Charlie

Charlie lay nestled up against the comforting warmth of his mother, dozing as he listened to the busy world outside of his own quiet nook.  He could hear the shrill cries of his young siblings as they ran playing outside of his view.  The comforting sounds of his mother and her friends calling to each other and the young ones as they played lulled him to sleep as he grew used to the sounds of the world he was so new to.

Shrill cries of alarm woke him, frightening him as the warm bulk of his mother suddenly left amid terrified squawks of protest.  He was unable to move as huge pink pillars descended toward him, clasping around him and taking him from his warm bed.  He tried to call for his mother, but was unable to make a sound as he was placed in a hard, cold faded purple box along with others his age.

He cuddled up against those in the box with him, scared and confused by the bright lights that appeared and disappeared at random intervals above the box without any warning, crying for his mother even as he heard her cries fading in the distance.

After what seemed a long journey, it grew darker in the box as it settled with a thud on a hard surface.  He felt cold even though he had tried to stay cuddled with his companions, so cold that it had made him sleepy again.  The pillars descended around him again, lifting him up into the air.  Though it frightened him, the pillars felt warm, and he leaned against them, trying to warm up.

A soft rag wiped him clean, and he was set with others that had been taken from the box before him in a warmer place.  He almost welcomed the return of the pillars when they picked him up once again, encircling him this time instead of just touching him with enough tension to pick him up and move him.  He felt safe and warm again, just like he had with his mother.

New sounds could be heard in this place, louder in many ways than where his mother was.  Some were high pitched, and some were deep, but he never got the chance to learn to understand them.  The last sounds he ever heard as he descended at a rapid rate, nestled in the huge pad at the top of the pillars were, “How do you want your eggs?  Scrambled or over easy?”