Second Life: A Second Chance

They Follow Only Apollo (VII)

Considering what might happen to me inside this dark booth, I brace my mind for the worst possible scenario. I take one careful breath in and force open my eyes.

I find myself confronted with three illustrative tunnels, all of equal distance apart, inside a large and unequal, yet symmetrical, cave system. Eager to escape this dark area for a better world, I push forward towards the tunnel with white writing almost instantly.

As I make my way through the white marked tunnel, I catch an emerging and more detailed picture of the outside world to which the bright white marked tunnel leads me to. The outside sky from where the tunnel ends, is blue and grand, with a strong and pulsing sun floating high above it, followed by parallel fields of yellow and green grasslands blanketing the landscape, seeming to extend forever onto the horizon. Looking ahead to the ground, I spot several odd looking trees dotting every ten or so yards of grassland, with numerous black-white striped four legged hoofed animals roaming carelessly throughout the land. 

I look around the area immediately after leaving the tunnel, prepared for any type of surprise that might await me in the open land. Not surprisingly, only the gentle blows of the wind among the fresh smell of wet grass greet me once completely outside. Looking ahead to a small group comprised of four black-white striped hoofed animals, do I pay close attention to the smallest and weakest of the four. The young foal it seems, has been left behind by the other three animals as they bolt to another tree nearly a kilometer away. Looking at the small foal from afar and fearing for its safety, I make my way towards it, hoping to interact with it and help it regroup with its other four legged animal companions.

As I head into the direction of a small and young black-white striped four legged hoofed animal, I hear a sudden sound erupt from all around me. Only a second later does the sound repeat itself, with even louder volume than the last, resembling that of a male voice, causing me to listen attentively around for it. Within a tenth of a second, do I hear the crisp and clear words being mouthed by the hidden sound.

"KEVIN!"

"KEVIN!" 

My eyes open wide in pure excitement. I recognize the sound of that voice, one that I have not heard in almost a decade. I hear, Frank. 

"Frank?" I whisper to my surroundings.

"Kevin! Kevin it's me!" the voice responds. 

"Frank, where are you?!" I yell as I turn around in a full circle on top of the never ending fields of grass. 

"KEVIN, help me!" 

"Where are you?!" I yell out to him.  

"Kevin, help! Please," Frank begs and whimpers.

"Frank! Frank who is hurting you?!" I shout worriedly. 

"Kevin!" Frank yells at me again, but only this time, from the bright blue sky above me. 

I turn my focus to the sky as I figure out where the sound of Frank's voice is originating from. I think heavily about Frank as thoughts rush violently throughout my mind. How can this be? Frank died long ago. I should be unable to hear his voice. He is dead, or is he? I scream his name once more for reassurance.

"FRANK!" 

No! Get it together Kevin.

I stop shouting and calm myself within a matter of seconds, taking a deep breath inwards once more. With my breath held deep inside my lungs, I exhale and release it back into my surroundings just as I inhaled it all in, right at the moment where I find myself face to face with a large, grotesque, orange and scaly creature. Frozen in fear from the appearance of the creature, I cannot help but look deep into the creature's large and round coal black eyes.

The creature in front of me calmly looks directly at my eyes, releasing its wings upon a shifting of glance away, with its serpent looking head opening wide to reveal its disgusting looking mouth to me. The sight before me is about the most horrifying thing I have ever seen and yet I become fixated on what is held inside the large serpent's tongue. I see Frank. 

"Frank come to me!" I shout at Frank from the outside of the creature's mouth.

Within a matter of a second, the creature responds to my attempts of saving Frank with the release of an ugly, monstrous screech, causing my hair to be blown completely in the opposite direction due to the nature of its powerful and wet serpent throat. After screeching at me loudly, the serpent creature pushes my body backwards onto the floor with its large and spiky tail, pinning me down with one of its thick tail spikes. 

Ill balanced and unable to move with the creature's heavy tail weighing down on my legs, I find myself longing for peace and happiness, as I have not found any since before the Nation's birthday. Just as soon I seek the opportunity for rest, I feel the overpowering tail's energy begin to numb all parts of my body as blood no longer circulates appropriately throughout my body. The numbing in my body continues to grow exponentially within a matter of seconds, causing relaxation to overtake my mood of hope for eternal peace. My eyes and mind soon give way to the power of the creature's heavy weight, allowing me to escape this scenario and jump into another.

Serene with tranquility present everywhere, I open my eyes once more, eradicating all dark manner and replacing it with a new environment. I look around and notice immediately that everything I once knew in the grasslands has disappeared. A wooden tied down bridge facing a huge waterfall beneath me appears, with a light blue-green river feeding into the waterfall below me appearing alongside lush green marsh, bush, and dense forest surrounding the water system. Allowing myself to sink a moment of peace in this new environment, I find myself melting onto the bridge, with my remaining liquid body heading towards the water. As this occurs, I close my eyes once again, becoming one with my surroundings.

The mood is dark and I am heavily depressed. I open my eyes and find myself present at Frank's death ceremony. 

"Dearly departed, may your soul be with Anastasia in the Great Beyond. May she bless your heart with a thousand heartbeats and many good tidings to come. May the living understand his death, the boy's death, as a just reason to continue on in life. As unsettling his end may have been, may the living cherish the moments they have spent with him beforehand, as all present today have been touched by his heart one way or another. Salutes." 

My tears are rushing out of my eyes alike the tears on Fathe's face. We both cannot seem to hold our composure together. Poor Frank died not long ago from his death ceremony. I recall at the end of the honor speech looking ahead to Fathe, watching him closely as he does one of the oddest thing I have ever seen. He is gripping tightly the side of his black torso clothing, ripping off a clump of it with his bare hands before he, with the cloth piece in hand, throws the piece of cloth atop Frank's dirt burial mound. 

"Frank my boy, may she hold you near and dear! I will never forget the moments I spent being your Fathe. Frank!" Fathe wails before wailing in pain and kneeling beside the dirt mound, unable to hold his tears in. 

"Please escort him away from the deceased," orders the male in charge of the death ceremony.

"NO!" yells my Fathe, fighting off the incoming males who are carelessly grabbing his body to pull him away from Frank's burial mound, fighting for his desire to stay with his son a tad longer. 

The cloudy skies soon shift in tone as this occurs, transforming from a cloudy appearance into a sunny one within a second long flash. I look upwards to watch the sun emerge from the clouds, as I spot a red fox walking carelessly by me. I quickly focus my attention on the fox's movements, prepared to follow it. But, before I follow the fox, I find myself no longer in a simulation and in the dark once more.