Utter confusion was the last thing the weird villagers felt before everything went dark. Well, I should say it was the last thing I felt before I passed out.

'what the fuck'

I repeated the same word to myself once again to make sure I was dreaming or just going insane earlier and sure enough, my inner monologue was in a language that sounded unfamiliar. I said basic sentences to myself like a child for a second before everything clicked, and by everything, I mean the memories which seemed to be present the whole time.

I am the only son of an average couple in the village. I was born under dim moonlight with little to no 'lights' visible in the night sky. My parents and extended family told me this was a sign that I was to be reserved in life, and that was exactly how I grew up. Besides the baby years which are fleeting at best, everything else was usually spent observing the other kids and adults. The only memories that stand out up to this point are the times when I snuck into the elders meeting place and "read" the parchments they kept stored inside. I say it that way because the motions I took were more in line with somebody checking out a new shirt. I got away with the act a few times before I was caught and "punished".

The punishment was just a couple of exercises that the young adults do in the village. It might have been difficult for me because I was just a curious kid, but for the usual participants, it was more of a stress reliever or "population control", to put it lightly.

After those incidents, I learned my lesson and it was back to the shadowing tactic. The upside that came from the shadowing was when it came time to go to school, or what I can only describe as a school, given that it was more akin to a boarding school in that all of us kids would stay in one sector of the village with elders learning to speak properly, read and some of us would learn to write as well. Unshockingly, mostly the girls participated in the writing class as the materials were pretty delicate, however, there were a few males like myself who were less rough with everything we touched so we were allowed in as well. But everybody including myself failed to grasp the skill beyond making lists with a shaky description here and there. A shock coming during this time also came from this class as a few of the girls attending decided to get together one day to draw pictures of each other.

Hand-drawn pictures had been done before with some even looking pretty decent if they were framed. But they were usually a singular object with some minor detail. My grandparents own the aforementioned picture of a huge tree with vines which is of course brown, though I should mention the parchment itself is also brown, I digress. The canopy is painted green and red making it a bit more vibrant, and the vines were green as well so overall it was decent in my opinion.

The shock came from the excellent detail captured by the girls in their portraits. People had seen their reflections before but no one could capture themselves in such a fashion, or at least to an extent to where they would want to keep the image present of themselves. Everyone in the village wanted a "self-drawing", and perhaps most surprising was the elders who usually let adults make decisions regarding the village unanimously stepped up to have their self-drawings done first while saying since they will be going to meet the ancestors first they shouldn't be last in leaving something for the future generations or something along those lines.

This was practically the end of the situation as the hierarchy was decided from there on everyone laughed off the words of the elders as this was the usual attitude towards new things when introduced to the village. Particularly when said new things can provide a slight increase in life.

The classes continued as per the usual routine as the years went on with the only good thing being I was surrounded by the girls of the village most of the time. Unfortunately, this also meant that the four other guys in the "advanced" class were probably seen as strange kids because of the relative isolation we got.

This isolation ended, with the other males in my age group at least, when we all turned thirteen. As per the tradition of the village, the boys and girls are to start the second and last phase of their education. The girls begin to learn general home life skills as well as very basic treatment knowledge, while the boys are split into groups of twenty and are taught firstly the area immediately surrounding the village and then how to survive within your group while out beyond the gate.

I can't speak for the girls as I didn't experience their version of the second phase, but for us guys, I can only describe it as a very strict summer camp with elements of a not-very-professional boot camp at times. There was a gradual increase of difficulty that I should have seen coming from a mile away, but like a little over half the teens in my age group, I had to learn to survive in an unforgiving world.

The memories of my first moments of comradery as well as the feelings of losing a few of my closest friends all come from these times, not to mention the unforgettable feeling of fear when I saw a wild creature for the first time. I also remember the feeling of relief when my group of a third of the boys missing made it back within those not-so-shabby walls, injured and shaken up, but alive.

One of the last memories that I recall having was the feeling of dread but also pride when my father along with a couple of my uncles announced to my mother and me, as well as the extended family that their group will be hunting the beast that killed their fellow hunters.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The very last memory I could gather together was that the crowd I was part of earlier was put together by my group as part of a funeral for those we lost. I tried to remember more but it was like there was no more after that.

'what the fuck'

I repeat the same phrase for a third time, although this last time had a bit of exasperation in it. If utter confusion could describe what I felt before I simply had no words to describe what I feel current. I pinched myself hard enough to cause me to yelp, which only layered on the shock of sudden pain. I felt the pinch but one can never be sure.

