Learning To Live

Chapter 14

I sensed something behind me then but dismissed it as the wind blowing. It was just my anxiety coming back. When i still sensed the thing behind me minutes later in which it had never gone away and i had sensed it the entire time, i decided to see if anything was there. Without opening my eyes, i lifted my head off of the tree trunk and used my grip on the trunk of the tree to help myself turn around. I sighed through my nose at the same time when i finally opened my eyes to see what i had been sensing.

There was no time left to prepare myself. I stood face to face with my captor, the wandering soul. We stood frozen there for what seemed like a miniature eternity inside of the span of less than a single minute. The wandering soul gave me a smile as if he had been waiting for this for a while and he was sure going to enjoy it. I studied it. The wanderer looked so much like any other person besides the transparency that allowed me to see through it. It was taller than i was but i was not that tall. It also hd a sandy color of brown hair with brown eyes. It looked so human. I realized the only thing that set it apart from me was that in its eyes, there was no soul. There was no personality.It was as if whatever soul it may have had when the person it had been died, had been stolen. I guess the actual term everyone in the afterlife uses was rotted away. This wandering soul was the victim of a rotting soul.

For some odd reason, i felt pity towards the wanderer. It was forever forced to wander the earth in search of something that would help it. Although, no one ever bothered to help it along the way on its journey. Maybe they tried to find their lost soul. Maybe they were trying to steal a soul to replace the one that had rotted away inside of them. At that moment, i was thankful that i had chosen to pass into the afterlife instead of being forced to rot away by being left on earth for the remainder of all time in the universe.

I tried to back up but my back hit the tree. I was about to panic but i forced my heartbeat to stay slow and i made sure to not take fast breaths. I did not want to show my opponent that i was afraid. The wanderer's smile widened and it was as if he was enjoying watching me squirm beneath his glare.

Before the wandering soul could do anything, i decided to make the first move. I pulled my fist back and pushed him right in that smug smile of his. I heard my fist smash into its face and felt a sharp pain in my hand. I ignored the pain and focused on trying to fly. Flying would be the only possible way that i could escape. Otherwise, i would never be able to get away. I did not wait around to see where the wandering soul fell. Instead, i took off at a sprint, running for my life. I did not look back.

I jumped and tried to get up but i just went back down. I slammed onto my feet and let out a squeak that people in the North Pole would have been able to hear. I could not help the sound. It escaped my lungs and i knew that it had already alerted the wanderer to my exact position in the forest. I ran a bit faster despite pain that made my legs feel like a liquid instead of a solid. I jumped once more and literally flung my body up into the air. It felt as if i were flying for a second but i began to fall back down to the ground again. Although, this time, i would land on something that would hurt a lot more than my feet would have if i landed on them.

I put every ounce of my spirit and energy that i still had left into trying to get up into the air. Before i hit the ground, i closed my eyes, not wanting to see what i landed on and broke. But i did not land. I slowly opened my eyes and realized that i was slowly rising. I did it. I was flying. I had escaped. I still did not look back at that moment and instead focused on where i was at the moment. Now that being captured was over with, i still had a mission to finish. I was not going to let some foot pain stop me from accomplishing it.

I flew with all of my might towards the light that was illuminating out from a town. When i got close enough to see more details, i was surprised to see that it was the same town where Han lived. I had not been far at all. Only a small forest had separated me from my mission and i would not let it happen ever again if i could help it. I had gone faster than i had expected to and arrived at the town in no time. I hovered above it for a second so that i could search the edges of the town for the house that i had seen Han in. Once i had found it, i went straight down towards it as if i were a rocket in a race. I prepared myself for the impact that landing made.

When i finally landed on the road that was near the house where i had seen Han, i dropped to the ground. I forgot that my feet were still hurting when i landed though. The impact jarred my feet and made me fall sideways onto my side. I rubbed my side for a second, waiting for the pain to go away before gathering the strength to get back up. I started hobbling down the road towards the house. I followed the road onto the dirt road that led up to the house where i had last seen Han. I crept up quietly to the window and went through it. I had a flashback of what had happened before but this time, no wandering soul came in to grab me and drag me into the forest as a captive. I shuddered just thinking about it before pushing it out of my mind. I had to focus. I was running out of time, i could feel it. I could feel the seconds passing by and time running out for both Han and myself.

I looked throughout the entire house but there Han was not there. Nobody was there although the rundown house did show signs of recent activity. There were dirty dishes piled high in the sink and takeout bags in the garbage cans that were stuffed full and needed to be take out. What if Han had already committed suicide? I had to find him and quick. I needed to try to get to him, to help him and show him that his future would make the world have something great. That is why the souls in the afterlife guide the living because these people are meant to do something other than die too early. They are meant to live, not die.