nostalgia after death

11:56

Turns out, I was the one who can't cross over. He was a lot faster than I thought he was. I couldn't catch up and I kinda regret asking to race him.

My expression amused Peter as he told me that I was a 'sore loser'.

"So what did you learn today, Elle?" he said, rubbing it in my face that I lost, even if I was the one who challenged him.

"Never make friends with someone as narcissistic as you." I insulted him.

It seems that my insults didn't hurt him one bit, in fact, his smile grew wider and his eyes gleamed from the moonlight.

Yes, it was nighttime already. Running here took a lot of time and my knees were wobbling from exhaustion.

"Can we sit? My knees feel numb and pained at the same time." Peter said as he sat on the middle of road.

"Peter, there's a bench here." I stated as I sat on the bench under the lamppost. I removed my hair tie and used my fingers to brush my tangled hair.

"I know. I just wanted to know how it feels to get run over." He said nonchalantly while closing his eyes.

"You what? Peter, get off the road." I demanded him. Anxiety was seeping through my bones when he didn't move an inch, still seated.

My eyes widened when a car was speeding down the road, approaching Peter, visibly going to hit him. His lips revealed a smile when he heard the engine of the car getting closer.

His smile was carefree and showed that he seriously wanted to do this. To get run over, to die.

There were instances, where souls would die again. You see, our human bodies are our first form, and us souls, are in the second form. I've heard that there is a third form, one I was yet to find out.

I acted out of impulse and ran to Peter, trying to drag him out of the road. My hands clenched his shirt, my heartbeat throbbed against my ears.

For the two years after I died, I've always wondered as to what extent does this special day gives us.

I was too late. Even in death.

Shock immediately took over me when the car advanced and I felt wind all around me.

The wind was cold. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact that would send us both flying. Peter's brown hair went in all sorts of different directions when I heard the car's engine getting further away from us.

I opened my eyes only to realize that not only was I in a spooning position with Peter, hugging him while his eyes bore onto mine, but I was intact. No blood, no wounds and I didn't die a second time.

He then chuckled at my expression.

I wasted no time in moving my hands away from his neck and standing up, walking away, letting the heat in my cheeks subside a little.

We soon entered the carnival after the I almost died again incident.

"How did you know that the car's not going to affect us? It is our birthday, after all." I asked, interested.

"When you fell, you didn't get any wounds so I came to the conclusion that only us can alter things not vice versa. Humans can only see us, feel us, yet they can't touch us. We are beings of what has been and humans can't alter with time." He answered, quite seriously. It looks like he actually put it in thought before he did it.

"But what if we died? Losing the chance to finish our business here?" I asked, testing if he had an answer to that one.

"If we died again, what have we got to lose?"

He was right. Living and dying had one thing in common. After all you've done, nothing matters. You still lose everything.