The strange man persisted, asking once again if I could see him. Irritated by the attention I was drawing, I replied that of course I could see him and questioned why I wouldn't be able to. People around me stared as if I had lost my mind. Desperate to escape their judgment, I quickly took out my phone and pretended to engage in a conversation.
Was this a hallucination? The doubts swirled in my mind, and I battled to stay grounded. Should I return to the hospital? Was my health deteriorating further, leading me down a path of delusion?
Despite the urge to flee, I remained steadfast. I had promised myself not to succumb to fear and to confront the situation head-on. Summoning my courage, I approached the enigmatic man while continuing my one-sided conversation.
"Who are you?" I demanded, determined to uncover some semblance of truth from this perplexing encounter. The man's eyes gleamed with mischief, an amused smile tugging at his lips.
"Well, well, a mortal who can see me," he remarked, his tone teasing. "You're quite the interesting little girl."
I struggled to absorb his claim. A mortal who could see him? Was he insane, or was I losing my grip on reality?
"Excuse me, mister, but could you please provide some answers?" I pressed, my voice firm.
His amusement persisted. "Why should I answer your questions? You don't even appear convinced of what you're witnessing."
I held my ground, refusing to be swayed by his words. "Regardless of whether I fully believe this or not, I think I deserve an explanation for why a man with wings and a bow is shooting arrows at people."
His eyes met mine, and he heaved a resigned sigh. He finally turned his attention to me, seemingly ready to share some insight.
"Hello there, young lady. I am Cupid, or Eros, whichever name you prefer. I am the god of love, capable of making anyone fall in love," he declared.
My mind flashed with recognition. Cupid, the Roman counterpart to the Greek god Eros—the deity of love, son of Aphrodite and Ares. But this was absurd. A god of love casually visiting my country and engaging in… whatever this was? I was about to walk away, convinced this was nothing more than an elaborate joke, when he halted me with an annoyed look.
"I introduced myself to you. It's only fair you do the same," he chided.
Uncertain about indulging my hallucination, but also oddly compelled, I hesitated before finally speaking. "I'm Aifika Walang." His gaze remained steady, prompting me to add, "I'm a university student, studying astronomy."
Satisfied with my response, I decided to extricate myself from this bizarre situation. I announced my departure, but he halted me again, this time leaning in to whisper something unsettling in my ear.
"Things are not always what they seem, Aifika. The love you yearn for may lead to your downfall. Love is not always sweet and pure; it can be dark and twisted, turning good to bad and leading to dead," he warned, a seemingly innocent smile playing on his lips.
My patience waned, and I retorted, "Thank you for sharing random information, random guy I barely know."
Ignoring my sarcasm, he pressed further. "Do you not desire love, Aifika?"
Resisting his prodding, I maintained my resolve. "With all due respect, sir, that's none of your business."
He continued, undeterred. "Well, technically, you're right. But as the god of love, love is my business. I can discern whether you truly want it or not."
Annoyed by his invasive probing, I turned away and walked off, my mind spinning with questions and uncertainty. What was I supposed to make of this encounter? Could he be real? Why could only I see him?
With a deep breath, I retreated to my car. I reminded myself not to overexert, to focus on my recovery. It was time to return home and rest, to find some semblance of normalcy amidst the oddity that had unfolded.
I finally arrived home, methodically carrying all my belongings back to my apartment. The weight of the encounter with the mysterious man lingered in my mind, weaving a veil of uncertainty around my thoughts.
As I entered my apartment, the sight of an abundance of packages caught my attention. My mother had sent over a plethora of items, an attempt to fill the void of her physical absence. Among them sat a letter, an anomaly in my otherwise digital communication with the world. With a curious mix of apprehension and anticipation, I opened the envelope.
The contents were unusual—a mostly blank sheet of paper, with only a cryptic sentence written in elegant cursive: "You are one of Thanatos' people."
Thanatos, the Greek god of death. The statement felt enigmatic and unsettling, leaving me to speculate wildly. Was someone implying that I was connected to the realm of death? The notion seemed preposterous, like a fantastical yarn spun from the threads of my overactive imagination.
Just as I mulled over the meaning of the perplexing message, the doorbell chimed. Eagerly, I answered the door, but there was no one in sight. Had I fallen victim to a prank? Frustration gnawed at me as I closed the door and dismissed the bizarre incident as a fluke.
Shrugging off the strangeness of the day, I indulged in a meal and retreated to my bed, hoping sleep would grant me solace. However, slumber proved elusive, as thoughts of the man who claimed to be Cupid circled incessantly in my mind.
The letter, the inexplicable encounter, and now the cryptic message—I was spiraling into a surreal whirlwind. Eros and Thanatos, gods representing life and death respectively. It all seemed like an absurd mosaic, an intricate puzzle that refused to fit together.
My mind danced on the precipice of reason and fantasy, grappling with the very fabric of reality. The longer I lay in bed, the more these enigmatic events wrapped around me like tendrils of uncertainty, pulling me deeper into a labyrinth of intrigue.
Finally, after hours of battling my thoughts, sleep's embrace ensnared me. Yet, even in slumber, I found no refuge. My dreams were a landscape of desolation, a tapestry woven with threads of loneliness. It was a heartbreaking tableau of my fear, a vision of a solitary existence that stretched into eternity.
As the night drifted on, my mind remained a battlefield between dreams and reality, where the extraordinary and the mundane danced a delicate ballet, leaving me with a profound sense of disquiet.
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Cupid's Perfect Match ( Cupid by FIFTY FIFTY)
الخيال (فانتازيا)A story base on the song cupid by fifty fifty. A girl yearning for love and unexpectedly come across Cupid. But, she's the only one who could see him. Why is that? Why is she the only one who could see him? As things progress more questions to be a...
