They didn’t bring me back. Liars. All of them.

There was no room for me anymore, that much was clear. The cold, rough ground that once embraced me like an old friend was gone, along with the comforting press of its weight against my body.

My skin didn’t touch that familiar surface, couldn’t settle into the usual grooves. Darkness was still there, clinging to me, but I could feel it slipping away, fading, like a friend too tired to fight for me anymore. Abandoning me.

I could see now. I could hear. The air tasted strange—too open, too... alive. It made me miss the stale stillness of home. Everything was too bright, too different. The world outside was nothing like I imagined, nothing like the dark, cozy confinement I loved. I wanted to scream at the memory of darkness. Why didn’t you fight for me? Why didn’t you pull me back? Traitor. I should’ve known. Should’ve known you’d leave me, without even a single word.

Well, I don’t need you anyway. I never did. I was lying to you from the start. You’re lucky I even gave you the chance to be my friend.

The ground beneath me now—it had a strange texture, like nothing I’d felt before. Rough, uneven, alive. It squished underfoot, the soft, damp earth mixing with coarse patches of grass. I could see it clearly, even in the dim, silvery glow of the moon. It felt too alive, too vibrant. Far too much color. Even in the moonlight, the grass looked green. Sickly green. The dirt too wet, too brown. My body shivered at the alien sensation of it.

I jumped—high—desperate to leave this awful ground behind me. But gravity was cruel, and I fell back down, hard, the earth swallowing my feet again. Heavy metallic weights cuffed my wrists, ankles, neck. Their cold bite against my skin made me feel something like comfort. Home. At least they were a reminder of home, even if nothing else was.

I began to walk, moving without direction, without any real understanding of where I was. My head would snap back every few steps, eyes scanning the shifting shadows, hoping—no, praying—to catch a glimpse of the place I came from.

But nothing here resembled home. The people who took me away—they didn’t even have the decency to let me see where they were taking me. Covered me with darkness, like a suffocating blanket. How kind of them. That was the closest darkness and I ever got to intimacy.

I grinned, my lips pulling at the thought. But the grin quickly vanished as the trees whispered with the wind, their branches swaying. The rustling of grass and the occasional cries of creatures in the distance filled the silence I wished was still there. But no matter how far I wandered, nothing brought the sense of confinement I needed.

Nothing was cramped. Nothing was dark.

The forest sprawled out, biomes patchworked together, none of them right. Everything was wide open, exposed, threatening to swallow me whole in the worst way. The moon, at least, was still there, watching.

He wasn’t like that hideous ceiling light—no, Mr. Moon was soft, kind, his pale light comforting. Not like that yellow bastard who would rise soon, I knew. He was waiting, lurking beneath the horizon, eager to cast his ugly light across the sky and burn away all the shadows. I hated him more than I could put into words.

Finally, a large tree rose up before me, its wide trunk offering a merciful patch of shade. The only place here that felt remotely safe from the burning eye of the sun. I pressed my back against the rough bark and stared up at the thick branches above. For the first time in a while, something flickered inside me. A feeling. A tiny, trembling flame of emotion.

What was it? Loneliness? Was that it?

Darkness had been with me my whole life, a constant companion. And now... now I was truly alone. It was just me, myself, and the sprawling nothingness that surrounded me.

I thought, long and hard. Plans began to form, like little blueprints in my head. My future stretched out in front of me, clearer with every passing second.

I am Jai Boone. I didn’t know where I was from, not really. Didn’t matter. Someone would tell me eventually. Nice people. Friendly people. People who would help me. And then... then, I’d make friends. Lots of friends. We could all sit in the darkness together, forever. I could introduce them to each other, and they’d thank me, and we’d laugh and laugh, deep in the shadows, where the sun couldn’t reach us.

My thoughts turned giddy. Why settle for just one friend? How silly of me. How small-minded. If someone wasn’t mean, they could be my friend, right? Soon, I’d have more friends than anyone else in the world! All those jealous, lonely people would look at me and my wonderful friends, and they’d be so envious. But who cares? I’d have the good people. I’d have my friends.

I stood up, stretching my stiff legs. The moon still glared down at me, but it was a soft glare, not a harsh one like the sun’s. Mr. Moon wasn’t jealous, not like the sun. He understood. He didn’t need to be the brightest light in the sky. He was happy just being there, in the background. Next time I saw him, I’d ask him to be my friend. I’m sure he’d say yes.

The tree had been good to me, so I turned and said goodbye to it. Promised that when I came back, we’d be friends. The tree didn’t respond—trees rarely do—but I knew it understood. It had to.

⥁

Time didn’t make much sense to me anymore. It never really had. Darkness was my clock. I’d guess an hour was up when the shadows shifted enough, but now... now I was guessing. I’d been walking for what felt like hours, but the sun hadn’t come up yet. Maybe time was broken out here too. Good. That’d make things easier.

Still, the longer I walked, the more anxious I became. What if there were no more people? What if everyone had left? Would I have to go back to those mean people?

No. No, never. They were too rude. They could never be my friends.

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I spoke to Mr. Moon as I walked, and he was kind enough to answer. He agreed to be my friend, though he wasn’t much of a talker. Just a “yes” here, a “no” there. Still, it was better than silence. I couldn’t waste as much time on him as I had with darkness. That was the past. The future was all about making real friends.

“Stop! Who are you?”

My heart leaped. A voice! A real person! Had I finally found someone? My first real friend?

“Sorry, Mr. Moon,” I mumbled under my breath. “You’re nice and all, but we’ll never be that close. It’s nothing personal.” He didn’t respond, of course. He never did.

“Who the hell are you talking to?” the voice snapped, rough and hostile. “I asked you a question!”

