A Soul's Journey

Chapter Nineteen

Mang Teban opened his eyes and let them wander inside his cozy shanty, still wondering where he was. He stretched his arms and pain crept over his shoulders and chest. He gently touched his aching lips and swelling nose. The pain reminded him that he was home after a beating from Jim.

Then he slowly got up and sat down at the edge of his bed. Something moved from a dark corner. "Von, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

"Just hanging around. My conscience is bothering me. I regret involving you in my problem. It hurts me seeing you in that pitiful state especially that I am the cause of it. You need medications in the hospital. But I can't do anything."

"Oh, don't be too emotional. So what If I die, I'll join you in your world. Isn't it wonderful?" A faint smile escaped from his painful lips. "I'll have companions, unlike now that I am alone."

"You still try to be funny, old man. Anyway, it makes sense. But still, it doesn't make my conscience out of the hook."

"Mang Teban looked around. "Von, we have company...I mean companies. They are many."

Von kept silent and listened. Dry leaves crushed under the visitors' feet as they arrived.

And from the group of souls someone spoke. "Von, I felt the heaviness of your heart. We are on our way to help an elderly woman in her prayers but we decided to see you first. What is bothering you?"

"Michelle, thank God it's you!" Von stood up with a glow in his eyes and singled her out among the crowding souls.

Mang Teban closed his eyes as his heart listened to the silent voices of their thoughts.

"I need your help! My girlfriend is in real danger but first we must help him." He looked at his side. "This is my friend, Mang Teban. He needs immediate medication but I can't do anything to help him."

"Yes Von, I can see it." He needed prayers and a professional help for his ailing body. He must be brought to the hospital."

"Who will do it...and pay for it?"

"I'll take care of it, Von." She turned to one of the souls and commanded him.

Michelle faced Mang Teban and touched his shoulder. "You'll be alright, help will soon arrive. Someone will come to bring you to the nearest hospital and you won't worry about the expenses."

"Thank you," he murmured.

Michelle faced the confused young man, still wondering how a soul could do the job. "Just like me, not all souls with me are dead. Some of them still have bodies which they left behind in their sleeping state. I told him to go back to earth life and take care of Mang Teban."

Von kept silent, still attentive to what Michelle was saying.

"This place is where the souls stayed for the time being before they go to the heavens. This is purgatory where souls drop their evil desires and we are here to help them. We are also the helping hands of the Lord in answering the prayers of the needy."

"You are lucky, Michelle."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because you still have your body to live with your love ones at the same time come in the world of the dead to help. You have two worlds."

Michelle shook her head. "Not always. With the pain and suffering we encounter in our earth life, sometimes we prefer to just stay in this purgatorial plane. But we have no choice. We have to undergo the process of evolving into a better person and it can only happen by the experiences we gain while living. Every morning as we enter into our bodies, we felt unhappy because having a body means we are subjected to limitations again. Unlike in this world, we travel in an instant, we feel no pain, and we read the minds of others. Nobody could lie here."

It didn't take long; the ambulance arrived and brought Mang Teban to the hospital.

..................

"Your friend is now in good hands."

Von glanced at Michelle beside him. "But what about the woman in prayer you were about to help, Michelle?"

"Don't worry about her, my companions were already there. Now tell me the problem about your girlfriend."

"You see, Mang Teban was mauled by someone interested with my girlfriend..." Von's breath started to beat rapidly. The thought of Jim taking advantage of Kim put away his concentration.

"I'm listening."

He went back to his senses. "Mang Teban was about to tell Kim, my girlfriend, the ill intention of Jim, his lover. But unluckily, the two crossed paths and the old man was mauled."

Michelle felt the influx of Von's love and concern for Kim, like a lightning hitting her heart. "How could I help you?" She readily asked.

"You mean it, Michelle?"

"Do you think I'm kidding?"

"But Michelle, you might end up like Mang Teban."

"No, it won't. Don't worry about it."

"What if it happens?"

She just shook her head. "Now, what's the plan?"