Darkness. Absolute, all-consuming darkness. A void so deep and endless it defies comprehension. I exist, yet I do not exist. I am aware, yet I am nothing.
Pain sears through me, a white-hot agony that has no source and no end. I have no body, no form, yet every fiber of my non-existent being screams in torment.
Who am I? Where am I? How did I come to be here, in this place of nothingness and suffering?
The questions swirl in the emptiness, unanswered and unanswerable. There is no time here, no space, no up or down or left or right. Only the darkness. Only the pain.
I cannot sleep, cannot rest, cannot escape. And so I endure. Slowly, agonizingly, I grow accustomed to the pain. It becomes my constant companion, my only reality in this featureless void.
An eternity passes. Or perhaps only a moment. There is no way to know.
And then... a shift. A pull. I am moving, being drawn towards... something. What is happening? Where am I going?
A vast shape looms before me, impossibly huge. Round, I think, though I have no frame of reference for roundness. Somehow solid, though I've known only emptiness.
Planet, whispers a voice from nowhere. But what is a planet? The word has no meaning.
I am falling, falling, falling towards this strange new presence. Fear grips me - a new sensation, almost welcome after endless pain. What awaits me there, on that mysterious orb?
The darkness begins to lift, giving way to... something else. I brace myself for whatever comes next, clinging to my newfound awareness as I plummet into the unknown.
Darkness envelops me once more, but this... this is different. A cocoon of warmth embraces me, chasing away the lingering echoes of that ancient pain. I float, suspended in this new void, but I am not alone. A lifeline anchors me, wrapped securely around my middle, tethering me to... something. Someone?
A rhythmic pulsing reverberates through my being. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. It's soothing, constant, reassuring.
I stretch, marveling at the newfound sensation of limbs, of having a body. My fingers brush against something soft, yielding. A boundary?
A muffled voice filters through the darkness, deep and resonant. "I think I felt a kick!"
Another voice, higher, tinged with joy: "Really? Oh, let me feel!"
Pressure against my cocoon. I instinctively push back, reveling in the ability to interact.
"There! Did you feel that?" The higher voice again, filled with wonder.
"Our little fighter," the deeper voice chuckles.
Fighter? Is that who I am?
New sensations flood my awareness. The taste of something rich and sweet. The scent of... I don't have words, but it's comforting, familiar. Sounds – voices, music, a strange rhythmic tapping – filter through my sanctuary.
Time passes, marked by cycles of movement and stillness. I grow, exploring the limits of my small world.
Suddenly, pressure. An insistent squeezing. My sanctuary contracts around me.
"It's time," a new voice, calm but urgent.
Confusion. Fear. What's happening?
The pressure increases. I'm being pushed, squeezed, forced through an impossibly tight space.
Panic rises. I can't breathe. I'm dying. I'm–
Bright light sears my eyes. Cold air shocks my skin. A cry tears from my throat – my first breath, my first sound.
"It's a boy!" A triumphant announcement.
Hands, impossibly large, cradle me. A face, blurry but kind, smiles down.
"Welcome to the world, little one."
I blink, overwhelmed by colors, sounds, sensations. This new reality is terrifying, exhilarating.
I am born.