Afterlife

Not To Be Rude

I was able to compose myself when I started to hear one of them stir in their sleep. However, I did make a mental note to both write what I said, or at least remembered what I said, in the journal that had all of the 'discoveries' I've made and to also tell Evan. I didn't want him to scold me like I were a child as he did last time.

The first one who woke was Leo, which I assumed would have been Evan since he was the first one to sleep; said the person who was the last and only had a few minutes of sleep. The room was still a light blue-gray, meaning the sun wasn't up yet, when I first felt his arm swat onto my face. After slowly and deliberately moving it away, he started to move it of his own accord and that's how I figured he was awake. But, when he moved to stretch his once unmoved body, the arm was back on my face.

"Not to be rude but-"

"Ah! Carol, I'm sorry! I forgot where I was for a second." Neither of us were sitting upright since Evan was sprawled awkwardly on top of both of us while maintaining his arm partly underneath me. So we carried off talking while staring at the wooden ceiling; well, I did anyways, Leo could've closed his eyes again for all I knew.

"It's no problem. At least you're not sprawled out on top of me, unlike this guy." I tried to use one of my available limbs to point up towards Evan; I ended up using one of my legs and levitate it upward which seemed to get a laugh out of Leo.

"I don't know whether to be flattered or feel sorry for my friend...hmm, no it's more flattering; so thank you." We laid in an awkward silence for a moment as I tried to decide on how to bring up why he seemed so down most of yesterday. Meanwhile, the room started to get a slight glow along with its already blue-gray color, signaling that the sun was already going to come up.

"About yesterday," Leo had begin to say, "It's not something that you should worry about; sometimes you just get those moments like 'oh, I'm dead'. It...it hasn't been long since I've come here, probably about five months now..."

"So yesterday was...just one of those days where...that feeling just came back to you?" I thought back to when I felt the same just yesterday. I expected that after a while you'd get used to it later and it becomes the norm; but I suppose the shock is still there with you, waiting in the back of your mind until it suddenly springs onto you and envelops you in a state of shock and depression.

"Yeah; oh but don't worry, I'm feeling much better now!" he added quickly and reassuringly. "Evan's always there when those moments come up, but it felt reassuring when you were also there too. It's like..." he paused for a while as he tried to think of what to say next. If I listened carefully, I could hear the gears in his head moving.

"Well," he finally began, "it's like you're stuck here in an empty and barren room, away from family and from all the friends you once knew and just....stuck. But then you realize...all that pain and suffering you once felt and completely consumed your life is also released; then you'll soon find yourself great friends and people you probably wouldn't have even met while alive. Not while stuck in a hospital room all day," he added a bit more quietly. He continued on without missing a beat.

"I think of that and, with some comfort and possibly consoling from my dear friend that is slowly getting heavier by the minute," he added jokingly,", I get through those moments...um Carol?"

"Yeah?" Evan started to twitch so I had to assume he was already awake even though he didn't seem to move off of either of us; his jerkiness ways never seem to fail to come through.

"Have you made a final decision left? You know for..." he didn't finish his sentence. Even though I couldn't see his face because of some part of Evan's body blocking my view, I could imagine how Leo's face might've looked like. Possibly wonder but also worry, since I could hear both from his voice.

"Oh, well...I haven't made a final decision yet on it, if you couldn't tell," I said jokingly. I wanted to lighten up how dire my situation was since I didn't want to make Leo depressive again, but also because I wondered if Evan was silently listening, passing off as being asleep.

Leo made something similar to an approving sound and we grew silent again; he seemed to get that I didn't wish to talk about it. The room was already filled in a yellow glow due to the sunrise; the ceiling looked really nice in that glow since it was the only thing I could see.

The ceiling was flat and looked to be made of planks, strips of wood nailed to something on top of it as was the floor. But, there were also beams that extended from each corner that went up to the ceiling giving extra support. Or they also could've been there for decoration. The sunrise glow made the wood seem lighter than it was and allowed me to see the texture of each wooden piece and the color differentiation within those planks clearer. It seemed more of a little kid's treehouse than a living space.

Evan started to feel heavier and he started to snore; he was already awake. I carefully maneuvered his arm that was underneath me so that I was no longer weighing any part of him down. Evan still continued to fake snore and try to sell the act by twitching as well which made my job a bit easier. After he was fully on top of me and Leo, I very slowly and carefully bent my arms underneath part of his body; then I pushed him off with a shove.

"AH-AIE-AIE-AIE!" It sounded like some sort of bird mating or a danger call; he was definitely awake by then. Leo and I were just laughing ourselves out till we had to clunch our stomachs since we could no longer breath.

Evan sure knew how to lighten up a place better than the sun.

For sure, he was a great guardian angel and nothing seemed to deny that.

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Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter! Don't forget to leave a comment (it always makes my day!) and vote if you've enjoyed the chapter!

Till next month!