Little paws scrabbled at the walls and nipped until at last the peridot chrysalis gave way, a small fancy rat emerging into the world, which immediately greeted the gemling with cold. He shivered, already missing the cold of his chrysalis.

He squeaked in dismay, looking around for something warm. But as he approached the water, it was even colder, so he backed away from the chilly liquid. Instincts told him to find warmth, but the less instinctual side of him wondered what everything was, and how he knew what they were.

The world was dizzying in the information it provided to the little rat. In his situation, it was hard to view the world imperturbably. And though the world was cold, it was also awe-some.

@Drak

"I've lost track of this shit." The voice was distant, and followed closely by a hiccup. "What Cycle is it? Damn it-... (hic)--I blame time zones." There was no mention of what the heck a time zone was, but after a moment, a deafening trumpet blared throughout the tunnel. It was so loud that the creek reverberated, ripples disrupting the flow for a moment.

[Audible deep breath.]

"CONGRATULATIONS, FOR--PROBABLY?--BEING BORN IN CYCLLLLLEEEEE ONE HUNDRED, OF YOU GUYS BEING AWAKE, AND SH--language, Nemean, it's a kid--uhh--STUFF!"

There was an abysmal little flare of confetti that cascaded weakly around, and the brief, ill-timed thundering of drums. "Almost outta that stuff. -Almost outta everything. Let's see."

Good to note, here, that this voice was wholly disembodied. The spotlight, too, that abruptly flared down on little Rathaniel was half-assed, missing him entirely for a moment before sweeping around to settle on him with a halfhearted flicker.

"Right, okay, here. THESE are AWESOME."

A single, small plastic vial of blue glitter--the kind that gets everywhere and never comes out--clinked to the ground beside the rat.

Then, a second--in green.

Then, about twenty more, in all the colors of the rainbow, and two that were filled with rainbow glitter. They tumbled down in a clatter, falling and rolling everywhere. "DAMN IT, NOT ALL OF THEM! -WELL it's TOO LATE now. Don't get any in your eyes, you hear now?"

That was it; no farewell. The voice, the spotlight, the lingering few confused drumbeats, all vanished at once.

The glitter vials, however, remained, some rolling a few inches away as if a little lost.

@Rathaniel