Somewhere and Nowhere at All
The pool is filled with lots of paint—
Don't look at me, I didn't do it!
I stand by the side, confused, but enjoying it anyways.
Suddenly, somebody grabs me!
I couldn't really make out their face,
But they tossed me into the pool, clothes and all.
It was worse than I could have ever imagined,
Colors, like red, blue, and green
Filling my vision
Bright and flashing
But all just meaningless noise.
If that wasn't enough, it got in my ears
Screeching, wailing,
Piercing, assailing,
Like nails on a chalkboard,
But blasted to a crowd at a concert.
And then it got in my mouth,
Pain, all over, like I had stepped in a fire,
Yet everything was numb, like I had slept on it weirdly,
With pins and needles, like the flow of blood was returning,
Altogether an unpleasant feeling.
My breathing shortened,
As I tried to keep up with it,
But the more I tried
To keep myself afloat
The harder
It got
To stay
Above
The
Noise
"This one was certainly... different." Monika wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Well, you know, I figured a style more like yours would suit this one better." Natsuki quickly caught herself. "N-Not that my style couldn't have gotten the same feeling across! I just— you know!"
Monika chuckled to herself. "Well, it's certainly got your vocabulary. I'm not quite sure what it's referring to, exactly..."
"Well—" Natsuki took a second to recompose herself. "I had this nightmare a few days ago, and it wasn't exactly like the poem described it but it's close enough."
"Oh?" Monika seemed concerned. "That sounds... awful."
"...It was..." Natsuki shuddered at the mere memory of the nightmare. "I... I mean, I'm perfectly okay now! It's not like it was so bad it keeps coming back every night or anything, so don't get worried!"
Monika couldn't help but chuckle lightly before extending her arms to offer a hug. "You know, just because you're our 'big strong Pro' doesn't mean you have to keep your emotions bottled up. It's okay to be scared, especially if it's that bad."
Natsuki reluctantly accepted the hug. "You don't think I'm a wuss for having nightmares at 18?"
"Is that what you tell yourself?" Monika shook her head slowly. "I don't think any less of you just because you're scared. Besides," Monika shrugged, "I've felt like that before too."
"You have?"
"Yeah. It's... not a fun place to be. But everything gets better, eventually."
"Promise?"
"Promise."