Your mind is a very interesting place. You just float around in the darkness. Alone. No emotions, no feelings, no weather. You just sit there with your thoughts and your consciousness. And then a deadly virus creeps in. Slowly, so you don't know it's happening. Steady, so it doesn't take you by surprise. Then the virus takes root in your mind. And the dreams, nightmares, visions, whatever you wish to call them, flood over like a raging ocean.
~
The world around me snapped into place, like a camera focusing its lens. I was standing in a room. It looked like a dining room. Nothing fine, just a typical, warm, sparsely furnished room with walls of warm reds and carpets of soft browns. I heard the faint playing of a piano. It was beautiful. I had never remembered hearing music before. It was.......calming. The melodies and harmonies flowing over each other in perfect sync, stepping and tapping in a musical dance. I turned and saw a table. Brown, wooden, set with plates, forks, knives, and adorned with baskets of bread, dishes I couldn't begin to name, and a large jug of some drink. Sitting around it were a mother and father at the ends. The man had rich, brown hair that was a perfect, short length. He had stubble around his face and rich, chocolate, soft, kind, brown eyes. The woman was gorgeously stunning, with dirty blonde, curly hair falling around her shoulders. Her eyes were this piercing blue, and her face glowed with this aura of peace. Her soft, red cheeks radiated comfort and kindness. On the opposite sides of the table I could see 2 children. One boy, and one girl. They were only about 4 years old, stabbing at the food in front of them with their utensils. The girl had frizzy brown hair that puffled out from her head. Her lips were set in a smile, giggling at the boy across the table. I glanced at the boy. He had the same tone of brown hair. His small cheeks had one dimple on the side as he smiled at the girl across the table. He twirled his fork in between his fingers, smiling and giggling.

"Purita!", the mother called at the girl. "Do not play with your food! Or no Zuppa after supper!"

The woman's voice rang in my ears, loud and clear. It had this rich, Russian thickness to it. It sounded familiar. Like, a distant song you once knew the words to, but you remembered it just the same. It sounded....like.....home.

"Not if I eat if all first!", the father said, quickly rising from his chair and running out of the room to what I assumed was the kitchen. The little girl jumped out of her seat, giggling as she ran after him. "Zuppa! Zuppa!", she called.

The woman looked and smiled at the boy, tapping his nose with one finger. "We will just have to steal some from those two, eh?", she said.

The little boy laughed uncontrollably. "Zuppa, mommy! Zuppa!", he said.

The man returned with a large, white iced cake on a platter in his hands, with the little girl quick on his heels. He carefully set it on the table, taking a big knife and slicing it to pieces. As he removed slice after slice, he revealed a rich, yellow cake on the inside. Soon everyone had a slice on their plate, digging in relishly.

"Son," the man said to the boy. "What is your favorite dessert?"

"Zuppa!", he said eagerly.

He turned to the girl. "What about you?"

"Zuppa!", she replied.

"Liefè", he said to the woman. "What is your favorite dessert?"

She smiled. "My favorite dessert? I have to say little boys. I could just eat them up! What about you?"

"I think little girls," he said. "Because they'd taste good with jelly on a biscuit!"

As he said so he got up and chased the little girl out of her seat. The woman reached for the boy but he ran off in time, giggling and laughing. The room was filled with laughter and joy of the parents chasing the children about the room. Both the parents scooped up a child, raising them up and spinning, then falling to the ground. They both were on the floor, laughing, with the children on top of them. The laughter died down within a few moments.

"My little Saren," the woman said.

"My little Cyrus," the man said.

Their words rang and echoed in my ears. Saren. Cyrus. Saren. Cyrus. Their words became louder. They became warped with louder sounds. I clutched my head, falling to the floor. Saren! Cyrus! The ringing sound pounded at my head. Saren! Cyrus! I kept hearing the parents voice. They were like monsters inside my head. Saren! Cyrus! That was my name! That was her name! Those voices, I knew those voices! Somewhere deep inside me I knew those voices! I knew that cake! I knew that room, I knew that piano, I knew those people! I pressed my hands to my ears, trying to block out the deafening noise. Saren! Cyrus! I shouted, but it was like shouting into a void.

An endless void.