I am cocooned in utter darkness; the only light comes from the blinking spots above. I’ve often been scared of the night, since I am always alone in the middle of nowhere. Beneath me lies the soft mounds of green: the Green Pillows. They come in different sizes, and barely talk, but I can sometimes make conversation with them. Right now, they are sleeping like everything else around me. As the night progresses, I stop moving and listen to the noises around me. I hear the crickets murmuring back and forth, as if guarding a threatening secret. The wind snatches words of their mysterious conversation as it stumbles painfully through the silent night. Meanwhile, the blinding pearls glare down from above, as if watching the still world with judgemental scrutiny. I shut my eyes and clasped my ears with a desperate hope of enjoying the rest of this tormenting night in peace. 

I’m lying somewhere other than my home turf. I’m not really sure where I am. A human foot is jabbing at me incessantly, and suddenly I am in the air; I haven’t felt this in a while. I love the sensation of flying, feeling the smooth air glide past me, but this time, it’s different. I am so high that I feel like I can touch the stars. Instantly, I am back on the ground again. And then, again, it happens. Over and over I am jabbed, “kicked” into the air, trapped by humans and their many body parts, some of my landings softer than others. In an instant, my world changes. I feel a sharp pain in my side. My body is being pushed together. It’s hard to breath. I’m losing weight, becoming smaller; something is terribly wrong, I can feel it. Suddenly it hits me, the shock of my life falling apart. A hole has formed in my side, and I don’t know where it came from. The air in me, my life source, is slowly dribbling out of my body. I’ve heard about this “hole” before. Humans call it a puncture, but I have never known anyone who has had it. I guess I’m the first. I’m deflating and I know it. I can’t move, the humans have stopped kicking me. Then I am deflated. Gone forever.
A burst of color floods my eyelids; I feel hot, damp dew around me. My eyes shoot open and I see the scorching sun, the lush Green Pillows, the bright blue sky. I am alive.