Connected

Chapter 2: What I'm to do

"I sleep without peace.

I awake to lie.

I smile at sadness.

And so, have I met death."

Did she just willingly entrust herself to a complete stranger? Uh-huh. Well, this is a first. Leah cognized while stealing a look at Jacob.

The lights coming from the residential bricked buildings they were passing by on the side of the street reflected a peaceful glow to his face. To her credit he really does emanate a good-natured vibe. However, in her mind she can't shake off that proven to be true warning, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

"Jacob." Leah said using his name out loud for the first time. She felt like speaking his name would reassure her that she had made the right decision following him. "May I ask you something?"

"Fire away." Jacob lightheartedly welcomed.

"Jacob, what am I?" Leah asked without preamble.

She knew her question sounded silly because what does she even mean by it. But she has to ask, something happened to her she is sure of it. And she has a feeling Jacob knows something.

"You see I noticed that ever since I've regained my consciousness at the crash site, I've become altogether something else. I mean if I pinch myself," she said demonstrating, "I can't feel any reaction from my body." She resigned dejectedly, feeling no pain from the contact she made.

Putting her hand down, "It's strange, bizarre. It irritates me," she expressed with annoyance, "because my mind is functioning in the supposed sense of my body, but I can't feel what I ought to be feeling and it deeply unsettles me."

"Ah the adjustment period," Jacob mused.

"Adjustment?!" Leah echoed. His response provoked a well of anxiety.

"Leah, you are now what we call a soul," Jacob started gently. "After your accident, your consciousness has separated itself from your physical body that now you're traversing the world of in-between."

"Wait," Leah felt like her brain cells have just been juggled fiercely that she found it hard to concentrate on the coherence of what is being communicated. "Say that again?"

"You are a soul, Leah." Jacob courteously repeated.

"And what exactly is that?" Leah asked confusedly.

"A soul is the being of the unseen life accumulated by the body. A spiritual composition which reflects the collection of emotions, mind, and heart of an individual. A soul, they said, is the unique identifier of a person.

And as of the moment your soul had been disconnected from your physical shell which explains why you couldn't feel anything from your body because you're not in it." Jacob expounded.

"What you're saying is I'm still me just without my body?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes."

"Then how–how did I came out from my body?"

"The reasons vary from case to case, but I think for your situation it's because," he stopped and took a long hard glance at Leah, "you've been longing to be free for a long time now and the minute you saw an opportunity you sprang out."

"What?" Leah exclaimed incredulously. "I did this to myself?"

"Maybe not consciously." Jacob shrugged. "Desires are realized best when a person is at their weakest."