136: 'Birth' -Saba-

The world swirled away as flashes of past and present flooded together, becoming an amalgam of indecipherable images. Covering my eyes, I turned away from the lights and colorful flashes.

When I opened my eyes I was standing on a beach.

"Did he ask you out yet?" Another recognizable voice that I couldn't seem to place.

I turned to see a young red-head sitting next to a teenage me.

"No, he's not the guy I want anyway." Teen me tossed a rock out in the sea.

"What? Are you crazy? He's popular, gorgeous and has money falling out of his pockets.", the red-head gushed as she spoke, "Also, I happen to know that he has a crazy crush on you."

Teen-Saba looked at the sky, "I had a dream of a guy. He seemed important and was really cute. I'm going to go out and find him one day."

"You mean that Ben guy you keep going on about? Girl, he's a dream. He isn't real."

"You're a dream."

"You aren't real."

The voices started to come from everywhere, flooding my ears with a drone of constant words. The red-head pulled a knife from behind her and swung it around, stabbing it in to teenage me's belly. That younger version just smiled as the blood spread from the wound, turning her blouse a dark red.

"You are just wasted parts, things that need to be discarded. Unfit to live and made to die. Your own body wants you gone. Everything you are will be lost forever when they reassert their authority."

"SHUT UP!" Everything disappeared as I yelled.

I found myself standing on a dark street. Ahead of me, the street ran zigzagged as far as I could see. Houses lined the streets but the numbers were replaced by words. 'First grade', 'Middle school', 'First Kiss'; they went on and on. A sign in front of me had the words, 'This way to The Void' and had a smiley face drawn on it with purple crayon.

I began my journey down the road, glancing at the windows of the houses, catching glimpses of my pasts. Child me here, teenage me there; almost all happy.

I stopped when I came to a black house labeled 'Birth'. I wanted to know more about myself, and the darkness that I would be allowing back in. Now was not the time for that though. I had something to do that was more important. I couldn't just stop and look at parts of my past.

So I opened the door and stepped through.