Where am I? I questioned myself over and over, but I still could not come up with a simple answer. My entire body hurts from head to toe. If I stand up now, I feel like I'm going to puke all over. All I could recall was a blinding flash of light. I eventually blinked open my eyes. It was pitch black all around me. Nothing was visible to me. I closed my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts, then opened them again... nothing. I tried it a couple more times, but each time all I was met with was darkness. I felt anxious. I stood up, nervous about losing my sight. I placed both my hands on each side of the surface I was on, examining it. It was a tough rock.

I recall being on a dirt field outside the orphanage, but what now? What am I doing here? I know I'm not in the same place since there's no breeze here, just some fresh air to breathe. There are no longer any odours of corpses or blood in the air. There isn't even a smidgeon of a burning scent or a single loose sound in the area. My heartbeat was still throbbing in my ears.

In my terrified state, I felt a sense of familiarity by touching the surface of the rock. I still couldn't see anything around me. Did I lose my vision in that last blinding flash? My panic level rose as I questioned myself. 

My muscles were still sour. I did not know where I was or how much time had passed. Maybe a day or two has passed based on the fact that I am not starving to the point of losing my sanity? I had no idea why I was the only one who had survived.

"Am I the only one here?" As I reflected, a sensation of hope rose within me. False hope is always better than having nothing to work with. I was still thinking about what had happened before. My only family... is no longer with me. That's a tough thing to swallow. I still don't want to admit that I no longer have anyone… and am truly alone now. I clung to that false hope, which gave me the motivation to live even in this dreadful predicament.

As I stood up, I felt a sharp jolt of pain from my brain to my tailbone. I collapsed on my feet and hit the ground. When the pain subsided, I stood up again. I did this multiple times. I had grown accustomed to the agony by this point, but it was still excruciating.

I stretched to get a sense of my numb muscles. My entire body hurt from head to toe. It felt like I'd been crushed in a grinder and then put back together. I ran my hands over my body to assess my current condition. I couldn't see anything, so I had to rely on my other senses.

I didn't lose any limbs, but my skin was dry and chipped in places. I couldn't determine if I was hurt or not, since every pore on my body screamed in anguish. So even if I touched a wound, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the agony I was experiencing and, at the very least, there were no visible open wounds I could feel.

I concluded that my body was wrecked all over, but still manageable to some extent. I'm not sure if I lost my sight or if this place had always been this dark. I had a glimmer of hope because there was no pain or injury around my eyes. Perhaps some nerves were harmed. I didn't know, and I wasn't in a position to find out.

I have to get out of this place, wherever it is. I need to inform others of my survival. I don't believe I am the only one who made it out alive. That is something I refuse to admit. I'll hold on to that false hope until I find the answers to my questions.

To begin with, I stepped forward with my right foot. A sharp pain shot through my spine, but I gritted my teeth and endured the agony. I moved my second foot forward, but the pain was excruciating. If I gave in to the pain, I felt like I'd lose consciousness at any moment.

I was met with empty space when I moved my other foot forward. There was nothing to support the bottom of my feet. I tried to regain my balance by moving my foot back to its original position, but I still toppled.

I crashed on my back, causing yet another burst of frantic anguish. The earth was still made of hard rock. Even though I had only fallen a few metres, I felt my shoulder bone break. This was the moment I realised my body was like a fragile piece of glass.The surface of my skin is hard, but with enough force, it will shatter into a million pieces. My panic has been replaced with horror.

Forget about locating people; I couldn't even tell if I'd make it out of here alive.

"Damn it!!" As time passed, my anxiety was replaced by frustration. I was in constant pain, but my body was gradually becoming numb to it. Tears streamed from my eyes to the ground. Mucus flowed from my nose, causing it to become stuffy.

I haven't moved an inch from where I fell. As time passed... and I had no idea how much time had passed... my hunger grew. My stomach growled several times, each minute. Even that came to a halt... God knows how much time has passed.

The situation was getting worse by the minute. I do not know what time it was or what state I was in. I can tell that more than a day has passed. But not a single person has contacted me. I couldn't hear a single sound made by... anything that could create one. The air remained still, as it had been at the start. Even the temperature remained constant.

