Tragedy ✔️

Chapter 19

"Hello, Colin."

I am in a white room with not a single detail visible. It is all just white. The room is immaculate. Everything seems... pure. I turn around and almost choke when I see her. Her yellow dress is the only thing that stands out from the white.

"M-Mandy?" I say, disbelief in my voice, "You're awake!"

I run to her and we embrace. I feel her warmth. It resonates through my body and for a second, I forget about all my worries and that I am dead. I just take in the sweetness of her arms and close my eyes.

"How is this possible? How are you awake?" I say.

"Colin," she says quietly, "I miss you."

"But I'm right here. We'll never be separated again because now you're awake and well."

Mandy departs from the embrace and she looks at my with a stern look. "I'm sorry, Colin. I'm afraid I'm still asleep."

I look at her with confusion. Is this some kind of dream? This does not make any sense.

"What's happening?"

"You are asleep as well, Colin."

Just then, a huge gust of wind picks up and darkness starts to fill the room. I can no longer see Mandy's face but I can hear her.

"You'll find a way back to me, Colin," she yells, "It's time for you to wake up. Open your eyes."

Her words echo around me, in my ears, and in my mind.

Open your eyes. Open your eyes.

The wind picks up stronger and stronger and the black abyss fills my eyes. Her yellow dress is covered by the darkness and so am I.

***

"He's opening his eyes. Come here, quick!"

My head throbs in pain. I feel like my heart is inside my brain, pumping faster and faster with every beat. I try to open my eyes but when I do, I am greeted by a bright light that makes me quickly shut them again. I open my eyes more slowly this time and though it hurts, I can open them just enough to see color. The color red is the first thing I see, of course.

In front of me is a figure blurry to my vision. My eyes finally focus on the object and I can now see a pair of hazel eyes staring at me, alerted.

"Hi there!" shouts a voice in front of me. I can now see that it is a little girl, about the age of seven, who is standing over me. She has a smile on her face. An energetic smile of a regular normal kid who just plays and has no worries. It is not the smile that a dead child would have.

I notice that I am on a small bed. I try to move to stand up but I instantly feel like something drops inside of me head-to-toe. It knocks me back to the pillow. My stomach hurts and I feel nauseous.

"Are you okay?" says the girl.

"Just...tired," I say, feeling out of breath as if I just ran a marathon, "Where am I?"

I see the little girl open her mouth as if she is about to deliver a big speech when I hear a familiar voice holler across the room, creating an echo of my name.

"Colin!" It's unmistakably Ms. Pudge. I could make out her voice even if the entire world was shouting. "You're finally awake. I was worried about you."

I try to sit up and this time I can move a little better, but I still feel a heaviness in my head. I can feel bile wanting to come up my throat.

"Woah," says Ms. Pudge, helping me sit up on the bed, "Take it easy. You need your rest before you can begin training.