Never Meant To Be
By: Unknown
Chapter 5
Wet.
Sloshing wet.
And cold. A quick shiver, arms freezing. Can’t feel any finger or toe. Or nose.
Cough. Cough again. Throat hurts. Also very cold.
Nose is... running? Can’t tell. Too much water.
His thoughts slowly turned from a bumbling mess to coherent. His left eyelid creaked open, like it had been glued shut. The sun was blinding, and he tried to block it out by slamming his eye closed again. Confused, he tried to open both of his eyes at once, succeeding, but only slightly.
“So cold.” His lips moved, but barely so. They were a pale shade of blue.
He reached his numb fingers up to his face and slid them down his cheek. He couldn’t feel anything. He stuck his finger in his mouth and slightly bit down. He was met with a very slight, dull pain, completely covered in the icy numbness.
“So... cold.”
He sat up, every joint and muscle in his body protesting and cracking at the sudden movement. He put his feet on the ground. Well, at least, he thought he did. It was hard to tell when both feet were completely void of any sort of feeling. He reached up to his hair and was greeted with a frozen and still slightly wet mess.
“Whoa.”
A voice came from his left. His head cracked as he looked towards the source of the sound.
“Dude. You alright?”
A man he had never met was rushing to his side and gripped him on his shoulders.
“You look completely frozen.” The stranger touched his arms. “You’re so cold. Did you... sleep out here last night?”
It took all his power to just nod slightly towards the person standing over him.
“It’s nearly freezing out here! And it rained! Are you suicidal?”
His brain had nothing more to say as his eyes went blank and he started to lose consciousness.
“Hey, whoa, stay with me! Don’t pass out!”
‘Too late for that’ was the last thing to go through his mind.
Ƹ
SPLASH
He felt something hot pour down his head; he cringed as it rolled down his neck and chest, soaking his clothes. His eyes instinctively opened wide as more of the hot water poured onto his body. Blinking over and over to try and clear his vision, he tried to stand up, only to feel someone pushing him back down. He looked up and saw someone standing over him, concern in his eye.
“Don’t try to stand up. I’m not sure your legs could take it.” The stranger spoke softly.
Complying, and his vision finally clear, he looked around. He was in one of his dorm shower stalls, which would explain the hot water. He looked up at the person helping him and tried to pinpoint a name, to no avail. He wasn’t one to learn people’s names that often.
He tried to speak. “Who...” His lips, still very cold, didn’t seem to work properly.
“I’m Tyler.” The not-so stranger knelt down, completely oblivious to the water splashing onto him and soaking into his clothes. “I found you outside the dorm sleeping on a bench. You were shivering worse than I’ve ever seen and your entire face was blue. I brought you inside. What were you doing out there?”
He pondered for a minute, trying to think of some sort of excuse, but his mind wasn’t cooperating. Water continued to soak down his shirt and jeans. “I ‘unno.”
He sneezed, and the sound echoed throughout the bathroom.
Tyler looked very concerned. “I seriously thought you were going to die, you were shivering so hard. How are you feeling now?”
Not actually having assessed his physical feelings yet, he noticed that his entire body stung. The hot water bouncing off his nearly frozen skin caused more than a slight amount of discomfort, but at least he could feel something now. “I... can ‘eel my ‘ingers a’ain.” he slurred out. His lips were still numb, and he was unable to form complete syllables.
Tyler looked relieved. “Good. I think that’s enough water for now. What room do you live in? I’ll help you walk.”
Mumbling his room number, he suddenly felt himself being lifted off the ground. Unsure if his legs could hold him, he held onto Tyler’s shoulders and tested his physical limitations. As he expected, even a slight amount of weight on his legs caused them to buckle, like rubber.
“Well, I guess I’m carrying you again.” Tyler smiled towards him.
He felt himself being picked up. It was slightly embarrassing, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it to his room by himself.
