The world is warm.
It has always been warm.
Occasionally it jostles and bumps around,
but there’s no reason to think that anything could change this constant.
There’s a cooing murmur all around.
It seems to be a language. Communication.
It’s incomprehensible.
Or…it’s nearly incomprehensible.
There are two words that stick out among the rumbling cacophony.
Mummah
Babbehs
They’re good words; Soft and comforting.
You begin to understand that there’s a distinction between the two things.
Mummah
Babbehs
After dreaming about the words for a while, you begin to understand that mummah is the voice that is speaking.
Does that mean that you are babbehs?
Babbehs…
Sure. That’s good. You’re babbehs.
All is well in the warm world.
The world is warm, and it’s beginning to feel crowded.
At times you feel others around you.
Other whats?
Are there other…babbehs?
But you’re babbehs!
Who told other babbehs they could be in the world?
You feel one of the other babbehs…imposter babbehs…near, and you reach out, shoving them away.
Surely mummah would see the wrong here and fix it soon.
The world is warm. And wriggling.
Now you feel the other babbehs…the faker babbehs…all around you, all the time.
In dreamy times you were pressed close to some of them.
In wakie times you kicked them away, struggling to find a place that wasn’t occupied by babbehs.
When did the world get so small?
It was during one such wakie time when new words rumbled through the world. Big words…scary words. You heard mummah moan them loudly
BIIIIIGGGGUUUUSSSSPPPOOOOOOOOOOOPPPEEEEEEES
the world tightened around you and the false babbehs.
Relief washed over your mind. Mummah had realized that all these other babbehs didn’t belong here. Mummah was sending them away. Soon the world would be big, and warm, and wonderful again.
Soon there would only be Babbehs left in the world.
Soon it would be comfortable again.
Soon the not-babbehs would be gone.
The world squeezed around you again, and you felt the pile of not-babbehs lurch away.
The not-babbehs made little chirps of annoyance at their sudden eviction. You could hear them all the way outside the world.
The world tightened it’s grip around you once more, and there was a sudden explosion of sensation.
The world was…not warm anymore.
And something about it hurt your head.
Maybe it was how everything seemed louder all of a sudden.
Maybe it was that your little body trembled all over in the not-warm you found yourself in.
Maybe it was the piercingly bright light all around.
It suddenly occurred to your tiny mind that Babbehs had been cast out of the world along with all the other non-Babbehs!
This wasn’t right!
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be!
There came to be an enormous presence hovering over your trembling body
The low murmur it whispered to you told you that this was Mummah, come to save you at last!
You turned toward the sound as best you knew how, and it pressed something against you. It was warm, and soft, but the texture was rough enough to drag away the remnants of the world from your body.
You wanted to thank her, to praise her, to tell her that Babbehs was so glad to be saved by her.
….the sound you made sounded a lot like the chirping that came from the not-Babbehs…
You wanted to tell Mummah that you were different. She didn’t seem to understand, because she gathered you up with all of the not-Babbehs into a pile. The world was too bright to see anything, but you felt them jostling against you. You knew them by their tiny shoves.
You found your face pressed against a delightfully warm and soft place. As you pulled in air to make another chirp your head was filled with something heavenly. You pushed your face into it, searching for the way to return to the world. It had to be here. Your mouth found a lump, and latched onto it, suckling away in hope to return to your warm world.
What happened instead was that your mouth was flooded with warmth.
You swallowed, spreading the warmth to your belly.
It wasn’t quite heaven, but it was close enough.
In time you came to hear other voices around you.
Were there…were there other worlds out here?
They certainly didn’t sound like Mummah…but they spoke many of the same words.
They talked about you. Bebbehs.
Could they see that you weren’t supposed to be evicted?
Would they help you back home to the world? ….well…Your…world?
One of the worlds drew close enough that you could sense his breath, and feel his warmth.
In it’s low, slow voice it spoke a different word. One that didn’t sound right, but it still sounded pleasant
Daddeh
and there was another word that you hadn’t picked out before, but it sounded more delightful than all of the previous ones
Wub
It took a long while but the brightness in your head abated, and you fell into a rhythm of waking, dreaming, and nursing.
You had to wait for Mummah to give her warm nourishment to not-Babbehs before you could have any, and this made you angry.
But it was hard to want to keep fighting when Mummah cooed to you, and gently pressed your face against the milky way.
Outside the world was cold. Maybe those non-Babbehs weren’t so bad. Laying amongst them and snuggling into their warmth could never be as nice as being back in the World, but it was the best you could find for now.
Wakie times and dreamy times ran together in your memory.
So did struggling with other-babbehs, and suckling at Mummah.
But when she pulled you away from the milky way, and lifted you up to whisper her secrets to you, it made parts of your face tighten, and bend the shape of it. This delighted Mummah and she called for Daddeh to see it too. You tightened your face as much as you could, and suddenly a new sensation filled your head. The brightness was overwhelming, but there was something out there…moving. Getting closer. It hurt, and you chirped at the pain. But when Mummah sounded sad you tried again, tightening your face, and letting the brightness into your head.
None of what you sensed made any sense.
There was a pink blur, and a green blur, hovering near you, giving long, deep cheers when your face was tight. The pink blur was holding you up in the air.
There was only one being that could be, and your mouth worked spasmodically as you moaned.
“Muh…Muh”
“Yuh, me yo mummah, gud babbeh”
The green one leaned close, and it’s features changed and spread
“Gud babbeh no hu dis fwuffy am?”
You had met a few worlds, but this one was oddly familiar, too.
It took a few chirps and grunts do learn how to make the sound, but in time your mouth seemed to settle on a shape that let you moan
“Dah. Deh”
The blurry pair leaned against one another, and the strain of having to tighten your face was too much.
You fell into dreamy times.
It was easier to open your eyes in the dim light of the morning.
And when you started to tumble across your siblings they quickly awoke as well. They had learned to open their eyes. They sniffed at you, and stared at you. A white fluff to one side chirped happily and tackled you. The other two followed suit.
It was scary at first and you made poopies without meaning to.
But these three weren’t hurting you. In fact they were… cuddling you.
The big male foal layed his head across yours and spoke a new word
“Wub Buhduh”
Mummah raised her head off in the distance, smiling as she muttered “Gud babbehs need sweepie times”, and the rumbled her own mummah song beneath her breath as your siblings gathered close to you, each closing their eyes and snuggling close. You were the last to return to sleep.
There was Babbeh,
and a big boy,
and two pretty girls in the fluffpile.
When there were bright times, Babbeh would come out of sleep and start to explore.
You weren’t looking to get back to the World anymore. There was too much going on out here. Too much fun to be had. Your siblings helped you learn new words. Mummah and Daddeh taught you even more.
You went up to Mummah’s foot and hugged at it
“Wub yu Mummah!”
“Mummah wub babbehs!” she responded in her low purr, leaning over to take a bite of the ground near her shoulder.
She chewed at the blue gel, smiling broadly when she saw the enormous eye outside the clear wall.
She wiped away some of the slime from the window, and picked you up, smiling proudly.
All you could see was a single enormous eye.
The low groaning awwwww that the creature spoke made your whole world tremble.
