Nightvale - Chapter 1 - Pings

Nightvale - Chapter 1 - Pings
- i -

Teal wearily awoke to darkness.

The quiet, repetitive pinging of different machines to her left and right were reflected in the deep ache from her legs and arms.

'What happened,' thought Teal as she opened her eyes.

The pitch-black room continued to be fully covered in a thick layer of darkness.

Arms to either side, Teal felt for the edge of the bed; finding the ride side of the mattress, she lifted up her hand slowly.

Not finding anything, Teal placed her right hand on the bed, locked her hand, and tried swinging her legs slowly to the right.

"Ow!" yelped Teal, as she realized she could not move her feet.

'Why can't I move my legs?' thought Teal, as she reached down to touch her ankles.

Touching her thighs, knees, ankles, and toes, Teal felt around her feet.

'Hmm ... nothing is stopping them.' thought Teal, 'I wonder why I can't move my legs.'

"I wonder if they're just asleep or something," said Teal as she smacked her upper thigh.

Deep waves of pain washed over Teal and as she fell back her head landed on her pillow.


- ii -

Teal awoke in darkness.

Opening her eyes, Teal could make out a shape roughly eye-level floating to her left.

It was a barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing.

'That is beautiful,' thought Teal. 'I wonder how it is just hanging there.'

Looking to her feet, Teal could barely make out her toes.

'I'm not doing that again,' thought Teal, 'my legs still hurt.'

Reaching down, Teal touched her toes.

"Okay, I can still feel my toes, and my toes feel me pinching them," said Teal.

Teal tried wiggling her toes. They slowly wiggled right back.

"Yes," said Teal, "I'm not paralyzed!"

Throbbing in her legs walked from her ankles to her waist.

"I will have to do this slowly." said Teal. "But where am I?"

She gently moved her right leg, then her left, towards the right edge of the bed.

A ping on the left and ride sides of the bed came as an echo.

'I wonder what is making that sound," said Teal, as she continued to slowly rotate her legs to hang off the right side of the bed.

The pinging on the right side of the bed changed pitch slightly.

When Teal had finally arranged to dangle her legs off the right side of the bed, she looked up to the ping.

'Wow, it's just like the other one," thought Teal, as she looked up to see a barely-visible bright pink flower-shaped thing.

Bracing her hands, Teal tried feeling for the floor with her toes.

As Teal reached further and further, Teal felt as if she had almost reached the floor.

'I think its right here!' thought Teal, as she extended her foot further.

As her foot moved lower, Teal lost her purchase on the bed and her other leg dragged Teal down.

As Teal fell, she saw the barely-visible flower-shaped thing change to bright orange.

Just as Teal fell passed the bed, she flailed and barely caught one of the sheets.

The sheet loosened slightly and Teal swung under the bed and slammed into the left side of the bed.

In shock, Teal screamed and released the sheet.

And she fell.


- iii -

When Teal awoke, she was still falling.

Through deep darkness, Teal tried to open her eyes as far as they would allow.

'Maybe I can reach the walls,' though Teal as she reached her arms out as far as they would go.

Not feeling walls, or much of anything, Teal continued to drop.

"This is so weird," said Teal, "I know I'm falling. I can hear the air.  But I don't feel like I'm moving."

As Teal continued to fall, she heard pinging.

Looking up, Teal saw a barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing.

"What?!" said Teal, as she blinked.

To the right, Teal could just make out a barely-visible bright pink flower-shaped thing.

'How can that be?' thought Teal, as she looked down.

Teal sat in a large white wooden chair a little.

Teal's legs dangled easily from the edge; as each leg rocked gently forward, her knees and ankles tingled.

'Huh,' thought Teal, 'this just gets weirder and weirder.'

Glancing to her left, Teal could make out a barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing.

'I wish I could see it better,' thought Teal, as she squinted at it.

As she looked at it, Teal could hear the pinging sound a little more clearly and watched as the flower-shaped thing came into greater focus.

A hint of several large blue petals came into vague view as the flower-shaped thing traveled a little more and froze in place.

'I almost wish I was falling,' thought Teal, 'they were so much easier to see when I was falling.'

As Teal thought about what it felt like to be falling in a lightless void, she visualized the chair disappearing.