The two left the shower, both completely soaked and dripping. Tyler had to carry him up a flight of stairs to make it to his room. He did his best to fish out his key, and handed it to Tyler, who unlocked the room to find his roommate’s bed empty. Tyler reached over and grabbed a towel draped over a chair and did his best to dry him off before laying him down in his bed and covering him with all the blankets he could find.
“Are you going to be alright?”
He wrapped himself tight into his blankets and reveled in the warmth. Behind chattering teeth, he spoke. “Yesss.... I ttthinkk ssssoooo.”
Tyler smiled. “Good. Listen, I live right down the hall in 204. Give me your phone, I’ll put my number into it. If you need anything at all, please call me.”
His phone. Where was his phone? He tried to access his brain to figure out where he left it. When it finally hit him, he sighed. “I had it last night, outside. I’m sure it’s ruined.”
“Ah, I see.” Tyler looked around and found his roommates phone. “Just use this. Your roommate will get over it.” He quickly punched in some numbers and set the phone down on the bed.
“Thanks.”
Tyler stood up. “Seriously, if you need anything, please call. And if you feel yourself getting worse, I’ll be more than happy to take you to a hospital. I’ll come back to check on you in a bit, alright?”
From his bed, he looked up and gave the biggest smile he could muster.
“Thank you.”
It was all he could say before drifting off to sleep. He didn’t even hear Tyler leave.
He could remember some flashing lights, lots of different colors. Maybe even some music. But it felt like moments after he drifted off to sleep, he awoke again. Tyler was looking over him again.
“I found your phone.” He lifted up the device and set it on the bed. “It wasn’t working, but I removed the battery and dried it out. That seemed to get it working again.”
He smiled, weakly. “Thanks.”
Tyler pulled up a chair. “How are you feeling?”
Still drowsy from waking up, he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt. He figured what better way to check than trying to stand up. He pushed the covers off of his body and started to move his legs towards the floor. Making contact, they stung a little, but they felt stronger than they had earlier. It seemed like they were going to be able to hold him. His head finally sitting upright, he felt a little dizzy, but was able to keep his balance when he finally pushed himself off the bed and stood on his own two legs, slightly leaning on the upper bunk.
“Looks like I can stand again, at least.”
Tyler looked relieved. “Awesome. I can’t begin to tell you how freaked out you had me this morning. I seriously thought you had died as I was carrying you upstairs.”
Not used to so much attention, he blushed slightly. “I suppose I’d have been much worse off if you hadn’t come along. Thanks.” He smiled as best he could.
Tyler stretched his arms over his head. “I’m going over to the cafeteria. Would you like me to bring you anything?”
On cue, his stomach rumbled and he flinched at the sudden pain. “Yes, please.”
“Great. I’ll be back in a bit.” With that, Tyler walked out of the door.
He continued to stand in front of his bed for a bit, contemplating laying back down. He wasn’t particularly tired, just slightly cold still and a little weak. So, ignoring the pleas the comfortable sheets were making to him, he walked over to his desk and sat down at his computer, pressing the power button. He fiddled with a pencil while his computer booted, poking himself in the finger with the sharp end.
Thinking back, he realized how scary it was not to have any feeling in parts of his body. Had he been completely in his right mind, he certainly would have panicked at the realization that his arms and legs were completely numb. It really was a miracle that... what was his name? Tyler? It was a miracle that he showed up when he did.
His computer finally booted, he clicked around the internet for a bit. Nothing interesting, really. His mom had sent him a request for some stupid Facebook game, and there were a bunch of funny cat pictures posted on his Twitter. Yawning, he closed out of the browser and, once again, contemplated going back to bed. His mind wasn’t cooperating however, and he decided that it might be better to take a walk to try and get a little more blood running through his legs. The weather had gotten considerable warmer as well since earlier that morning.
Bundling up as much as he could, he left his room, locking the door behind him, and left the building. Walking down the sidewalk towards the well-kept trails in the forests behind the college, he watched students hustle around, doing whatever it is that people do with their Saturday afternoons around here. He was never one for socializing on the weekends, so he had no idea what went on.
