Tine made his way into the dining hall for dinner.  As a day went, his had been rather uneventful which surprised him after the way Deven and Aiden had reacted that morning.  The one thing he really happened to be was tired.  All day long, he found it frustrating that he could not recall much of anything past entering the room on the top floor.  Whenever he thought on it, a kaleidoscope of color marred his memories and his head ached, so he tried not to think on it too much, however there was a lingering feeling that something did happen.  Something important.  Something he would want to remember. 

“What happened to you last night, Tine?” Aiden asked as the year-fours served.  “I’ve asked around today if anyone heard anything last night and it seems that everyone in our room slept solidly last night.  What did Deven say?”

“I remember going to bed and waking up this morning hurting, but it was kind of a good hurt. At least I think it was a good hurt.” Tine sighed.  “Deven told me I didn’t die, as if that wasn’t obvious.  And that movement would do me good.”

“Well I hope it does not happen again. You scared me.”

Aiden’s comment confused Tine. He hoped it did happen, even if the very thought brought tremors to his limbs.  How could he explain the dichotomy of his feelings to his best friend?  He could barely understand it himself when the half-formed images tumbled around in his mind, images he could not place nor explain.  Absently he took his portion from each dish as it passed from his neighbor on the right to his neighbor on his left.   When all the dishes had been passed around, Tine picked up his fork, speared a hunk of meat, brought it to his mouth, and began to chew.  His stomach roiled.  He spat it out.

“What’s the matter with you?” Aiden whispered, shocked at his best friend’s odd behavior.

“It tastes… bad,” Tine said as he pushed the meat on his plate away from everything else.