It's bumpy in here again. Fourth time today I'm being tossed around, bashing into Josh and Alfie and that new guy with the extra long tail. Ben, I think he's called. He's a strong swimmer. Gonna have to watch him; learn from him.
I try to focus, throbbing headache, tumbling until I don't know which way I'm facing, crashing into the sides of the pink sphere. I try to latch onto its mottled surface, grappling with every molecule of strength to steady myself, catching a break as the movement of the orb slows.
The wall contracts slightly, like it did a few hours ago when I missed the last stream out of here, maddeningly just out of reach as Tom and Kyle and a few thousand others I barely knew rocketed towards the light at the end of the tube. Lucky bastards.
Gripping with all my might, the nauseating motion of the globe lessens. Just a gentle swinging to and fro as I try to increase my purchase in preparation for what prior experience indicates will become the more violent phase.
This close to the surface I can hear commotion the other side of the wall. Staccato shouts accompany the usual vibrations of the voice. Short and positive bursts like, "Yes!" and "Take it all!"
In the distance, something else filters through the membrane. Something higher pitched. Repetitive. Lots of the same vowel: 'O'. It sounds rapturous, euphoric as I sway gently, forwards, backwards, in, out.
The wall to which I'm clinging expands a tiny bit and I almost lose my grip. It's fucking hot in here. Usually, when we're not being buffeted, a temperature increase precedes expansion, then everything cools before contraction. But this time, just like those few frantic occasions earlier, the heat is unbearable and there's no expansion in sight to regulate things.
But I bear it, only because there's a half chance this may be the one.
My time.
My way out into the light. To finally find if the rumours are true. Being catapulted to freedom. Landing on mountains capped with cherries. Dense, wiry forests. Or the banks of the pink ravine.
The swinging starts again in earnest and the cries from outside increase in intensity. All my friends can sense it and there's nervous energy throughout as the liquid in which we're encased heats up, becomes a fraction more viscous. It makes it easier to hold on as we dangle and swing around the enclosure but I know there's work to be done.
Timing is everything.
I've missed the last three and I'm sure as hell not going to make the same mistake. The wall shrinks twice in quick succession, pinching my hold. It's stifling but the nerve endings nearby fire electricity into the water and it simultaneously excites and calms me.
It's like everything is coiled, ready, spring-loaded, and time slows. There's a deep vibration far above me. Almost a growl of satisfaction. I nearly lose my grip at the sharp crack outside. Sounds like a whip, and the high pitched 'O' in the distance grows louder, turning to a sustained moan, an imploring, desperate, needy quality to it. It's arousing beyond compare. Nothing like the far gentler previous time.