At that instant, Teal fell herself begin a slow decent downward, falling through the chair.

"Oh no, not again!" cried out Teal, as she fell faster and faster.


- iv -

Some time later, Teal awoke.

In pitch blackness, Teal blinked and tried to peer out into the darkness.

Nothing was visible above or below her; everything to left and right, in front and behind her, were all a fuzzy, dark blur.

Hearing a ping to her left, Teal turned to see a barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing with two clear petals.

After a moment, a ping to her right caused Teal to see a barely-visible bright pink flower-shaped thing.

As she continued to fall, Teal thought 'I really wish I wasn't falling. Those things are so beautiful.'

Slowly Teal felt herself stop falling.

Surrounded by darkness, Teal could still barely see the two flower-shaped things.

Focusing on the barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing, Teal said "I have seen dozens of flowers; I've never seen anything like it."

As she tried to see the various parts of the flower-shaped thing more clearly, Teal saw several additional petals and a gradation between different shades of blue.

Too, it seemed to grow closer as the pings again came more clearly.

When the third petal became clear, Teal felt pain shooting through her head.

"Owww!" yelped Teal as she turned and saw the flower-shaped things become fuzzy.

And again things went dark.


- v -

When Teal awoke, it was dark and wet.

Opening her eyes, Teal could see only darkness but could smell rich earth.

'This feels like wet dirt,' thought Teal, as she slowly scrambled in the darkness.

The darkness felt lighter and a light breeze drew her attention to a barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing.

'That smells like lavender ... no, pine ... ' thought Teal, as she blinked and stood up, following the smell.

As she walked toward the barely-visible bright blue flower-shaped thing, the smell grew luscious but the flower-shaped thing moved in the same direction.

'At least it seems closer,' thought Teal, as she reached out carefully with her hands and allowed herself to be led by the flower-shaped thing.

After several minutes, Teal thought, 'I wonder if the smell is coming from those floating flowers. I wish I could catch up to it.'

As Teal moved toward the flower-shaped thing, it continued moving but slowed down; cautiously approaching it, Teal was able to see it more clearly.

"Why, somehow it is lit from the inside," said Teal, as she walked around it, studying the flower-shaped thing.

"Part of it looks like a short lighthouse and part of it looks like a chromatic sunflower," said Teal, as she brought her finger up to the flower-shaped thing.

In the background, a quiet ping Teal had not noticed quickly ramped up.

Turning toward the ping, Teal nearly touched the flower-shaped thing and thought, 'I wish I could see!'

The instant Teal touched the flower-shaped thing, a small popping sound came from the flower-shaped thing and everything went brilliantly white for Teal.


- vi -

When the buzzing died down, Teal blinked slowly; with her eyes still adjusting, Teal saw the light blue flower-shaped lighthouse thingy floating to her left.

Gently tapping her foot, it hung in mid-air and slowly spun.

Along the side of the flower-shaped thing sat nine small pentagons, each adjacent to one another, that traveled all about its mid-section.

Every third pentagon held a strange flat bauble that luminesced a slightly different color.

'Oh, that's why it's blue,' thought Teal; the flower-shaped lighthouse rotated so the shiny blue gem faced her and quickly dimmed and undimmed.

Raising her eyebrows, Teal thought, 'did you ... just respond to what I thought?'

The flower-shaped lighthouse again dim-blinked its blue gem.

Surprised, Teal slowly stood and turned.

In the middle of a clearing, Teal saw the area in which she stood was surrounded on all sides by trees.

Breathing in deeply, Teal could smell the same wet dirt smell she had noticed earlier.

"But where ... where are the animals," said Teal, as she tried to listen more deeply.  "Are the animals all gone?"

The flower-shaped lighthouse dim-blinked its blue gem twice.

"What does that mean?" asked Teal, as she looked at the tree line. "Are there animals?"

The flower-shaped lighthouse dim-blinked once.

Looking towards the tree line, Teal saw a small blue-green line near the bottom of several trees.

From the same direction, Teal heard a quiet rumbling.

'Is that one of them?' thought Teal, as she looked at the flower-shaped lighthouse.

The flower-shaped lighthouse dim-blinked its blue gem.

Lightly clenching her fists, Teal looked toward the trees and said, "Let’s go find it."