He soon found himself at the edge of the forest. He decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to take one of the longer trails, so, following the signs, he headed down the path marked “Apple Trail, 1.2 miles”.
It really was a beautiful day. The rain from the previous night had already soaked into the ground, giving everything a nice glow. He was able to make out many different smells that the rain had brought out, including the grass, a multitude of flowers, and that woody smell that tree bark gives out.
He took a deep breath in.
It seems the close encounter with nature didn’t traumatize him too much. Regardless of his previous feelings towards mother nature, he had to admit, it was quite beautiful at times.
He let the breath out.
Moments passed without a single sound aside from the birds chirping and the sound of his feet sloshing through the leaves on the ground.
Reaching the halfway point of the trail, he started to step down a steeper slope that would circle around and eventually climb back up to return the hiker to the beginning of the trail. He was sure to move slowly to try and keep his balance as best he could. His efforts were in vain, however, as his right foot suddenly lost its grip, causing the other to begin to slide as well. He landed on his rear, and slowly slid off the side of the trail and into a gully. He tried to stop himself, but the wet ground was impossible to grip. He just did his best to not tip over as he slowly skidded down the hill.
Finally, reaching the bottom, he stood up. As far as he could tell, he was unharmed; it wasn’t a terribly steep slope. His pants were completely soaked with water and dead leaves though. He did his best to brush off as many leaves as he could, and wiping the residue from his hands onto his pants.
‘I just can’t stop trying to hurt myself today.’ He chuckled to himself. He looked around at the change of scenery, savoring the look of the untouched part of the forest where the trail didn’t lead. He began to turn around to make his return up the slope, but before turning all the way around, something caught his eye. He flipped his head back away from the slope and squinted. There seemed to be something... white, or maybe brown a dozen or so feet deeper into the woods. His curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to investigate.
He trudged through the wet grass towards the object. The closer he got, the more clear he could see it. It was paper.
A letter? No.
It was a scroll.
He knelt down to study it. Yeah, it was certainly a scroll. It seemed to be printed on some sort of weird paper that made it look like something out of a comic book or a cartoon. On the front was a circular, golden seal.
He inspected it closer. The seal was holding a red ribbon that kept the scroll closed. On it, the letter C was embossed.
He started to reach towards the object, stopping suddenly.
‘Where have I seen this before?’
He scrunched up his face as he tried to pinpoint exactly what he was looking at and why it seemed so familiar.
Not figuring it out, he grabbed the scroll and took off the ribbon holding it closed. He opened it up and read the first line.
“Dear Princess Celestia,”
…
...
“What?”
He spoke out loud to no one in particular. He had quickly realized where he had seen the seal before. It was identical to the one used in Friendship is Magic, when Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle were communicating together.
“This letter... is to the Princess?”
…
“HAHAHAHAHA”
He burst into laughter. He couldn’t believe he actually, even for one split second, thought that he had actually received a letter that was intended for a fictional cartoon character. He finished reading the remaining of the letter, still chuckling to himself. He had to admit, whoever made the scroll did a good job with the attention to detail. It really did look like something out of the show.
Finishing the letter, he rolled it back up and replaced the red ribbon. He laughed to himself again, content in the fact that it’s possible another Brony lived on the campus. He’d have to find out where this person lived.
He tucked the scroll into his pocket and turned around to hike back to the trail.
Minutes passed as he walked, not really thinking about anything until...
‘What if this really is from Twilight?’
He began to laugh again at the absurd idea. How could he possibly think this scroll had actually been sent from a children’s television show? Maybe the cold really did damage his brain.
He sighed. He had finished climbing back up the slope that he had slid down.
‘This is just something someone, another Brony like me, made for fun to try and trick some gullible, or rather, stupid fool like me.’
But his logical thinking didn’t help. He couldn’t stop thinking to himself about the idea that, indeed, he had somehow received a letter from Twilight Sparkle, who lived in an imaginary world called Equestria.
He sighed again.