THREE
895 Words
The nurse had just left her alone again — probably off somewhere scribbling in another notepad about her “episodes” — when the door opened.
Two people entered the room: a tall, stern-faced man with sharp brows and a woman with a worried look and a purse clutched tightly in her hand. They looked like they hadn’t slept in days.
Dawn stared at them like a child watching a theatre performance she didn’t understand.
The woman rushed forward, eyes wet with relief. “Oh, thank God, baby… you’re awake. You’re finally awake!”
Dawn tilted her head. This woman was... stunning. A gentle, warm kind of beauty. Her aura was soft, comforting — like warm blankets in winter.
“Who are you?” Dawn asked sincerely, blinking. Then, very softly, and with the most genuine smile she had ever worn, “You’re so beautiful… will you marry me?”
The room fell silent.
the woman paused.
Then blinked.
Then smiled.
A little laugh escaped her lips. “Oh, honey. you're so silly”
Dawn grinned proudly. “I'm serious.”
Meanwhile, the man at the door folded his arms with an unimpressed scowl.
“ so we're making jokes now?” he grunted. “ when did you ever do that?”
“Can’t you be quiet for once, Joseph?” the woman snapped suddenly. “Let her be. She just woke up after two weeks in a coma. She doesn’t need your harsh words right now.”
Dawn’s head whipped between them.
Two weeks… coma…?
Wait. Wait.
Her eyes locked on the woman. Then the man. Their faces. The way they looked at her.
These people… were her parents.
Oh.
Oh.
A wave of dizziness hit her, but she masked it with a polite smile. “Would you like to sit?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” her mom said, already setting down a warm bag on the table beside the bed. “I brought you some food. I figured… if you woke up, you’d be starving.”
If I woke up. The words rang a little too loud in her chest.
Her mom began unpacking containers. “Here, baby. Homemade orange juice, just like you like it. Sandwiches. Chicken drumsticks. Oh—and I stopped by that place you love and got the nuggets. I know you don't eat much but you could at least have a taste of everything”
Dawn squinted. “Nuggets?”
Then her mom offered her one. She sniffed it, turned it around a few times like it might explode… and took a bite.
And immediately saw God.
She gasped. Then moaned. Like the kind of moan that made her father flinch.
“By the saints,” she whispered. “What is this ? Soft flesh… crunchy coat… warm like a lover’s embrace. Are you sure this is chicken?" I don't remember them ever tasting like this.
Her mother blinked. “It’s… it’s just chicken nuggets, sweetie.”
“I love it.”
She grabbed another. And another. Then reached for the sandwich.
Tomatoes, lettuce, grilled meat, soft bread.
She took a huge bite and groaned like she was possessed. “How is your world full of such wonders?! What else do you eat here?”
Her dad stared at her, absolutely horrified. “You’re inhaling food like an animal.”
“She hasn’t eaten solid food in two weeks, Joseph,” her mother snapped again, slapping his arm.
Next came the one that looked suspicious.
She stared at it, fork in hand. “What’s this?”
“Pasta. I made it the way you like.”
She poked it. Noodles wiggled.
“Is it worms?”
Her mother gasped. “What?! No!”
She cautiously picked one up and sniffed it. Then took a bite.
And her soul ascended.
She ate the rest with unholy enthusiasm.
Then came the drumsticks — which, shockingly, she devoured too. No hesitation. Fingers sticky, lips glazed with joy.
Her parents watched in stunned silence. Especially her father.
“Is this the same girl who once cried because she gained half a kilo and refused to eat rice for three weeks?” he whispered.
Dawn leaned back, eyes half-closed in bliss. “I don’t know who that girl was… but I love this one.”
Her mother chuckled. “Baby, you really don’t remember anything, do you?”
“I…” Dawn hesitated. “I think I hit my head really hard.”
Her father nodded slowly. “She must’ve. That fall… it nearly killed her.”
Dawn sat upright. “What fall?”
Her parents exchanged a glance.
Her mother reached out, brushing her hair from her face. “You fell. From a rooftop. The doctors said it was a miracle you survived. You’ve been in a coma ever since.”
Her father added grimly, “I think it was intentional. One of my enemies. Trying to get at me by hurting my daughter. I knew it would come to this someday.”
“Joseph—please,” her mom said softly.
Dawn, however, wasn’t listening anymore.
She was staring at the last nugget in the box, wondering if it would be weird to lick the sauce off the paper.
This world… was strange.
It was loud, and weird, and terrifying.
But also…
Delicious.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
- Writer
