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Awakening

I leant against Serenity's wall, pushing my face up to the glass to look out into the black. Vast nothingness looked back in at me. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Kindof ironic, that. I mean, I was looking at nothing. It was just black space and I've never seen anything like it before.

I pulled myself off the wall after awhile and slowly glided out of the cargo bay. Within minutes, the infirmary came into view. First thing I noticed was the whiteness. It was all so white. Standing by the door, I took in the rest of the room. Simon was fumbling in a drawer for something. On the infirmary bed next to him, Mal sat awkwardly with a bandage over his side. The bandage was grey with dust and a bright red stain marked the cloth. I felt no emotion at his injury – normally I would but something was different. I moved on.

The constant humming of Serenity filled my ears as I drifted towards the engine room. It reminded me that Serenity wasn't just a ship. It had a soul, a spirit. It was alive. As I neared the door, soft music began playing. It sounded very familiar, like maybe I'd just heard it on the radio. It was the type of song you would hear at a dance or a ball - there were no words. The music hung in the air as I moved closer. Kaylee was lying in her hammock, her eyes closed. She wasn't asleep though – every so often she leaned over and took a sip out of her mug. Mudder's milk, I guessed. Nothing interesting seemed likely to happen so I continued on.

When I arrived at the bridge, Wash was in his usual seat. Mostly, he just sat there and stared into space. Occasionally, he flipped a switch or two and checked the screens to make sure Serenity was on course. I watched him for several minutes before he began playing with his dinosaurs. It was a stegosaurus verse a tyrannosaurus rex. Things weren't looking good for the stegosaurus. Midway through his amusing show, Zoe walked in. She draped her arms around Wash and they kissed, the dinosaurs thrown to the side, forgotten. I left quickly, letting them have some privacy.

I found myself back down in the cargo bay. Jayne was shadowing for Book, who was attempting to lift an even heavier set of weights. Book's forehead was wet with perspiration and his brow furrowed in concentration. Jayne looked on, a slightly bored expression on his face. After a few minutes, Book motioned at Jayne, who took the weight from him. They continued, with Book shadowing for Jayne. I found my mind slipping and shook my head to bring myself back.

The doors of Inara's shuttle appeared in front of me a split second later. I drifted inside and watched, hypnotised, as Inara slowly slid her pen down the piece of parchment in front of her. After a few elegant strokes, she moved on to write the next character. Although I was entranced by her actions, I found myself (quite reluctantly) pulled away by some invisible force.

The mess room was empty at first. I stood there and waited for whatever was supposed to happen. Several seconds later, River appeared in the doorway. She walked towards me – she was the first crewmember to notice me, I realised. Glued to the spot, I watched as River moved gracefully over to me. She smiled at me knowingly, and spoke the first words I had heard from any of the crew.

"Time to wake up."