by Cactologist » Sun Jun 14, 2020 2:12 pm
username: Cactologist
name: Starly
gender: Heifer
prompt: Starly steals a glance at the sun, lazily lolling towards the horizon. As expected, its rays blind her and reinforce her strengthening headache.
How much longer?
Another shrill laugh slices through the air and seizes her mind like a vice. She clamps her eyes shut and grinds her teeth.
I can't do this...
A careless body bumps against her, enough to throw her to the ground. She doesn't bother to stand, instead curling into a ball. The pain is the only thing she cares about, with her appearance and others' judgement ranking last.
Make it stop...
Pain ruptures through her with every sound, every ray of light. Nothing she does helps, and she teeters deliriously on the edge of consciousness. She feels nauseous and doesn't know how much longer she can last.
Why did I ever think this was a good idea?
Every day this pain returns if she doesn't do anything to keep it at bay. As a result, she sleeps away her days in solitude so that the noise and light can't affect her.
Why did I ever think I could be like them... normal?
Just like everyone, though, she can't live alone forever. After enough time has passed for her to underestimate her condition, she will venture into the daylight with the rest of her herd, only to regret it later.
What would it even be like to be normal?
As always, though, her strength holds steady, and so does the promise of night. The sun finally dips below the horizon, and the rest of the herd one by one turns in for the night. Slowly but surely her agony ebbs away, and she opens her eyes to see that she, once again, is alone.
Finally.
She stands, shaking the tightness from her bones. She lifts her ears to greet the perfect silence. A smile comes to her after what seems like an eternity of agony, and the moon and stars smile back.
Peace. Silence. Stillness...
In the end, she wouldn't trade her condition for the world, as nighttime grants her a freedom like nothing else can. It becomes her own world, crafted just for her. She thrives on her own, befriending only those who also awaken when the world falls asleep, that cherish the night as she does.
It's perfect.