[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Click meets Necrologist

"I have met you before."

Hearing the unfamiliar voice in front of him, Click raised his head and saw a strange person on the way back to his room.

That was a young girl with short black hair and a bit sad but beautiful yellow eyes, though one of them was covered by the hair bangs. Her outfit consisted of a gorgeous black dress and a black hat that would make people immediately think of funerals. She was holding a small glass cage in her hands, in which was a stone with small inscriptions on its smooth polished surface.

"I'm sorry, but may I have a talk with you?"

She looked right into his dull gray eyes which had a pair of unique pupils.

"I promise that it won't take you long."

Click noticed her fingers slightly tightened on the base of the glass cage.

Though unknown to her purpose, he still nodded because he didn't have anything to do now. The rolls of film he ordered haven't arrived yet.

Seeing his agreement, she gradually loosed her fingers and let out a gentle smile.

"Let me introduce myself first." she said.

"You can call me Necrologist and same as you, I'm also one of the members in Ms.Vertin's unit."

"I'm Click." He replied.

Her expression showed a bit of surprise when she heard his name.

"Oh, pardon me."

Her cheek was a little red. Perhaps she realized that the ghost also noticed her weird reaction.

"It's just... I remembered you were called by a different name at that time."

"No need to apologize."

He slightly shook his head.

"Neither my old name nor my new name will make any difference to myself." He said.

"But now I'm used to being called as Click."

"It used to be the only sound I heard and remembered, as well as my purpose even after death."

Those dull gray eyes stayed the same as the old days. Nothing has changed and that was what made her delighted.

"Mr. Click, I finally have a chance to tell you these words."

A delicate smile appeared on her mouth.

"Though you may not remember anything back then, I still want to say that,..."

"Thank you." She gently bowed.

Click just quietly nodded as he always did. He had no clue or he didn't actually care about the reason for the girl's weird action. His human time was long gone. And if there was something from that time he couldn't recall, it indicated the thing wasn't that important for him to remember.

Next, they bade each other farewell and then continued on their own road.

.........

In Necrologist's room, several voices from the tombstones were still as noisy and lively as everyday.

While listening to their words, the streams of memories once again flowed in Necrologist's head.

There was a time when she had worked as a voluntary nurse on the battlefield. In that period, she was still an amateur working under the instructions of her seniors. Since her medical team joined from the beginning of the war, she got to know some soldiers before they went to the battlefield.

As she observed, their conditions just got worse and worse following the progression of the war. From a healthy person to a disabled person, and in the end, to a dead body.

Another harsh day came and so did her limit. So many damaged bodies were brought in the tent at the same time. Some faces she recognized, some faces she didn't.

Her face was pale. Her hands were shaking to the extent that they couldn't hold anything. It seemed like her senior had noticed her unusual behavior, so she was given half a day off.

Outside the tents, she could see more and more dead bodies piled up on the trucks. The screams of pain in the tents still echoed in her ears and the silent faces of people returning from the battlefield made her dizzy and nauseous.

She vomited nothing while cold sweat drenched her body. The smells, colors, images and sounds around her fused together, then became something distorted and twisted threatening her sanity.

That was when the young man coincidentally saw her. He had bandages on his head, some cameras hanging on his neck and a big wood case on his shoulder. His whole body and clothes were covered in dust, not much different from the people around here. Despite her unstable condition, she still recognized his identity based on the equipment.

He was a war correspondent, the person who took photos and recorded people and anything happening in a war.

Before she could have more thoughts about him, a handkerchief appeared before her full of fatigue eyes. The man didn't say anything and just stood there, waiting for her to receive his handkerchief.

Those dull gray eyes that were once blurred in her memory, now became clear. In those eyes, she saw nothing about hatred, agony, fear, tiredness, hopelessness, stress or luck, but consistency.

She looked at him for a while and decided to take it.

While she was feeling the handkerchief in her hand, as if confirming its existence, the nameless man was nowhere to be seen.

That handkerchief was just a normal handkerchief which you could buy a bunch at any store with a good price. There was some dirt at the corner, but it was still clean for the most part. She still remembered the earth and light gunpowder smell as well as a faint fragrance of daisy when she used it to wipe her face.

Slowly and slowly, they replaced the stink of blood in her nose.

Slowly and slowly, they blurred the haunted red that was covering her mind and helped her regain a little power.

Although she was still struggling in her job afterwards, she didn't look as pathetic as before.

At some point, Necrologist had a chance to know that kind man's name. However, the chance to thank him no longer existed.

But everything was different now.

"Oh, you asked why my voice was so happy?"

She tilted her head to listen carefully in the air and gently replied to the tombstone in her hands.

"My wish was just granted."

She was a Necrologist, the person who helped the deceased fulfill their wishes.

And today, the deceased also fulfilled her wish too.