A Life Beyond Death

"You know that river in the forest next to here? They say there are fairies that like to dance and sing there during the night," our classmates would always whisper to each other. It was foolish of me to think that what they had said was true. If I hadn't been so gullible — or rather, desperate — I wouldn't have tried to see it for myself one following evening. I had lied to my mother by telling her that I was at a friends house (in reality, I didn't even have a friend to stay with) and I headed straight to the forest near school. I wasn't sure where to go from there, but I figured that I'd wander off more to and use my hearing to locate it. It felt like an exciting adventure; if I did manage to find a fairy, I wondered what they would be like. I wondered if it would accept my offer of being my friend.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed in the forest; the light that had barely shone in the evening sky had disappeared a while ago. At this point, mom would be worried … but I wasn't sure where the way back home was. I had carelessly wandered in an incoherent direction, but at the time I was just a clueless child who didn't think things through. I eventually heard the rushing sounds of water and hope filled my heart. I rushed over to the source of the noise, pushing past some tall ferns and twisting around trees. I stopped on top of a small cliff ledge that hung over a massive, rapid river. I looked up and around trying to see if there were any fairies out yet — maybe I was still too early. As I was about to sit down, a small chime-like giggle reached my ear. I raised my head looking around frantically.

"U-Um … is anyone there," I asked, a tremble forming in my voice from both excitement and nervousness. After saying that, a translucent, tiny figure appeared floating above the river. It didn't seem to notice me. This always happened, whether or not it were a human or apparition, it seemed. But now was not the time to get worked up over this — I needed help. With a displeasingly quiet voice I called out again, "H-Hello? Can you hear me? I need help getting home … I'm lost."

But it kept floating around above the river, dancing and laughing. Then, another appeared next to it and the two began to dance together.

"Um, hey …" I tried again, edging closer to the two wisps.

More joined the pair and danced in ballroom-like styles. A sinking feeling engulfed my heart as I watched them spin and laugh together in their gentle, bell-like giggles. It was always like this; why was it always like this? Was I really someone not worth talking to?

I gulped and without thinking, reached out to grab one of these dancing figures. My hand phased right through their bodies and my surprise caught my balance off guard. My foot slipped and I fell off the cliff. As I fell, I watched as the wisps continued to dance and sing. My body felt the harsh impact upon the freezing, rapid water and my muscles tensed to the point where I couldn't move. I hoped for someone or something to notice my cries for help, but the roars of the water muffled my shrieks. And so, I took my last breath as my body hit the rigid, rocky bottom of the river. My death, just like my entire existence, ended abruptly and quietly. I wondered what I had ever done to make the world so disinterested with me.

"Oh dear, what do we have here,
a child naïve, yet bold
with last breath deaf to ear,
lost to an ocean that's cold?"

My mind swirled — it was like waking up from a bad sleep. My vision blurred trying to find who was speaking to me. Her voice sounded smooth; for some reason, it reminded me how mom always comforted me whenever I had a bad dream. Once my eyes focused, to my surprise I noticed two figures instead of one in front of me: a woman in black clothing holding a large scythe and a giant wolf with smoking fur that towered over her. My body was paralyzed with fear as soon as I had noticed the wolf — it looked hungry and I didn't want to be eaten.

"She awakens to death near.
To her, our story's untold.
Shall we make ourselves more clear
and take her to her last toll?"

The wolf grumbled with a hoarse voice and its eyes felt like it were piercing into my soul. I didn't understand at all what they were saying to me; it was all gibberish and confusing.

"Dear wolf, she shan't shed a tear.
Love has not yet reached her hold.
We shouldn't bring her more fear
and let her find her last gold."

The two