Useless

Zach didn't know how long he had been swimming around in the darkness after his thoughts slowed. It could have been a moment, a minute, or a year, and he wouldn't know the difference. His senses had long since faded and the only thing keeping him intact was the mental fortitude of a young man surrounded by beauties he was unable to lay his hands on.

He had gone crazy for a while, though. He didn't remember when in relation to the rest of his time in darkness it was, but he had spent a significant portion thinking about frogs for some reason. Then birds for a little while. But he could be considered a self-taught expert on frogs by now, at least the frogs in his head.

However, Zach's mind right now was clear. For the first time since the petrification and its darkness swallowed him, he felt something that he knew wasn't an imagination. It was a sinking feeling in his gut like someone had attached an anchor to his heart and dropped it straight down.