Afterlife

A Quick Game

"Seriously? What are we, kids?" Leo jokingly shot back to Evan.

"What's twenty questions?"

"It's a spoken game where someone asks someone else yes or no questions to guess what they're thinking of. Once they already asked twenty questions, they can't ask anymore and have to guess what the person's thinking," Evan explained.

I fidget with the...button on my jacket, thinking through the game. I didn't notice before, but in the sudden silence, I could hear how the branches swayed around the tree house, the leaves rustling softly alongside each other. It was quite relaxing, actually. That, added with the soft glow of lighting in the elevated house, made everything peaceful in a sort of way.

"Wait, how can I guess anything if I don't really know anything?" I asked both of them. It was a flaw I noticed, and extremely disrupted the meaning of the game; especially if we're supposedly learning about each other here.

"Well, we'll modify it then. Let's see..."

It took a while to come up with this 'modified version', but I think...I enjoyed the progress. During the reconstruction of the game, I came to the conclusion that Leo's alright. He always worded his words carefully, so that it never came out offensive or confusing; like, 'it's been a while, is anyone hungry?' or 'that was a good idea, but I don't think it'll quite work, maybe...' and so on. He also seemed slightly more mature than Evan. Slightly; there were some of the boyish impression on him. Speaking of such...

Evan was still a douche. Although, I noticed he dialed his jerk levels down a bit with Leo around. He seemed to be more considerate of the people with him (Leo and surprisingly, me), and he didn't talk as much either; Leo and I were the ones mostly talking while he commented every now and then. It was strange, but a long-expected change in character...no that sounds rude...it was more like an unexpected but grandly appreciated event.

The game we came up with was somewhat similar to the original; we each would

be asked simple questions, and name different objects, events, or feelings as answers. And instead of saying yes or no, the person that was asked the question would choose one or both objects, which would leave the guesser to try and see what they have in common. For example, if someone asks "what's you're preferred color," and follow up the question with objects like, "apples or grapes." The person asked would respond as "both" or "none" or just choose one of the two.

As for me, I'd have to explain in further detail on something I couldn't find the word for. So basically what I usually do.

It was strange, but it seemed entertaining.

With the new game planned, we started with Leo, mostly since he volunteered to go first for some reason.

"Okay, so Evan...where did you die? Pasta or steamed rice?"

"Way to start off these 'lighthearted' questions. Both"

"Hey, just trying to break the ice...was it the States?"

"Yup; medicine."

"Why was that?" I jumped in. Immediately, I thought of how impolite and rude that sounded, but I couldn't help but ask. He didn't seem to mind though.

"Lethal injection; it was a form execution."

I bit my tongue before speaking this time, hoping that this game would somehow lead me to my answer.

"Let's see...Carol; last thing you saw. Rose or raven?"

I answered rose, after a long silence filled with swaying leaves as I thought it over; he guessed light after a couple of more questions.

We were each asked around ten to thirty questions before one of us passed out (Evan). The reason as to why he was executed never came about, since whenever it was my turn, I won't be able to ask and Leo just never seemed too. Although, I did learn that Leo had lost a long battle to a certain sickness, Evan apparently used to like the 'arts' as both he and Leo put it, and I seemed to had a dog or some other furry creature (I was reminded of the white fur jumping in that much too fast

'flashback' when the three rulers were going through my life with their little circle). The various other questions were just trivial; what animal do you prefer? What liquid did you usually drink? What did you wanted/or were before? Even going as far as asking 'what is your favorite color'?

I was given a small guest room, which was surprising for a house in the trees, filled with a slim bed whose side was facing a small window, where there was a small clearing between the branches and leaves.

After I was lead and was left alone in the empty room, I went straight to under the covers of the bed. I wasn't tired really, but...I couldn't help but this was just some strange and very long dream. A dream that...well wasn't bad, but was weirdly realistic, over-exaggerated, and carried out for far too long.

The only thing that made it feel like this was all real was the lost memory; I'm pretty sure no dream is like this.

I got comfortable in the bed, well, as comfortable one could get when in a new bed, in a new place, with two new acquaintances just past the door...

I let my head fall to the pillow and buried my self in the covers, turning my body to the side facing the cut-out window.

It was hard to view, but there they were; the soft glowing lights hidden behind the darken leaves that swayed ever so softly.

My eyes were growing heavy each second before I felt myself slip into...reality.

Author's Note

Hello dear reader! This was sort of a short chapter...but the next one would be a bit longer.

Comments and votes are very appreciated, as well as help me write the story and make it either more understandable or enjoyable!

I'll see you in the next chapter then!