Prelude (i)

I laid in bed, my eyes fixed on the ceiling as I tried to will myself to sleep. It was a routine I had followed for as long as I could remember – climb into bed, close my eyes, and wait for the darkness to take over. But tonight was different. Tonight, I couldn't seem to shake off the directionless thoughts that raced through my mind.

For the first time in my life, I felt restless at night. It was strange, unsettling even. I couldn't explain why my mind refused to shut off, why my body refused to relax. I tried to rationalize it, blaming it on the stress of the day, the incoming sports festival where THAT man was coming, the conversations I had had with people. But none of it made any actual coherent sense. I had always been able to compartmentalize my thoughts, put them away for the day and let my mind rest.

But not tonight.

After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, I finally gave up. I pushed the covers away and sat up, my feet touching the cool wooden floor. I looked around my room, taking in the familiar surroundings – the school posters on the wall, the pile of books arranged neatly on the desk, the scattered uniform on the chair. Everything looked the same, but nothing felt the same.

I got up and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains aside. The moon was full tonight, casting a silver glow over everything it touched. I stared at it for a moment, my mind calm yet chaotic. But as I continued to look, I noticed something happening. The longer I stared at the moon, the more I felt the uncanny thoughts---the feeling of someone interfering in my brain quieting down. It was as if the moon was speaking to me, telling me to let go of my worries and just be.

It wasn't logical but that was how it felt.

I sat down in the chair next to the window, my eyes still fixed on the moon. It was a strange feeling, being so drawn to something that I had never really paid attention to before. I didn't feel any particular emotion, but I did feel a sense of peace wash over me. It was as if the moon was a silent friend, sitting with me in the darkness and sharing in my thoughts. Like the metaphorical 'shoulder to lean on.'

As I sat there, I let my mind wander. I thought about my life, my dreams, my fears. I thought about the people I had met and my relationships with them and the experiences I had had. I let my mind go where it wanted to go, not trying to control or rationalize it. It was a freeing feeling, one that I had never experienced before.

It wasn't until the first light of dawn began to peek through the window that I realized how long I had been sitting there. The moon was still high in the sky, but its glow had dimmed. I got up, feeling strangely energized, and climbed back into bed. As I pulled the covers over me, I realized that I had found something new, something unexpected. And it was all because of the moon.

Over the next few nights, I continued to sit by the window and watch the moon. I didn't have any particular reason for doing it – it was just something that had started to feel natural. And every time I did, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. It was as if the moon was a silent therapist, helping me sort through my thoughts and emotions without judgment or expectation. However, the minute whispering in my ear, the sound of someone telling me that something was about to happen---an evil premonition never left my side. Despite being much toned down than before, it lingered there, like a phantasm.

Days went by and I continued my routine of sitting by the window every night and getting some sleep after staring at the moon for a while.

The air was heavy with an intangible weight, a sense of foreboding that seemed to cling to every surface in the room. As I closed the door behind me, I could feel it enveloping me, seeping into my pores like a thick, oily mist. It was as if the very atmosphere itself had taken on a life of its own, wrapping me in its embrace and dragging me down into a pit of unknown danger. I could feel it reeling on my skin.

The rising goosebumps.

I looked around but my eyes met with... nothing or no-one. The room was empty, devoid of any sign of life. The furniture was arranged in its usual orderly fashion, but everything seemed somehow off-kilter, as if the room had been subtly rearranged while I was away. The silence was oppressive, like a physical force pressing down on me from all sides. It was as if the room itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. The oppressive silence hung in the air like a thick, suffocating fog, pressing down on me from all sides.

I stumbled forward, my legs suddenly feeling like they were made of lead. The energy was draining from my body, as if some unseen force was sucking the life out of me. My fingers fumbled for my phone, but it slipped from my grasp and clattered to the ground, the screen shattering on impact, sending jagged lines of fractured glass spidering across the surface.

Once again, I was struck by an intangible blow to my consciousness, causing my vision to double and sending me tumbling to the ground in a heap.

There it was again...

The same irritating sensation.

It was a feeling that had become all too familiar to me, a persistent and unrelenting sensation that had robbed me of sleep for several nights in a row. The sensation was like someone muttering incessantly in my ear, their voice an irritating and incomprehensible stream of gibberish that refused to be silenced. As the darkness began to seep into my vision like ink spreading across a white canvas, I gazed longingly at the window that had become my only source of comfort in recent nights. It was a small comfort, to be sure, but it was one that I clung to desperately, like a lifeline in a sea of uncertainty. The moon, which had been a constant presence in the sky for as long as I could remember, was absent tonight, hidden behind a veil of clouds. It was a natural cycle, of course, but it felt somehow wrong, as if the world was conspiring against me.

Even as my life force slowly ebbed away, I found myself yearning for the sky once more, to gaze up at the glittering stars that were like jewels embedded in the pitch-black fabric of the vast sky. But now it only felt like a harbinger of darkness and uncertainty.

Those were my last thoughts as I drifted away into the granite hard cold embrace of darkness.

(A/n) A bit "not kiyo" typa monologue, I agree, yeah, but it will get better. So, stay tuned.