In the middle of a vast field sat a boy who seemed to be the loneliest in the world. Gazing up at the stars, his golden eyes were red and puffy as if he had just cried. He looked about sixteen years old, but his handsome and sweet face expressed an endless sadness that wasn't typical of his years. No matter how much time passed, he did not blink, as if he had forgotten that it was necessary. The world stood still, and so did the boy. The wind didn't blow. Any source of sound was absent. The boy, who seemed like a statue, seemed oblivious to the existence of the world around him, immersed in himself.

"It seems I got lost."

Blinking, he lowered his gaze to the green grass at his feet.

"It's so weird. I seem to have lost all memory of myself, but somehow I think this isn't the first time this has happened to me."

He lay down on the grass. Touching the grass with his hands, he tried to ensure he wasn't in a dream.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I doubt I can find my way home. I don't even know if I have a home... "

Closing his eyes and escaping reality, he began exploring his inner world. Only after a short time he opened them. His face was adorned with a gentle but uncertain smile. The boy had already lost the cold expression he had.

"Indeed... It's like I'm in paradise right now. I didn't think an ordinary field could bring such a sense of comfort. A moment ago, I even doubted that I existed. Being made of emptiness, feeling nothing, I didn't know it could be otherwise. Or had I simply forgotten?"

The boy was already completely smiling, but in a moment, he noticed a thought in his mind that he tried to hide from himself.

"Something is definitely wrong here... Feeling incredibly happy and so beloved, in an ordinary field, seems too strange, even artificial. Why would I feel this way?"

His face had lost its smile, and now it looked detached again. He stood up and, for the first time ever, looked around him. Despite the total darkness, his eyes could see clearly.

"Absolute emptiness. There's nothing around but an endless field, not even trees."

Searching for what could have caused him such feelings, he looked up at the stars again.

"These stars... I knew there was something wrong with them."

With a cluck of his tongue, he rose to his feet. He was no longer feeling the rush of emotion that was so strong, so unusual to him.

He decided to leave that field.

Standing in the midst of the lifeless field, he pondered how best to proceed.

"It seems like choosing where to go won't affect much."

The boy picked a random direction and started walking. Even his footsteps made no sound in this strange field.

Ten minutes later, he was still nowhere. He didn't find anything different from where he'd started walking.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"What the hell? Why, I still haven't found a single path, or a light source?"

Thirty minutes later, he was still nowhere. The only thing that was different was the boy's gait - he started to almost run instead of walking calmly.

"Hey, this isn't funny anymore. I have no intention of staying in this open field under these stars."

An hour later, he was still nowhere. The field seemed to be as boundless as it had initially seemed to him.

"This field can't be endless, it must have an end, and I won't rest until I find it."

A moment later, the boy noticed something in front of him that resembled a man. He stopped for a moment and tried to look at the oddity. This man abruptly began to run away from him. Not thinking long, he immediately started a chase despite the strangeness of what was happening, trying to catch up with this weird man.

They were running at the same speed, but the strange man stopped as abruptly as he had started running. Running up, the boy was able to see this anomaly more closely. It appeared to be a man with golden hair dressed in a plain white shirt with black pants. Walking up close to the man, he pulled sharply on his shoulder with an excited face. The man turned around without resisting.

It was a boy about sixteen years old. In addition to his golden hair that was slightly curly, he had golden-colored eyes that shimmered as if they were made of molten gold. His face was enticingly handsome, though it was pretty immature. He was tall and fairly trim. His face expressed doubt and disbelief, even a little shock. He uttered only one phrase before turning away from the boy.

"What the fuck?"

The boy was unable to comprehend what was going on. It was as unbelievable as possible. Suddenly, he felt a pull on his shoulder, snapping him out of his stupor. Not realizing what was happening, he didn't resist. When he saw who had pulled him, he couldn't believe it. He doubted that what he was seeing was real.

He saw the same boy; the only thing different was their facial expression. His face was excited as if he had found something interesting. Only one phrase came out of the boy's mouth before he turned away, trying to be sure of something.

"What the fuck?"

Turning away from the boy, he didn't see what he expected. He didn't see anything at all where the boy used to stand. Turning around again, he didn't see the other boy either. No matter how much he looked at the space around him, he couldn't find anyone.

Absolute emptiness surrounded him once again.

The silence became oppressive. The boy sat down on the grass, unable to stand. A thought he couldn't understand occupied his whole mind. He turned his attention to his clothes for the first time.

A plain white shirt and black pants...

The boy couldn't help but smile. These events did interest him.

Trying to figure out what had just happened, he went through the possibilities.

"What I'm seeing is very similar to the real world, but it isn't. The most obvious thing is that I've seen myself from different angles, very much like a hallucination, and also that there are no sounds here at all except for my voice. Maybe I have a mental illness and can't distinguish reality anymore? That somehow seems the most logical... Maybe this place was created by my mind under a drug overdose? Maybe I'm dead and this is all just pre-mortem brain activity? No matter which way you look at it, I have almost no hope of escape. I don't think I can leave this field… Then why don't I take a nap? I guess that's all I can do."

The boy lay down on the grass again, his face relaxed, accepting his fate that he might never wake up. He tried to sleep, but a thought kept haunting him.

"I wish I could experience that feeling of comfort and happiness again..."

No longer thinking or feeling anything, he fell asleep.

***

The first rays of the morning sun began to cut through the darkness of the night. On the field, which now seemed quite alive, lay a golden-haired boy with his eyes closed. Abruptly waking up and standing up, he began to circle the space around him with his eyes. It wasn't the sun that woke him up, but the voice he heard in his head.

"BITCH, I'LL KILL YOU! YOU STOLE MY BODY AND NOW YOU THINK IT'S YOURS? YOU FILTHY EARTHLING! I'LL TAKE MY BODY BACK!"