The ceiling was unfamiliar.
Not just in color or shape . it felt wrong, like a half-remembered dream slipping through my fingers.
I blinked, trying to shake the fog clouding my mind. Why did everything feel so heavy, and at the same time, so fragile?
I tried to move, but my limbs felt strange clumsy, small just uncooperative. My heart hammered, uneven and distant, like it belonged to someone else it all felt alien.
Panic started to rise, but I tried to shove it down. staycalm , think.
I sat up slowly, every muscle tense as if I was waking from a long, confusing sleep that left my body unfamiliar.
Why couldn't I remember falling asleep here? Why was my skin so soft? Why did my hands look like a kid's?
Frustration bubbled under the confusion. What the hell is going on?
I glanced around the room . plain walls, soft morning light filtering through a dusty window. Nothing familiar.
I tried to speak, but my voice got higher, thinner, not mine , alien.
I shoved the lump in my throat down and tried again, "Hello?"
No answer.
My breath hitched. The room spun slightly. I felt trapped inside this smaller body, locked in someone else's life.
I clenched my fists, heart pounding harder. This can't be real. This can't be happening it must be a dream . it should be.
But it wasn't.
Before I could panic, a knock came at the door.
"Are you awake, Eli?" A woman's voice. Gentle. Too gentle.
My mouth opened instinctively. "Y-yeah."
Wrong voice.
It cracked slightly . higher-pitched, smaller. I looked down. The body wasn't just young. It was probably no older than fifteen.
The door creaked open. A woman stepped in, smiling, carrying a tray of food. She looked about thirty, wearing a worn apron and worry behind her eyes.
"You were tossing in your sleep again," she said, setting the tray beside me. "Nightmare?"
I wanted to speak , to explain , to ask but all i could do was nod.
She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed my hair back. She smelled like warm bread and soap.
"come on ,eat something.come downstairs. Your brother's already waiting downstairs."
My brother?
I nodded, watching her go.
And then I just sat there, I looked down at my hands smaller than i remembered, My mind spinning with wide range of questions.
I forced myself out of bed , every step feeling strange and foreign.
my legs were thinner than i expected and my balance wobbled like i was learning to walk again.
The room smelled faintly cinnamon and something woodsy. i didn't recognize the scent, but it was strangely comforting in a way.
Down the narrow wooden stairs creaked under my feet as i made my way toward the kitchen. voices drifted from the next room. laughter? light and familiar?
I paused at the doorway.
A boy , maybe ten or eleven , sat at the table with messy hair and a crooked grin. he looked up and waved. "Hey! You're finally up! Mom said to hurry or breakfast will get cold."
I blinked. My brother?
I forced a smile and nodded , trying to sound normal. "Yeah..... I'm coming."
At the table , a man sat focused on a sleek, hand held device glowing softly in his hands , the screen flickered with scrolling news headlines and images. somekind of digital feed unlike i'd seen before.
He glanced up , eyes sharp and tired but kind. With a quick swipe, he paused the feed. "Morning , kiddo. You're late"
"Sorry," i said, my voice cracking a little. they seemed normal.... too normal. But i wasn't
...... I was a stranger.... .....