If this is an actual location on Earth, the temperature would have changed throughout the day and night. Even now, my eyes couldn't see any light. I was wondering... maybe I did lose my sight? These pointless notions, arising from a state of hunger and exhaustion, drove me to gradually lose my sanity.

I was beginning to wonder if I was the sole survivor on the entire planet. It's still surreal, but there was no sign that I wasn't alone. There isn't a single animal squeak here. What type of place is this... where time appears to have become stalled? My sole hope was fading... or had faded long ago. When there is no hope left to cling to, all I have to do is create one for me to live.

Clearing my thoughts, I accepted the new reality and let go of the false hope. There was no family left for me to return to… They were not my family, to begin with. My family abandoned me a long time ago... even death abandoned me... leaving me all alone again. 

"I may be the sole survivor of this large-scale disaster that has befallen us, but I will not abandon my life to die any longer. Even if I face death one more time, I will not give up hope and continue to survive. I will live for the sake of the dead, and I will find all the answers to the questions that are running wild in my head. If I am to fight for my survival, I'll have to go through this hell many more times. " I got up on my feet again, gritting my teeth.

I used every ounce of my strength to reposition my dislocated shoulder bone. From my right upper shoulder to half of my right side back... I couldn't feel anything. Staying on the same side for what seemed like days...? Blood flow to my arm must have been obstructed. I was gradually regaining sensation in my right arm, but my shoulder remained numb as if it didn't exist... paralyzed... yeah, that's the right word.

My throat felt dry as I became thirsty. I don't know how many days... I don't know how many... water left my body from tears that poured from my eyes to blood that had dried off. My body was weakening as I didn't have anything to eat. If this continues, I will perish from dehydration, or rather starvation, any day now. I staggered ahead, my hand on the rocky wall to my left.

I kept walking forward, hoping to locate something... anything in this godforsaken gulf of absolute darkness. The days have passed... or so I thought. I didn't have a sense of time, so I couldn't make an exact measurement. So I just continued pressing forward till my legs lost strength. I took a break near the rock wall to restore what little strength I had left in me. I took another step ahead. I did this several times to find anything.

As my resting time grew and my walking time decreased, more time passed. Even if you wound me with a knife, not a single drop of blood would ooze out. It's a miracle I didn't die from dehydration.

"Hahaha..." I gave out an amused laugh that only I could hear.

My body began processing protein a long time ago when there were no calories or fat to burn. I was now like a skinny, dried-out fish. I'm barely hanging on. I could feel my ribcage bones beneath my sternum. They were visibly sprouting out of my body with each passing day. Even my legs couldn't support my body weight any longer... assuming there was anything left to weigh in the first place.

I was still fascinated by my condition. I used to be a cheery six-year-old who thought he was mature for his age. But today I can say that any grown man in my current condition would be dead. Even if he survived, as I did, I believe he would choose death over living... by starvation.

I want to show the world how mature I am right now... Cora, Madam Madison, and other kids, but... there are none to watch. I won't pretend I wasn't in despair in the past few days, but what we call... an animal's instinct to survive…? kept me going.

Perhaps when a human is brought to the brink of despair, hope awakens. I know I won't be able to live like this for long, but I will continue to strive and get up every time to move on. This is the hope I wish to instil in myself. A wish that is neither false nor true. The uncertainty which breeds hope.

In the end, even if I die, I will be satisfied knowing I gave it my all. It is always better to try and fail than to fail over doing nothing.

I rose again, aware that these were my last hours, and I was neither happy nor sorry about it. I took small steps forward, supported by the wall on my left. But this time, as I walked forward, the seemingly endless rocky wall came to an end. I walked down the wall, my palm across it, with a tinge of excitement welling up inside me. As I studied the tough rock with my hands, I felt the rocky wall bending inside, showing an opening of some sort.

I continued to step inside with the help of the wall, oblivious to my current state. 

‘Plop’

For the first time in this dark abyss, I heard a tiny sound. My enthusiasm grew as my pace quickened. I disregarded every sensation racing through my body and continued on my path.

'Plop, plop."

The sounds became more distinct.

'Plop, plop, drip"

As more sounds hit my eardrums, I realised.

"Wa-wa-wa-wate-r..." Whatever energy remained in my dying body found its way to my throat. My eyes welled up with tears.

I finally found it at the end of the cave entrance... The sliver of hope I could cling onto.