Last (40)

The Woods

18. The Woods

“Without a doubt, Ed was right about you,” the old man said, “you’re beautiful and you got gorgeous eyes.”

“Thank you mister.”

“I’m Bud,” he told me his name, “you can call me Buddy or Bud.”

“Nice too meet you Bud.”

Bud led me in The Woods and he kept on asking why I want to go there. I just told him that I need to unwind. The Woods is a good place to relax, especially in the afternoon waiting for the sun to set, he said as if he was a tour guide.

“Hey Bud,” I said to him, “you can just leave me here. I can help myself to find a place to sit.”

“Are you sure about that, sweetie?”

I nodded and gave a smile.

“Just be careful, you might see a bear. You know, bears are afraid of humans.”

We both laughed including Ed who stayed silent until Bud left us. Ed grabbed my hand and led me to the place where we can possibly sit and observe the setting of the sun.

“This is my place,” he exclaimed happily as if he really owns The Woods.

I froze in amazement. There was a lake, a man-made lake. It took me a minute to collect myself from the overwhelming view. It was the most magical thing I’ve seen. It seems that God poured a barrel of stardust on the water. But the most magical thing I’ve seen was Edward’s smile, as if he reads my face. The face of amazement. We both sat on a log, looking at the lake. I wondered how people made this lake at the end of The Woods. The foliage sheltered us from the heat of the afternoon. I lay my head on Ed’s shoulder and still I felt his warm, and the thought that his body is still alive lingered on my mind. But that moment keeps me away from the worries and uncertainties. The lakes is beautiful, being with Ed’s ghost is beautiful, and seeing God’s stardust is beautiful, no wonder I could tell myself that I’m out from worries. I felt so wide, so wide that the world seems so small for me to fit in.

“Wonderful view, right?” he whispered.

“Yes, undeniably beautiful. I think this is my new place to hang out.”

“When I was young, I always throw some flat stones on the lake. It hops, and hops like a frog who found freedom. It hops and hops fearlessly until the gravity pulled the frog down. But when the frog was on the water, he found his family. There he met them.”

I laughed, wondering where he got that story.

“Frogs are amphibians right?”

“It’s a fiction, Meg. You can imagine what you want to. If you want to imagine that a cow can jump over the moon, it will surely jump.”

“Do you believe in God?” I asked him.

“I do,” he said, “I always do, though I haven’t seen Him in Heaven and I don’t even know it that was the Heaven. God for me is everything. The sun, the moon, the trees, every little butterfly, and every stones we stepped on. God is the beautiful sky we see, He is the air, the wind that led the sailors, the storm that destroys homes and the rain that quenched the earth. You know, every time I found peace I felt that I’m a man full of wisdom,” he paused and then he chuckled, “and what’s the weirdest part? I’m a ghost that still got brain to think and mouth to speak.”

“I guess death is life, Death is the goal of life. Death won’t exist without life.”

Silence.

“Do you believe in God?” He asked me the same question.

“I only believe in you, and I believe in us and I think that’s sacred.”

“When did you realize that you’re atheist?”

“Did I say I’m atheist?”

We laughed.

“I still believe something larger and greater than me, okay? Neither Jesus nor any saints. It’s God. The everything.”

“Did you just copy my idea?”

I smiled.

“Plagiarism,” he snapped.

“You wrote a novel right?” I asked him knowing that he is a good writer and been reading a lot of books.

“Yep,” he said, “I finished it before you came back here. It was hard to work on though. It needs a lot of researches. And sometimes I felt that I’m shattering and touching the faith of the reader who reads it. But my purpose is to wake them up. Like poking them, saying that we’re living in literature and literature will destroy us. We lived in deception and lies.”

“And the title?”

“The New Prayer,” he said.

“Oooh sounds religious.”

“Love and faith, I combined both. It sets on the near future when everyone will sell their soul to the demon. It is also about atheism. About the intervention of God and Satan in the world.”

“Do you mean that God will be one of us?”

“God was, is, and will be with us, Meg,” Ed said and gave me a smile.

He also told me about atheism, about his friend fromGuatemalawho didn’t believe in God. His friend thought that the Bible is just a literary thing, not a book that came from Heaven or a writing that was sent by men through e-mail of by fax machine. Ed learned a lot from his friend. He said that everything about Christianity is illogical, without proper and concrete foundation and if they presented some facts it is still questionable. For his friend, the creation of man was outrageous. And what’s worst is that the members were ought to give money. Ed respects his idea, and thought that atheism is interesting. The bottom of his story is that, whether you believe or not, you must do good deeds and live life in accordance of your own will. Living in a good life.

“You’re working hard on your novel Ed, I didn’t expect your work went that far.”

“How about yours?”

“You’ll know it soon.”

The sun sets and the darkness spread. The wind went cold. I heard the crickets’ sound.

“There’s still another surprise in this place.”

Later on, there were fireflies moving above us. It was another magical thing I’ve seen. Those green little things were simply beautiful. But another surprise came unexpectedly. It was Chip. I moved my head to see Ed, but he’s gone. Now, it’s between me and Chip.

“Hell-o, Megan,” Chip said and his face was like a monster or a demon from hell.