Ari

My name was Kim Ahri Gaumond, a simple employee who usually spends most of her time working, doing charities or attending my treatment. I never really had a chance to give myself a break since I was not an outgoing person. For the first time in my 30 years of life, I decided to finally give in to my dream of having an international vacation not related to work. I may not be outgoing, but I still want to experience a life of leisure in a faraway land. My destination was the City of Love, Paris – romantic isn't it? If one shall ask if I was going to travel with my boyfriend—I'll say, "Hell no! I am traveling alone but not lonely." Yes, I know it was awkward for a single person since birth like myself to travel to the City of Love alone—but I don't care. I just want to travel overseas, hoping to finally find my soulmate elsewhere despite my special condition. The reason I have been single since birth was because I have an extreme fear of men, causing me to work only in a company run by women. It took me years to adapt to my condition. I was homeschooled and never had a chance to attend a regular class ever since my family discovered my illness. I have been diligently undergoing therapy and medications, but it didn't actually cure me from my phobia until now. Living in constant fear was actually tiring and depressing so I decided to go on a vacation on a whim. My mother and my doctors were all supportive with my travel plan, but my manager was really shocked. She was extremely opposing my travel plans so went to ask the general manager instead. The higher ups granted me a leave of absence immediately upon checking that I already finished my current tasks at hand ahead of time. I was given a week paid vacation since I never used my vacation leaves ever since I entered the company. The company diligently promotes work – life balance, so it's only natural for them to grant vacation leaves as long as the tasks at hand were handled ahead of time. My manager was just an exception because she loves to dump her work to me, especially if it was regarding the charity events that the company was supporting. I already prepared my stuff the night before the scheduled flight so I woke up at 4 in the morning to prepare myself to set out early and checked-in at the airport. I rode a cab and took a nap on the way since it will take me at least an hour or two before we could arrive at the airport. It was still early when I arrived at the airport because it was a must to check-in at least two hours before the scheduled flight. My heart was pounding really hard when our flight number was called. I was nervous but excited at the same time, especially when I walked to the runway. I only availed an economy class seat, so I will be sitting next to a stranger and it made me so anxious knowing that the person who will sit next to me might be a man. I chose a seat next to the window so that I could see the view despite being anxious. I took my medications upon boarding the plane because a man was seated beside my designated seat and I don't want to look awkward. I was so excited when the plane started to run. The attendants were diligently reminding everyone about the safety reminders during the flight and I double checked everything—from the seatbelt and the emergency kits that were being demonstrated by the flight attendants. I pulled up the hood of my jacket, wore my headphones, played music at a loud volume and took a nap after the announcements. Suddenly, I felt an extremely unpleasant feeling, making me wake up from my nap. I thought it was just my phobia so I just ignored my feelings and kept my eyes closed. I was shocked when I opened my eyes—there were hijackers aboard the plane. I was panicking in my mind and my heart was beating so fast. My anxiety was already overwhelming me as one of the hijackers pointed his gun at me. He demanded while pressing the gun roughly against my forehead, "You! Give me all your belongings, including your jacket!" I was trembling while silently mumbling to myself, "Rest in peace my happy travel. Why am I so unfortunate?" He yelled with a horrifying tone, "What did you say?!" My heart skipped a beat and I was trembling in fear. I instantly obeyed the man's demand, but as I pulled down my hood, removed the jacket and headphones—I suddenly felt the urge to puke. He suddenly grabbed my pale and numbing face, then looked intently while smirking with his lustful eyes. I tried to struggle as I screamed in my mind, "Gosh! Not now—" I suddenly vomited on his face as I fainted in fright while thinking, "Rest in peace my dear life. This may be the end. Sorry Mom, I think I won't be able to come back home alive." I don't know how he reacted after I fainted, but I felt like my body was thrown aside, then an old woman held me while trembling and mumbling as if praying—using a language I was not familiar with. I still couldn't feel anything due to numbness but the last thing I remember was that the plane suddenly lost its control as the pilot was shot dead then I fainted again due to hyperventilation and panic. I didn't even know if I died due to a plane crash or due to cardiac arrest triggered by my condition. Well, rest in peace my dear self, rest in peace. I still regret not being able to find love during my past life. I was so frustrated, so I screamed while I was in the Abyss, "Damn it! Why me? Why am I so unlucky? Oh dear God, what sin did I do to deserve such life? I only wanted to finally live a normal life and finally find the special someone I can share the rest of my life with. But why? Why do you detest me so much to the point I am unable to find my soulmate and experience what love is? Why?" I felt like I was in a river of darkness before I was suddenly sucked into a wormhole. Then, I woke up in a dark, cramped and damp place. "Am I alive? Or is this the afterlife?" I thought to myself. It's so slimy, but I can hear some people mumbling and chatting from the distance outside this wall-like thing. I feel like I was trapped in a capsule or a shell. It was warm and comfortable for some reason, despite the sticky slime surrounding me. I tried stretching out as much as I could and felt like I was breaking out into some kind of shell. It was so tiring trying to break free so I always fell back asleep once in a while. I couldn't tell how long I was in the cramped enclosure since I couldn't tell if it was day or night—all I knew was that it took me at least a few days to do so. I finally broke out of the shell and realized that I was inside an egg. I looked around and saw a few more eggs that were clustered in a group. Each cluster varied in number though the size was random. I was too tired to crawl out from the shell so I laid down on my tummy like babies do to rest. My tiny little chubby arms made me realize that I had become a baby. I asked myself, "Why did I come out of an egg? Where am I? Did I die and was reborn into an unknown world?" "Ooodjee! Wah iihh hee!? [OMG! What is this?!]" My voice came out like gibbers, so I was frustrated and realized that I really turned into a baby. I tried to crawl out from the shell, but I was gasping for air due to exhaustion after trying so hard for a few times. I yawned a few times and almost fell asleep. "Ahgu! Daeet! [Argh! Dang it!]" I shouted frustratingly as I lay flat on my tummy. I sleepily, looked at the egg shell parts that I broke and noticed that I was placed on top of a blue furry animal pelt blanket and was isolated from the other eggs. I heard footsteps approaching, but I couldn't see the face of the person clearly as I uncontrollably shut my eyes to sleep. Though half asleep, I can hear a commotion while I was being held by a familiar yet firm warmth. From the side, I can hear a voice of a woman arguing with the crowd as the person holding me stays silent yet caressing my hair as if reassuring me that everything will be okay. I can't understand what they were saying because they were speaking a language that was not familiar to me. The only thing I knew was that they were arguing about me. I dozed off a few times before I was able to wake myself up. When I opened my eyes, I angrily looked at all the people surrounding us. "Ewo eeh ek?! [What is going on here?!]" I screamed, scolding everyone with all my might. I was suddenly taken aback when I realized that everyone around me was not human. At that very moment, I finally realized that I was reborn into a world that only exists in novels—the world full of beastmen. Silence surrounded the room when the beastly creatures looked at my eyes. They all suddenly bowed down praising words I couldn't even understand before roaring enthusiastically. "Gosh! This jerk of a God really was playing tricks on me. Why am I transmigrated into a world like this? Why do these beastly creatures treat me like a pest in a few moments and bow down in front of me the next second? Are they crazy or am I crazy?"