"It's hard to wait around for something you know might never happen, but it's even harder to give up when it is everything you want,"
********
"Will you look after her? Will you protect her? Will you love her?" Her voice was faint. He had never heard her sound so low yet so desperate.
"I'll," He nodded. He would do anything for her. He always did.
"Protect her, love her, don't... don't let her be like me,please, take care of her, please,love her, promise me," She begged voice faint, tears seeping down painfully from her eyes.
"I'll Lily, I promise." He promised, throat clogged with emotions. He couldn't see her like this. He never wanted this. He did everything for her smile, for her happiness, for her love.
How did then end up like this then?
Why?
"Love her!" She smiled, a teary heart breaking smile. The light diminishing from her eyes.
She didn't see the tears falling down like waterfall from his eyes. The always calm and serious guy cry like the world ended. His heart wrecking, depressing sobs echoing in the corridor. The woes of love, the cruelty of fate and the never ending life.
*******
All his life he loved her. She was his meaning of love, his definition of love. After her, he wasn't interested in the matter of hearts. He didn't have the heart to love anyone. His heart was dead.
Can someone resurrect his heart?
Geoff and Naomi are dead, and they're depressed, but when Geoff's cat Bernie dies as well, they embark on a wild journey to find it in the underworld.
*****
When Geoff dies, alongside his girlfriend Naomi, they end up sharing an apartment in the Underworld as skeletons. But after a few years, Geoff starts suffering a mid-death crisis. What's the purpose of going through the motions as a skeleton if you can't really live? Then he gets word that his cat, Bernie, just died and he can collect him and bring him home! Geoff and Naomi hurry to get Bernie only to discover that, due to a clerical error, their cat has been lost. With the hunt for Bernie giving new purpose to Geoff's un-life, he and Naomi begin a quest to get back their cat. Battling skeleton pirates, climbing the sky ladder and facing off against the villain who took Bernie, Geoff is determined to find his purpose - or die a second time trying!
[[2018 Wattys Winner - The Originals]]
[[word count: 30,000-40,000 words]]