THERE IS NO INSIDE

Passage

Dark Lore Digest Prompt #20 — Open Writing

He realized too late that nothing stays inside — Image generated by the author using Google Gemini.

I lived empty days. The days repeated. That is all. Yet I did not know where this repetition passes.

I woke, I washed, I ate, I went out, I returned. The events stayed within that frame. I had no reason to question.

One day, while brushing teeth, I thought of the mouth.

Teeth exist. Tongue exists. Saliva exists. But these are only arranged at an entrance. Beyond that, a dark street continues. Food passes. Water passes. Passing — this became exact.

I had believed I would take things in. That belief was incorrect. Things only pass. They enter, go through and move toward another exit. In this, I am only a route.

After that, swallowing changed. The throat felt wide, smooth, without resistance. Water fell at once. It did not remain. It was neither warm nor cold. It made a thin sound, as if striking a hollow.

Breath also. Air enters, moves, leaves. There is no staying. Only flow.

I looked at the mirror. The surface was unchanged. Skin remained. Shape remained. Yet it seemed attached afterward.

My eyes did not close. They turned. They no longer remained at the surface. The direction shifted inward. The depth behind the throat became nearer than the glass.

The inside is empty.

If I am hollow, I am finite and also without end. Length exists. End does not appear. Boundary is only given by skin.

There is no outside. There is no inside. There is only a hollow existing.

At a certain breath, a pause occurred. Between inhale and exhale, a short absence. At that moment, premise broke.

Not air moves. The passage turns.

Outer folds inward. Inner becomes outer.

I did not stop it. There was nothing to stop.

Then the inversion completed.

Everything remained. Only the distinction did not remain.

All is passage. All is hollow.

I could not decide which I am.

Only one thing was certain. The outside had already become the side covered with membrane.

You can read another story here:

[embed]The Swallow Reflex Dark Lore Digest Prompt #20 — Open Writingmedium.com

Originally written in Japanese. Self-translated with AI assistance.