Begin the world again

            The man slowly became aware of the world around him. He felt warmth on his face and wondered if it might be the sun, wondered at a feeling of deep delight at the idea of sunlight on his face. He seemed to be floating in a sea of nothingness inside his own head, and for the moment the nothingness seemed to be a great relief.

            “Jarod, can you hear me?”

            Jarod. That was a concept that belonged to him. He decided he would take possession of it, as the first thing to fill the nothingness. The one thing better than the nothingness would be to fill it with good, comfortable things, like Jarod and the sunlight.

            He opened his eyes and looked into a face. A man’s face, old, careworn, with eyes that were worried, concerned, kind, caring. A good face, bearing too many years of pain and guilt but also a deep capacity for love. Instinctively he slipped into the mind behind the face and knew this man loved him. That was good, another thing to fill the nothingness.

            “Jarod, my name is Sydney. I’ll be taking care of you for a while.”