The light gives way to darkness, and then the warm glow of lamplight comes back in slow.

A great deal of time seems to have passed.. Laying on the couch, you wake up feeling a little… groggy. Soporific is maybe a nicer word. Goopy morning breakfast, oatmeal, cream of wheat, sunlight thru the windows. Your legs feel tired, like you’ve been running in your dreams. This isn’t exactly what you were expecting, but when you think about it, it seems about right. You turn over to the old crt screen on the sidetable. You pull up a chair next to your friend, who is still just barely waking up. She’s even groggier than you. You turn up some music, loud enough to pull yourself into consciousness.

The screen flips to cartoons. God, you need some coffee, iced tea, something. You can feel yourself pulled from somewhere like your soul in toward the scuzz on screen. Like little pulls from inside your skin outward. Like needles. But it doesn’t feel like pain exactly. It feels simple. An easy choice really. Your A.T. field feels a little fuzzy, like you can feel other conscious beings inhabiting your form...

Woah!!!! Hey now that’s uhhhh, kinda …. funky…. Yeah turn that up haha. You feel the urge to dance, so you do. Your foot is tapping compulsively, your neck wiggles, your hips sway, you whisper little things to yourself and tug on your hair, spinning around in your socks.

She’s got the guitar out now, you’re at the drums, and woah, there you are at the mic too! The audience is all 2d, but they gushing love. They are simple shapes and so are you. The swirl of creatures is moving toward a way of being, an embodiment. You can feel your shape changing. The words tumble out of your mouth and you smile nervously, looking down. You blush. You strum. You hit the snare in perfect time. The more you go the more relaxed you feel. No problems. No one minds, go ahead, say it. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think. Really, when I say relax, I mean it honestly. You feel soft. Little video game certainty. Like a gameboy advance clutched in your “human hands”.

Its, going good. I swear. Looking around the room, the walls seem to be.. coming apart? You sit on your feet in the middle of the rug folding laundry, Alone. It’s ok. You’re doing good. Those are great folds. Keep it up.

The walls fall away into the yawning, gaping, fiery chasm below. You’re in hell. Not so bad though. You have a sick outfit on all of a sudden. Big strong boots, sharp, agile. You just ate a sick snack. You walk off the rug and a fire spits up through your body and out your hand. You feel it in your eyes. It burns in your leg. You can’t stop yourself from laughing, giggling, happy with yourself. You feel messy, slimy, fucked up. Sick. A horizon opens up ahead of you, great red mountains, awash in smog. The snare hits.

You turn the key. You rev the engine. You flip all the big sexy switches on the dash to the on position. You press a few clicky, chunky, analog buttons on the console. The top comes down. It’s like the earth turns below you. Your friends are with you, and the stereo is blasting. You can feel the purr of the engine up through your seat. The landscape feels open and accessible. The sun bakes down on you. Brick. Brick. Sunshine. The muscles in your arms flex to turn the wheel, pressing against the arms of another. The sweat sticks a bit, writhing little things at contact. A drip of blood on the windshield. A burst, subterranean, imprinted. You are not with it. It’s a confusing feeling. But it’s you. It’s you. The hot air tosses your hair, acrid smell in your nose. You know what to do. Just follow the road, you’ll get there, even if you’re tired right now. Just get through it, it’s worth it on the other end. I know that’s it’s hard, but just keep going. The synth lead tumbles out the passenger door and falls apart.

Did you bring everything you need? Stomping around the city, phone in your pocket, connected. You’ve got your shit, don’t worry about it. The both of you go to the park. To the store. You throw up outside. You piss behind a building. The sun is setting. Or… rising? Were those people looking at you weird? Under the ocean, a beat pumps. I can feel it below the concrete. You feel it in your bones. The bloodstone in your pocket thrums. Your leg still hurts. You cough and blow your nose. You trip going up the gorgeous marble stairs. The water rushes in and you have to hold your breath for a second. She stops, and you catch it again. Did you bring everything you need? Oops… uh,,, hmm. Yeah I didn’t think so. Blushing. I love your dance moves, I wish I could watch for longer. You’re scared on the couch, dancing along. There are eyes behind the walls, inside the TV. Thrumming thumming thrumming, pulsing like pressure against your arms. Just get out the door already!!

The sun is up already. Tamagotchi. Little fuzzy guys, worn out from use. Shake em around. What can they do? You’re so small, but in bed you feel so big. Don’t worry about it. I’m comfortable. I’m happy. Content. God, it’s been a while hasn’t it? You flex every muscle in your body at once. You let out a tiny scream. You crawl around on the floor, singing melodies. Aren’t they pretty? You feel images glowing under your fur. Inside this room your body feels more itself. The bass sounds a little unhappy and the synth is still, uh, figuring itself. But the drums are surprisingly reliable, and the synth does get there in the end.

The lights went out ages ago. The candles are lit. Your eyes feel heavy, like you’ve been up for days. But you can’t look away. You are bound here, as it stands. The dark is so inky. The embers are hot in your lungs. Your breath is shallow. It’s like leather tight on your skin. Your horns tingle, still freshly burst from your skull. She’s so big. She takes the reigns, and you give yourself over to the pain. You haven’t got any choice. It all flows out into the ink. It’s like nothing at all. Your body twitches and writhes, perfectly in time with her movements. She knows what she’s doing, you can relax.

Under ground thrumming. You feel it inside you, like it’s coming from your gut. A sparkle comes down across your eyes and into your stomach, around your chest, fills you up. You gallop through the grasses and out across the ocean. The wind feels so good in your mane. You descend down a deep elevator into the sea. It passes through the crust. Through another crust. Past whole civilizations, down down down. Dark for a moment, then the lights come up, prettier than before. You step out and feel a part of the world again, like you’ve come home, like you’ve found your people again, your family, after years and years and years apart. You can’t stop yourself from sobbing as you fall into their arms. It’s quiet for a long time, then she puts her hand on your back and you look up. The sky is so pretty. The moon is out. You are full, bursting. Tears keep sparkling down your cheeks. They take you home.

Linger in this feeling as long as you like.
Once you feel satiated, satisfied, there is another flash of light.