Happy New Year: 10 ABY!

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“Happy new year!” Everyone cries. “Be happy and prosperous!”

“Happy new year!” Another Everyone cries. “A happy 2702!”

“Happy new year!” Everyone elsewhere cries. “Goodness to all- wait, is that a jellyfish?”

You grimace at the blackness that surrounds you. The voices in this confusing abyss will not relent. But at least they’re only happy new year wishes. You shudder as you remember the other kinds of things you’ve heard. You wish you hadn’t understood them.

Nevertheless, the invisible well wishes are becoming annoying.

“Happy new year! By Ebott, it’s 201X already!”

“It’s 2021 guys! It’s finally over!”

“Bless Brine the Hero for giving us a long-awaited end to the 1500s!”

“Happy new year, Hester. I wish you weren’t so far away. I want you to be here, in the living world, with me.”

There are too many voices to remember, or even acknowledge.

Where am I? you think in agitation. How did I get here, all lost in this ocean? You trace back your steps. Floating through abyss, floating through abyss, floating through abyss, then…

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Your muscles go rigid. What is my name? Nothing. Where did I come from? Nothing. How did I get here? Nothing. Why can’t I remember anything? Nothing.

Your head throbs as you try to recall. In the deep recesses of your mind you feel something give way - but then your heart hammers all the harder and you lose control.

Forget that, forget that… a breathy voice in your head whispers before ebbing, ebbing, ebbing away.

What is this place? Nothing. How did I get here? Nothing. How long have I been here? Nothing. Why am I here? Nothing. Who put me here? Nothing. Who am I? Nothing. Who am I? Nothing. Who am I? Nothing.

Your throat closes and your joints freeze up…

“…3, 2, 1! Happy new year!!” the voices scream all around you. They whoop and they laugh. They begin to sing.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?

“Happy new year, Lieutenant Dan!” someone shouts among the cheer.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of Auld Lang Syne?

Your heart lets go of your muscles and they slacken. Your throat releases you. Your body drifts unperturbed once more into the darkness.

The sounds of the party slip away from earshot, and with their passing you feel… Lonely. You’ve been stuck here for what feels like hours, but you don’t know that. It could have been half an hour, or half a day, or… Longer. You’re stuck here in solitude, deprived of all senses but for sound. You can hear the merriment and joy of others, but you can never see them. And neither can they see you. Are they even real?

Are you even real?

“No,” you whisper for the first time, and it comes out hoarse and strained. “I am real. I am alive.”

You hear your voice echo into the Void.

“I am alive,” you cough, chest heaving all of a sudden. “I AM ALIVE!”

You don’t want to keep it all in - no one can hear you scream.

“I AM ALIVE! I AM ALIVE!”

You are a squirming amoeba in the vastness of nether space.

“I am alive,” you say one final time, calmed again. “And I will get myself out of here. No matter how many voices fill my head, no matter how long I stay trapped here, I will get out of here.”

As you drift on into the endless black, you whisper, “Happy new year.” You curl up into a ball and close your eyes.

“It’s gonna be a long night.”

Musical inspiration (kind of): :Auld Lang Syne
This was originally written on 5 Feb 2021.