Ryanne . . . fight back! Can you hear me?” I was in the black. It wasn’t the black of nighttime, or what I’d imagine one would find in the depths of the earth. It was a sightless kind of dark, one without any hope of light. “Baby girl, you need to fight.” She sounded distant, anxious. “I can’t, Mama. I’ve been swallowed by the whale.” The voice that emerged from my throat was young, childlike. “You need to find your way back, Boo. He can’t keep you here unless you let him. Do you understand?” “Yes, Mama. But I don’t know what to do!” I was so tiny, so insignificant against the vast sea of darkness. “The jail is your mind. Find the wormhole, Ryanne. It’s there! You just need to find it.” “The wormhole . . .” “That’s right, baby girl. The one that will bring you home.”
