Jonathan and Other Weird Stories

Jonathan, See-quelling (seven)

Funmi and Jonathan led each other to a tree and rested behind one. She drew heavy breaths and they were cold, like her tongue was ice. She sat by the foot of the tree, shivering beside Jonathan, and when her buttocks soaked up the dirt on the ground, she remembered that she was still naked. But she did not care anymore. She did not care that Jonathan had his hand on her breast the entire time they walked; she did not care about going back to her real body either. Not yet anyway. How could she go back when a psychotic was living rent-free in her mind? If Jonathan claimed there was a way to destroy Adesuwa, then Funmi would have to take it.

A few other trees stood in the clearing, but the tree they rested on was the broadest, for both their backs, and that was why Funmi chose it. It also looked familiar, like one of the trees she used to climb as a child, competing with all the boys in her neighbourhood to see who could climb the furthest. Funmi always failed, but she never stopped trying. Also, the tree was the best place to hide in case Adesuwa came bolting through the door.

Funmi pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. The pain in her leg had reduced, and now it only stung like a sore. "I'm listening," she told Jonathan.

Jonathan spread his legs out on the floor, opting for a more relaxing position. "You know that God creates souls, right? But every once in a while, some of these souls get recycled."

"Recycled?"

"Yeah, used again. You don't expect the creator to create a new soul every single time a baby is born, do you? Why should he waste perfectly good souls after people die, when he can just use some of them again in another body? This recycling of souls is called reincarnation—when a soul gets to live again, in a new body. But now, here's the catch. A soul and a consciousness are two different things that must come together to fill up a physical body. When a person dies and their soul gets recycled, the soul moves to fill up a new body and the consciousness tags along but gets suppressed in the mind of the new body. When you're a reincarnation of someone, you'll always have a part of that person buried deep inside your subconscious mind, so that you don't even know the person is there. But yeah, the person's consciousness will still affect your life in little ways, but never fully. Because your own consciousness will always be in charge."

Funmi had her mouth open the entire time, as though it was necessary for swallowing Jonathan's words. She understood, but she wasn't sure exactly how it affected her. She rubbed her arms vigorously; anything to create some body heat, and when she spoke, her words cracked liked shattered ice cubes. "So, I am Adesuwa's reincarnation?"

"Yes," Jonathan said.

"You've said many things since I got here, but this has to be the most ridiculous. I'm not a reincarnation of your mother!"

Jonathan laughed, despite himself. He shook his head and crossed his legs, like he needed it for more comfort. "You told me you have an unexplainable fear of fire. You can't even be close to fire, and you can't stand the sight of it. Where do you think that fear came from? Adesuwa was burned to death. With fire. That means, in your past life, fire killed you. That's why it frightens you so much. The fear of fire comes from Adesuwa. And you see people with unexplainable fears. Fear of spiders, fear of height... It all comes from something drastic that happened in their past life, and now you know yours."

"I—I... wow," was all Funmi could say. She stared blankly into the clearing, watching little grass dance with the wind, and all it did was show her just how little she was herself—how little she knew herself. "It makes sense."

"Of course, it makes sense. Didn't you also murder your mother and your sister? What drove you to do that? It's all you inherited from Adesuwa. The internal desire to kill—it's deep down inside you."