"Embers of the In-Between"

Somewhere in between a prologue and an epilogue to my book

When he woke up, he found
himself floating in a boat in a dark misty water. The last thing he could
remember was her scream and a huge shriek.

He got up, trying to make
sense of where he was.

He shouted with all his breath into the darkness and
waited for a response, yet he got none. Then, he saw a light far away
into the mist. He started rowing the boat towards the light till it hit land. He
got down from the boat and started walking towards the light.


As he went closer to the
light, the mist started to fade away and things were more visible to him.


 He saw a woman sitting on a bench and a
tree nearby her burning in fire, causing the light.

As he moved towards her, she
turned her head and he knew who that was, it was the woman.

He ran as fast he can, a race
between his heart and his feet, but when he went near her something hit him and
he fell on the ground.

While he was down, he recounted where he was
before this place happened and he also understood that she was with him in that
place too. He got up as quickly as he can and tried to reach her again. But
there was something in the air between them that was preventing him from
getting near her, like a force field.

He was panicking. But when he looked at her face, there
was just a smile on her lips and calmness in her eyes, looking at him.

She got up from her seat and
walked towards him, slowly and elegantly. They were near to each other, yet far,
as this force field was preventing him from touching her. Then it hit him, a
realization, he fell on his knees.

She stood near him looking
down on him.

'Are we dead?' he asked.

'Not yet' she said with a smile.

He lowered his head and said 'I'm sorry. It’s all my fault'

She brought her face near him and said ' Nothing
is your fault, Jerry. You've brought me nothing but happiness. You’ve got me
this far.'

'Why am I not able to be with you? So close to you,
yet so far'

'When I told you we are not dead yet, it means we
are at the edge of it. But the twist here is that only one of us have to go
back'

'What do you mean?'

'I have to leave Jerry'

He felt it, the huge pain inside his heart,
confirming that he was the one being cursed with life, without her.

'Please… Please… Don't do this. I beg you.'

'You have a destiny to fulfill Jerry'

'You are my destiny. What do you want me to do?'

'If only I can tell you the things I know. But
that’s not how things work. Time will give you all the answers you need. All
you need to know is that I'm sacrificing the rest of my time for you. Use it
well. You will not know anything that is happening right now, when you wake up.
But, you will feel it every day of your life'

'Don't go. Please no. You're all I have. You are
my light. I’m scared of darkness. Please don't let me go. I won’t last a second
without you, there'

His eyes were clouded by tears.

She knelt down.

'Listen to me Jerry, just listen. Life will be
chaos, life will be very confusing for you. But, you will be okay. From now, I
will not be the light that glows around you, but the one that ignites you from
the inside. Go write it out, write your life. I will always be there around you
with you' she was able to touch him.

Her hands on his cheek as a
sign of comfort and a kiss on his forehead as sign of goodbye. She then
withered as the dust and disappeared.

He felt a weight pressing him down from his
heart.

He felt it, he felt like being lost, then found
and again being lost again.

With the thoughts *why is it that even my
wish a sin?*

He closed his eyes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nurse rushed into the doctor's room and
shouted

'His heartbeat…’

She was stammering.

 ‘It's… It's... Rising.’

‘What?!’ exclaimed the
doctor.

‘He’s still alive’

‘That’s impossible’

The doctor rushed towards the
emergency room.

As he left his room.

The clock behind the doctor’s
chair showed

11:11.