounding. Immediately, I know where it came from. My eyes lock onto a green blob of a creature, all the way across the pond. Its is skin rough and ugly, big eyes with diagonal pupils. I utter my first words:
“What?”

We glare at each other. My senses drown me in endless streams of detail, overwhelming my mind. Its skin is so detailed, as if it’s inches from my face. It’s strange, it’s alien.
It’s beautiful.

Nothing makes sense. I look down on my body and my build is different. My arms and legs are slender but sturdy, my skin a slightly darker color. On my whole body there are tattoo-like markings, stretching from neck to toes, arms, legs—everywhere.
“Who am I?” I ask into nothingness, in this boyish, unfamiliar voice.

The realization snaps me out of it. I crawl to the shimmering blue pond and look down into the water. Thick but slender eyebrows, sharp nose. Slim face, and the eyes… Big but narrowed, with purple that could pierce the soul. And… tattoos… even on the face…
“Sorry Ara,” I sigh.

Where I am or who I am is a complete mystery. As I start to get used to my senses, my head finally has space to think. Panic becomes confusion and anxiety. Still dizzy and overwhelmed, I feel sick and throw up. I’m scared. The last thing I remember is eating dinner with my Ara… but I can’t remember who that is.

The woman I held in my arms wasn’t her. I know that for sure. Still, I feel anger and sadness over her, just like I do for my Ara.

I stand up and try to move my arms and legs. As weird and different as it feels, I also feel fluent and in control, like I’ve been in this body for hundreds of years. I jump—and go way higher than I expect.
“Waaahh!” I let out while coming back down.

Sitting on the ground after landing on my butt, I’m dumbfounded. The only thing I can say is:
“Woah.”

The light starts to come through the thick forest, shining through the leaves onto the pond. The creatures begin to calm down. Honestly, it still feels like every living creature is inside my eardrums, but somehow it doesn't bother me as much. I gather the courage to finally move on. I know I have to find people.

Before that, food, I think as my stomach growls.
Looking back to the other side of the pond, where my ugly green friend was, I see that it’s no longer there.
“Good move, my friend,” I say to myself.