Ball of Nothing

Chapter 5 Bite Off More Than One Could Absorb

The shellfish was resilient, I must admit.

The awful sound has been going on for a long time now but the shellfish didn’t give in. The shell remained tightly shut and I wondered how long the attacker would persist. Would the mysterious enemy continue his barrage when the water comes in?

The answer was clear. The attacker paused in his strange onslaught and for a moment I enjoyed peace. However, the shellfish wasn’t as lucky. Not long after the sound ended, I felt a familiar feeling. It was similar to the feeling of falling with the space rock but instead of travelling downwards at an insane speed, we were going upwards slowly.

From within the shell I heard another sound from outside. It was a dull sound that sent powerful jolts of movements as we went upwards. It was faster after the sound and when it slowed, the sound would return once more. Sometimes it swerved to the sides before returning upright. I actually found this feeling enjoyable. If only I could take a peek at what was happening outside...

***

We finally landed. I don’t know where we are but surely the shellfish must be panicking by now. We don’t seem to be near sea any longer as I can no longer hear the sound of water. The attacker walked around a lot and seemed restless. However there were no more direct attacks on the tough outer shell. Was it trying to wait it out? My respect for the unknown creature increased. It certainly was smart.

On the other hand, I continued to absorb the shellfish and all the water inside. Once it runs out of water, it wouldn’t be long before it has to open again. At that time, I would take the chance to make my escape by clinging onto the attacker.

***

The opportunity came sooner than I expected. Slowly as the shellfish opened, I squinted to try and catch a glimpse of the mysterious hunter without avail. However, I did notice that it was already night. Also, there was a strange smell. Yes, I could smell it even without a physical form. That was how much I’ve advanced by absorbing part of the shellfish.

It’s not something I was familiar with. The background sounds became much clearer once the shellfish opened. It was rather peaceful sounding and I liked it. We remained like this for a while, I absorbed whatever I could (which mainly was the shellfish) and tried to spot the attacker.

Occassionally there was wind and from what I gathered, we were probably up in a high place because I could hear things move from below us. It was the first time I saw so much going on during the night. The shellfish wasn’t all that impressed unfortunately. It continued to squirm pitifully in its shell from the lack of water. It only eased its struggling when the mist appeared. At that time, I was happily absorbing the mist that passed by. It felt similar to water but it was much less tiring to take in.

Sunrise came and as the sun rose higher and higher, the mist became thinner and thinner till it disappeared completely. By now the sounds had completely changed. From something peaceful, it turned into something chaotic. However, to me it was still beautiful.

What I didn’t expect was for the shellfish to be attacked on a splendid day. The attacker came so swiftly, the shellfish didn’t have time to react. Before we knew it, the attacker’s very sharp beak was already inside the shell, so close to stabbing the tender insides of my host. The shell was slammed shut but the intruder’s beak was tough. Not even the shellfish’s full strenth could break it or make it retreat. They were stuck at a stalemate.

However I was happy. With both the shellfish and mysterious bird creature within my reach, I started absorbing. Since the bird was bigger than the shellfish and my host was dying without water, I decided to start off by absorbing the bird.

Previously, whatever I could absorb was small enough and I easily absorbed them whole. The water and shellfish were the only ones I didn’t manage to absorb in one go. However, once I touched the beak of the bird, a thought came to me. What will happen if I absorbed the part in contact with the shell and the bird escapes? That won’t do.

So the genius in me decided to try absorbing the whole bird in one go. It was by no means easy but I had the confidence to go through with it.

With a big inhale and lots of willpower, I sucked the bird in as much as I could, stretching my reach to the point of breaking. To my surprise, I could reach a lot further and even three times the size of the shellfish. The more I absorbed the further I could extend the range.

However, the downside was how I became more tired as I absorbed. Fighting against fatigue for the first time, I resolved to completely devour the bird and rest in the shellfish’s protection afterwards. What I failed to calculate for was for the bird to screech in pain and eventually overcome the shellfish’s power.

Once it broke the shell, it was free to pick at the tender insides of the shellfish. As I was a package deal with my host, I too disappeared into the bird’s beak and left the daylight behind me.

Oh dear.