*thump*

I slam my hand onto something wooden that I honestly haven't even sure was wood but what else would it be? Besides a deeper pain that instantly shooked me out of my stupor, someone called out to me in that language that was still weird to hear, yet easily recognized this time around, was heard again but this time it said a name that I instantly identified with.

"Rallo?? Preserve your energy! Our elders said you fainted because of your nature so you need to rest for the day!"

Besides the quickly fading discomfort I had heard anyone speak, I didn't feel any different than myself but I still listened to the voice who I recognized from the memories as my mother without even needing to look.

"Rallo?! Rallo?? What's wrong?! Say something!!"

I had no discomfort now, but that was quickly replaced by worry as my mother who unbeknownst to me had been watching these extreme displays of emotions on her face the entire time. She quickly ran over to me and started to do the basic checks that any mother does on their child when they are worried.

I leaned up in the bed hurriedly finally fully awakened since the first shocks

"I'm fine Mom! I- I was just thinking about the past.."

She finished her "check-up" on me and allowed me to fully sit up in the bed. She then gave me a wet cloth which could be considered to be cold at the current temperature, but not before giving me a bear hug which immediately reverted my body to its little kid form in terms of feeling at least.

"The past is the past honey, the future is better suited for a young man like yourself."

She forced my face to line up with hers, before pecking me on the forehead and walking out the front door of the shack, presumably towards my father and uncles. I still didn't meet her eyes even in that last moment, though she didn't think anything of it given my nature.

Right as she crossed the boundary of the door she paused as if she was forgetting something but it seemed to pass as quickly as it came as she quickly continued towards her destination.

However, what I felt at the moment was similar to the feeling of calm after a tropical storm has passed!

My name was the same, even my appearance has not changed even in the slightest. The only change was that I now seemed to have memories from a life I don't remember living. This world had some weird things but seemed similar to maybe the neolithic era of Earth. I mean I know Earth still exists out there somewhere. Hopefully. I honestly don't know anything anymore...

At that moment a splitting headache raged throughout my head and caused me to curl up while barely holding onto the bed. I could get air into my lungs and the very familiar tunnel vision from earlier made it seem as if I was about to pass out for a second time. Only this time instead of weird memories from a strange yet seemingly normal world, there were things I recognized from my various stages of education for most of my life back on Earth. My memories flashed by so quickly that I hardly had time to glimpse at the, but they all seemed to be there.

I barely struggled back to my fetal position but on the bed this time around, but the headache only seemed to increase as seconds flew by. What followed next was not memories in the traditional sense, but instead, I saw what I considered to be ancient ideas of civilization in my modern brain. From simple things such as agriculture and deforestation to the mining processes for various natural resources.

I was always a history nerd but I could never remember much beyond dates and names, so these memories were not foreign as much as they were overwhelming. I was not some engineer by any stretch of the imagination, and I wasn't some modern-day genius either.

I would consider myself to be an average modern man. Honesty I was lucky to be born in modern times.

My thoughts were quickly pushed aside as more knowledge flooded into my brain. Pain shot even deeper within the said brain as I saw the process of construction for various technologies from water wheels to more robust smelting and forging using various fuels and techniques, such as water-powered bloomery to more relatively complex blast furnaces. Even the process of cement was firmly implanted along with various civil engineering projects from the time.

There were too many to name but all were considered marvels for their time.

Even I tried to marvel at the various images that passed but more images and detailed descriptions of medical techniques from almost all of my original human history. I couldn't begin to explain the different techniques that came to mind, but luckily explanations came right after the rest of the previous information.

Next came even more information on military affairs from various tools to the organizational structures that were the framework of modern society. From aqueducts to dams, from roads to pontoon bridges. Even tactics and devices from said militaries that I had no frame of mind for, such as cannons, different kinds of rifles, and weirdly even cranes.

The mix of the different technologies from the different eras of my past world was all mixed into my mind in a weird amalgamation of memory and pure knowledge that made my already throbbing brain spin similar to how I felt earlier in the day.

My vision slowly darkened as a few more pieces of information forced their way through my already fleeting consciousness. Quick images of various political structures and organizations from the era I was most familiar with as well as the invention that allowed such an era to exist, stepped into the door of my mind as my eyes shut for a second time today.

My last conscious thoughts were the same at the moment though.

'what the fuck'