PHASE 0: AUDITIONS

Applicant #32: This Life Or The Next

APPLICANT #32: THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT

"NO!" I watched in horror as I saw Ethan slowly disintegrate right before my very eyes, his skin peeling off, little by little, like burning amber.

My God! This is not how it was supposed to end!

Almost instantly, Ethan's voice seemed to reverberate from some spot in my brain, asking me how else I thought this was supposed to end. In my mind, I answered him back, although I couldn't relate the truth that was in my mind to how ghastly the image of Ethan was right this very moment.

"Ethan! Can you hear me?!" My voice trailing off as I saw parts of Ethan's feet and hands completely gone from where he was hovering. Oddly, the expression on his face registered no adverse reaction. Was he really prepared for this? Was his anticipation so great that his mind has complete control over the pain?

"Ethan, tell me, is there a way to stop this process?!" The desperation in my voice was so great that, without much thought as to how, I wanted to jump in and save him. But the force that enveloped Ethan was so great that it was acting like a force field, keeping me from getting a step closer. Frankly, I'm surprised I even lasted this long exposed to this lethal force. This oddity is what have kept me believing that Ethan can be saved. Ethan? Oh my God, Ethan!

I cannot see Ethan's limbs anymore! Tears immediately burst from my eyes after seeing Ethan's head tilt back. And his expression did change! I just knew that the twitch on his face meant the pain has finally caught up with his mortal flesh. Ethan, please tell me. Was this inevitable even before we met? Did you see this coming?

As if on cue, his head tilted back to actually look at me again. Did he hear me? Could he still hear me under all that pain? Oh, Ethan, answer me, please...

The faint smile on his lips confirmed it. He does hear me!

Sarah, I asked you how else you thought this was going to end, right? I nodded. Literally. And I answered back. Ethan, you told me so many things that a mere mortal like me could hardly believe. Ethan, I still can't believe it... until I saw that bolt of light hit you right in front of me!

With the image of him floating aimlessly and lacking the limbs that once made him whole, I heard him reply. Sarah, the one thing I did not count on is you not believing me. Why? He asked the question so as-a-matter-of-factly that I instantly felt a sense of guilt. He was right. I did not believe him.

"Ethan, I thought there was some hope that we... that you would not end up this way. I thought... I believed... that... I broke down in tears, slumping to the ground, my face buried in my hands, struggling not to give up on the notion that this could still change for the better.

"Sarah, you thought what?"

Despite seeing his grotesque condition unfolding in front of me, I still can't shake the feeling that he was teasing me, even taunting me. He knew very well what I was about to say. Heck, he is inside my brain! He knows exactly what I want to say!

"Ethan, it would have been more bearable if you had just disappeared without a trace. But seeing you literally being eaten by some unknown force right in front of me?! Why did you have to make me believe that there was hope for us to be together?! Why did you have to make believe that this fate of yours could be reversed?! Why did you have to make me believe that love can conquer all even though you..."

I did not make it to my final statement. I think the moment I mentioned 'love' a fresh bolt of light shot and engulfed the first one, increasing the intensity to a maximum pitch that I could literally hear the sound of this massive energy like some sort of machine about to explode!

I felt the ground shaking!

Wait. No. It wasn't the ground.

It was Ethan!

He was being shaken in mid-air so violently that I feared the rocking movement would kill him off right there and then! But even then, his shaking head kept steady, trying to reconnect his gaze at me at all cost. Oh God! Is he still trying to tell me something?! I searched within my mind for any trace of his voice... until I found it.

"Sarah, we were never meant to be together in this world. Search within your being, and I know you would find that your love is pure, in the truest sense of the word. This world is a poor receptacle for a love like yours. Although your love equates to me, I need to be purified as well, for our love to be binding. Unfortunately, we cannot enjoy a love so pure in this world. This world does not what love truly is. But where I am going, true love is possible. And once purified, I shall go back and take you with me..."

His voice trailed off as gradual as the deafening noise of the energy that contained him did. I was still processing what he had just told me when the noise came to a big, sudden thud. And then silence. It was then I knew that it has come to an end. Awaiting for that inevitable massive explosion, I was bemused. It didn't come. Instead, he imploded, like the way the screen of an old television would switch off. And then silence again, more deafening than the noise that came before it.

Is it over? Is he gone? And almost immediately, I accepted it all. It's over. He's gone.

Yes, he has gone to a better place. And, someday, when he comes for me, I will be with him in it.