Afterlife

Realization

"So how are you enjoying your time here, Carol?"

We, me and Evan, were back to the giant golden castle. After about a week ever since my...appearance...they had apparently came up with their conclusion on my death. I wasn't exactly sure how they were able to contact Evan, since, right after I was awake, he dropped me down (literally) from the tree house and before I knew it, we were in front of Sui, Occi, and Nat. After some friendly re-introductions from everyone (luckily there were some golden chairs unlike before) they talked among themselves for a while including either of us every now and again. Their latest question had been turned towards me.

"It's...been okay," I answered to Nat's question. "Most things seem like...how they were, I guess? Then there are some things that just seem...weird." I couldn't help but think of the farm, with its unnatural production of goods, both plant and animal. Like before, it seems similar to something back in the "living word", but very different in some strange way. Then there was the nearby city which reminded me so much of one I've seen when I was...to put it bluntly alive.

Nat chuckled under her breathe while Occi looked away and smiled along with Sui; I guess my confusion is amusing to these people. "Well", Nat said afterward,"I see you're adjusting here...slowly anyway."

"Now, that that's all out of the way, we told Evan to bring you here because we have already decided who will be responsible for you," Sui interjected when it looked like Occi was going to add something from what Nat said; probably something at my expense like usual.

"Oh? Well, what have you decided?" I asked; I haven't really thought about this, since I was too preoccupied with what I've yet to learn from the talks with my mother and, occasionally, brother and friend. Not to mention, how this world works.

"Well, after much thought..." Occi started...and didn't finish, leaving the spacious room in the echo of his words. If he was trying to make it suspenseful, it was oddly working. I saw the other two, even Evan, gave Occi a dirty look while he started to smile, the annoyance in the room going instead of the tense. "Me."

"Great, I get another male in my death-life," I grumbly said, the palm of my hand meeting with my forehead; I made it more exaggerated due to my two male audience's (and also for the other two females') reactions. "Anyway, what made you decide that?" I asked, wanting the attention off of me.

"Well," Nat started," When going about your memory on your final moments, we tried to find anything that could distinguish if Sui or Occi will be responsible for you. And in your quick memory, we saw that the driver behind the car you collided with, which took a great deal to see from that quick view, was on the wrong side of the road; his steering was off and shaky, he was facing down from the windshield and, the icing on this cake, you had a final bit of adrenaline and fear before-" She made a noise that was supposed to replicate a crashing sound.

So because of that...uh.."PSHHH" from the driver, I was put in my state due to...a murder? But...

"But I wasn't completely murdered since I still haven't fully died, right?"

"Details, details, darling; at this moment you're here and that's all it takes,"Occi dismissed in an overly exaggerated voice. "Anyway, now that we decided that, how's your living 'view' going?"

"Um..." If I even wanted to say anything, where would I start?

"I rather keep that private, if you don't mind." I'm not sure why I expected him to be confused by this, but instead, he hummed an agreeing Hmm and everyone else left it at that.

"Well, that's your own private life so I guess it's none of our business anyway; just thought it was necessary to ask. We need to break the ice anyhow." Occi shrugged and looked beside me to address to Evan. "You best bring her back here the closer the days come, you hear?" Of course; my big decision.

"Yup, you can count on it," he cheerfully replied; jerk.

With a parting smile from the two girls, who were oddly silent during our whole exchange (guess now that I'm Occi's responsibility, it's not their problem anymore), and a happy little 'see ya!' from my-what is he? Ambassador? Representative?-and we went from there.

Out the room, out the large indoor courtyard, and out of the large golden building to the outside where the motorcycle was left, now on a patch of loose rocks near a trail to the palace; last time we apparently entered through the 'back'. What a great 'Guardian Angel'.

I got on the back of the small, slender vehicle and waited until Evan took the handles up front. It crossed my mind every now and again, but I always thought of what it would be like riding the motorcycle and every now and again while on the back of cycle, I would catch a small glimpse of a memory of a road, either in day or night, with the speed hitting me as the roar of a motor went in the background. Any knowledge on how to exactly ride or control it wouldn't come to mind, however.

"Let's start looking for a dwelling for you!" I was a bit miffed by his remark and answered with a hard, 'no'.

The motor of the vehicle was already on and we were on a slow start; he looked back at me for a while before turning back towards the patch of rocks that lead out towards the nearby city or rice farms.

"Ah...I see," he said after a while. "You're still unsure about.." He left that sentence to hang with the motor and sound of the crunching ground beneath us.

Each day passed, each day closer to the end of no return. Each day closer to when I will no longer have a say in if I were to actually be dead or not...

Then it hit me.

At that moment...I was dead. I was in this land of "dead" and at that moment I could be considered...dead. I needed to somehow get to back to my unconscious body.

"Hurry up and let's go please; let's just...go." I'm sure he heard the sudden worry in my voice and then I felt the motor accelerate. The sudden worry and anxiety in me made my head feel light and jumbled. Why haven't I noticed beforehand? Was...am I actually dead? I had the sense of wanting to at least try, at least try, to see if I could forcefully go back to the 'mortal' world.

Why was I suddenly so aware of this...'death'? I wasn't actually sure...the suddenness of this whole death idea immediately hit me when Evan asked about a 'home' here. And then there was the sickness of...'home'. The home I was taken away from so unexpectedly, the home where my mother and brother was, waiting for me to wake up from my vegetable state. I wasn't sure if this could ever be my home.

I laid my head against Evan's back, closed my eyes, and thought of 'home'.

Home, home, home, home, home, home, home...

Home...

.....

But I was still there, my head against Evan, my body still on a motorcycle that still went too fast, and my conscious state still dead.

Author's Note:

This month is almost over, and I barely had time to finish this part! Summer classes are just...time consuming.

Anyway, comments and votes are greatly appreciated, and also show you like the story, as well as help me figure out what may need to be edited!

Till next month!