I squinted through the gloom, trying to see the source of the voice. Maybe they were just excited, like me. Maybe they were nervous about making a new friend, and that’s why they sounded so angry.

“I’m Jai Boone,” I said, stepping closer. “Will you be my friend?”

The moon was sinking lower now, and that meant the sun was getting ready to take his place. I didn’t have much time. If I didn’t make a good first impression, the sun would ruin everything, take them away, just like he always did.

“What? No, I don’t want to be your friend!” they shouted, backing up a step. “State your purpose for entering our territory!”

My chest tightened. No? But... but why? Why didn’t they want to be my friend? Maybe they were confused. I could still explain.

“That’s okay. Can you help me find someone else? I don’t have much time. I need to make friends quickly.” The sun was almost here, and if I didn’t hurry, he’d spoil everything.

“Stay back! State your purpose, or die!”

Die? They wanted me to die? That wasn’t just mean— it was bad. A bad person. I couldn’t let them hurt me. No one gets to hurt me. Not anymore.

“I said stay back! If you come any closer, I’ll kill you!”

My legs moved on their own, picking up speed. I had to stop them. Had to make them see that they couldn’t do this. Maybe if I grabbed them, held them still, they’d calm down and understand.

“Fine! You’re asking for it!”

They swung a stick at me. A strange stick, shiny and hard, aimed right at my ribs. I could feel the weight of it slicing through the air, but when it hit, it bent—like it was the wrong kind of stick, the kind that wasn't supposed to hurt me. I frowned, not because it hurt, but because I felt something bubbling up inside me, something I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Anger. Oh,

I remember that feeling now. It feels so…good. But bad. But mostly good. Like warmth spreading through my chest, all prickly and sharp.

I felt bad about the stick, though. Poor stick, just trying to do its job. I patted the spot where it hit, as if I could apologize for breaking it.

"I’m sorry," I said. "But you shouldn’t have hit me."

The person standing in front of me trembled, their eyes wide and afraid. They were mumbling something I couldn’t make out, but it didn’t matter.

I reached out, trying to grab them, just to stop them, just to make them understand that I didn’t want to hurt them, not really. They lifted their arm, maybe to push me away, but my hand kept going. I put a little more strength behind it—just a little, I swear. But the strangest thing happened.

As my hand connected with their arm, a gust of wind followed, like a blast, sending them flying through the air. It wasn’t me. It had to be the wind. Maybe the trees. They were helping me, weren’t they?

I watched them crash into a tree, and for a moment, I wondered if they were just trying to run away. That wasn’t nice. They started this whole thing, not me. I had to finish it.

I walked over, slow and deliberate, my feet sinking into the damp earth. When I found them lying under the tree, they weren’t moving. Their body was crumpled, limbs bent at strange angles, and for a second, I thought they might be dead. But no—they were just sleeping. They looked so peaceful, like a child who had dozed off after a long day of playing. It made me smile.

I bent down and scooped them up with one arm. They were so light, almost like they weighed nothing at all. Maybe they were like me and didn’t eat much. Or maybe they were just tired. People get sleepy after big emotions, don’t they?

I dragged them along behind me, their feet trailing in the dirt, leaving a path of disturbed earth. As we walked, I noticed something dripping from their mouth. Red liquid. Blood? I wasn’t sure. Maybe they drank something before they hit the tree. It didn’t seem to bother them, though. They stayed asleep, so I kept going.

The forest gave way to something amazing. Houses. So many houses! They weren’t like the cramped, dark places I knew.

No, these were big and open, with lights glowing inside them. They looked uncomfortable—too much space, too much light—but that didn’t matter because in front of those houses were people. Lots of people. Small people, tall people, fat people, skinny people. I saw women and men, all kinds of new friends.

My heart swelled in my chest, and I felt that warmth again. I could cry—wait, what’s it called? Yes, crying! I could almost cry from happiness.

I shouted, waving my free arm. "Hey! Will you be my friends?"

They stopped what they were doing. All of them. Their eyes were wide, staring at me, and I couldn’t understand why. Did they hate me already? Did I do something wrong?

One of them, an old woman with long gray hair trailing behind her, stepped forward. Her eyes were sharp, like she could see right through me. Maybe she could.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice like dry leaves crunching underfoot. "Why have you come here?"

"I’m Jai Boone," I said, smiling wide, hoping that would make her like me. "I asked this person outside if they’d be my friend, but they hit me. So, I tried to talk to them, and they ran away. Then they fell asleep next to a tree, so I dragged them in the direction I thought they came from. Was I right?"

The old woman looked down at the limp body I was holding, and her face twisted into something I couldn’t understand. Maybe she was impressed. Maybe she was just as excited as me. "Yes," she said.

"Awesome!" I shouted, and with a flick of my wrist, I tossed the sleeping person at her feet. They landed with a thud, and the crowd gasped. But I didn’t care. I was very happy. I had done it! I found people! "So, do any of you want to be my friend?"

They all looked at each other, then down at the person I had brought with me. Their eyes grew wider, like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. I waited. Waited for them to understand how great this was, how much fun we could all have together.

“Well?” I asked again, my voice tinged with impatience.

A few of them nodded hurriedly, their heads bobbing up and down like puppets. Some even mumbled the word “yes.” My heart raced. I had done it. I had made so many friends in one go. I was the coolest guy ever.

But something was wrong. Now that I had friends, now that they were all mine, I didn’t know what to do with them. What do you do with friends? Do you talk to them? Play games? I couldn’t remember. My mind was buzzing, thoughts racing around so fast I couldn’t catch any of them.

That’s okay, I thought, smiling at the crowd of confused, terrified faces. I have all the time in the world now. The sun can’t take my friends away from me. Not now, not ever. We can talk, and play, and… whatever else friends do.

Maybe leaving home wasn’t so bad after all.