THE OTHER SIDE

CHAPTER 1: DEATH

I am one that always knew death will one day claim my soul, there is no two ways about it. There will be pain,

I may be missed but life goes on and shit will continue to happen as such I've never really been scared of it,

sure there are horrifying and gory ways to die but hey none of the people who died had anything to say about it and its not like one can dictate the exact way he/she wants to die so why bother?

"If it's a moving train that is out of my control then I'll just enjoy the ride till I arrive at my stop" my heart keept telling me.

Don't get me wrong, I do feel sad when someone passes but I don't dwell on it, If there is a hereafter, we'll all meet again wont we?

This mentality got me through many dark days, one of such days was when my favorite aunt "Muslimah" passed away,

The days got dark and my silver moon turned black but my trusty little inner voice did its job and before i knew it, I was bouncing on the balls of my feet again.

My mother was worried of course, "Salma" she said, "is there anything you want to talk to me about?" she queried one day at the dining table,

"No" I chipped happily slurping away at the delicious home-made noodles she made that day.

"Salma, you know you can talk to me about anything right?" she placated eyes shining with maternal worry.

"Umma wallahy I am fine" I answered, "If you are worried about I not crying since aunty's death then please let your mind be at ease, I am sure she is in a better place"

Gawking, she resumed the slow consumption of her meal, the gears in her head turning to figure out wheather her daughter is a robot of some sorts.

So was my life, I don't bother myself about death or the dead. I only care about me, myself, and I, then maybe the people that are here, the living I mean.

What about my parents? Well I guess a rather naïve part of me never thought of them being gone, they are here and they actually didn't seem like they'll go any time soon.

All of that mentality made me aloof to everything going on within my environment, people's pain, hunger, trials and tribulations, and a whole bunch of stuff that actually makes other 16 year old girls cry. I just can't  relate.

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"Salma!!! "
"Salma!!! "
"Salma!!! "
The voice kept on calling, it sounded faint and far away, darkness so thick that Excalibur will have a hard time slicing through it.

It was quiet, steely quiet except for the voice, a sweet voice it was yet nothing about it is comforting, more like the opposite.

It felt like what I was going through was normal for the owner of the voice, "was it male? No! My fuzzy mind reasoned,

"female? " "no! " that is highly improbable, it was something different, something beyound the realm of possibilities,

the voice didn't appear to have a gender, it sounded like non other voice my ears ever heard, it was deep yet smooth, bass but with bites across soprano, lulling yet commanding, and serene yet off putting.

Slowly the darkness began to unravel to a clear white plane that appeared to have no limits, white it was, bright it was and my eyes struggled to contain the sheer amout of photons that appeared to have no source forcing themselves into them.

"Where am I?" I questioned internally only to hear my voice resounding clearly within the plane.

Wide eyed, I panicked and asked again in my head "what's going on? ",

Second time is the charm they say and suddenly I understood, I came to the rather devastating conclusion that my mind was suddenly not the dark chasm of never escaping thoughts I thought it was.

My eyes felt hot and before i knew it tears were cascading down them, "what is this place?" my voice echoed again,

"where am I? "
"whoever is doing this its not funny anymore!" my mind shouted in its bid to resist hysteria.

Swivelling my eyes, I noticed I was sitting on an uncomfortable chair brown with age yet sturdy in its ability to support weight,

My hands appeared free but move them? I could not, only my my eyes were moving, my ears could hear but the silence was deafening,  so silent was it that I could hear the sloshing of fluids within my body.

Calming down was out of the question, I couldn't for the life of me recall how I found myself in such conundrum, only that I was there, when?, where?, or how? I left the questions for my host, yes my host,

The one that sat across me on a medieval-like yet ethereal throan carved out of what appeared to be human skulls.

The darkness that swirled around..... It stood in stark contrast to the whiteness of the plane, it really didn't belong there. Nothing that horrendous belongs there.

A taint on the white it was, a foul smell one that deadens the stomach was its accomplice and I couldn't even scrunch up my nose in disgust.

I took it all in despite trying to hold my breath, a breath that was non-existant, I realized then that I couldn't breathe, breathe in the sense that yes I felt alive and aware but my nose was useless, no air was inhaled or exhaled but I was conscious.

That realization froze my thoughts in place and like the break of dawn, I knew i wasn't in the world I knew, the white plane was so much more, it was more complex than the trivialities of earth, and it was mind boggling.

A rather amused chuckle for the situation broke me out of my trance and for the first time, I saw its face,

An old unkind face, withered yet smooth with age and knowledge of the unknown, and atop it, sat an expression that says "I know and you know not".

its smile,.......  the smile it had plastered, was maliciously pleasant and its hand held what I thought was a cross between a nook sword and the tip of a drill.

"Hello!" it said in that same lilting androgenic voice, "don't try hiding anything for it matters not, everything here is visible and readable no matter how complex, thus the white hue" it sang, " Welcome to the hidden part of your universe,"

"this plane is called "THE LAIR", I am your host and my name is DEATH!!! "