two — His proposition

"W-who are you? W-what do you want from me?" I shouted, and suddenly I found myself standing on a foggy place. The one I'm standing on felt...smooth and moist. I looked down, and saw everything.

I'm standing on a cloud?

"Yes, Kyle. Shockingly, yes. You're standing on a cloud. With me." A figure moved behind the fog. I wasn't sure if he's just a slow walker or my eyes are not following him quite right. After a while, a familiar face came into my vision. I could've sworn I've seen him before. His peaceful expression, his wounded palm, his calm eyes that reflect nothing but pure love and understanding...

Oh. My. God.

"Yes, my dear son. As expected from you." He smiled softly. Oh geez. It's getting weirder and weirder. "I don't expect you to comprehend all of what I'm going to say now in a swift manner. Just take your time to wrap your head around it."

"I'm sorry to have you taken away from your loved ones. I can not bring you back to life, though. But I'm giving you your final chance to be with them. Or, should I say, to be with her." He's right. My head doesn't process much of his words. And who's 'her'?

"You two may have been in not so good terms in your past life, but I'm giving you a chance to straighten things up and spare a while with her."

"Who's 'her'?"

"You should know that by now, Kyle. She's in your mind right now, I know. No other than..." He trailed off, probably letting me know the answer myself. Well, the only girl that's in my mind is...

Oh what the—!?

"Yes, Kyle. This is a proposition I will never give to you again. Take it or leave it." Did God just gave me an opportunity to be with Nadine for the last time? He did say that it's a proposition of a lifetime. Well, technically, I'm dead so lifetime doesn't apply anymore. Oh what the crap.

"I'll take it."

He smiled as if a silent victor. He took his hand in mine and whispered, "You only have a hundred and fifty days to spend with Nadine. She'll be able to see you, hear you, but not feel your touch. You can never leave her side. You're stuck with her, if it's the term that you're satisfied with."

He let go of my hand, and with his index finger...

He pushed me.

Down I went,

And I found myself

Beside the sleeping Nadine Coleman.

I never really given much thought to how I would be friends with this girl, all I knew about her back then was she's my rival in every swimming trophy there is in this state. It would've been nice to know her better, but I guess I ran out of time.

"Why did you have to go...?" I panicked when I heard her voice, and looked for a place to hide, but then I remembered God's words: 'You can never leave her side'. I thought she was awake but when I looked at her again, her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly apart.

She talked in her sleep.

It's odd that I find this thought interesting. You see, she's always been the tough one, as far as I knew. She never gives up and that's why she's the only rival I have. But being the girl she is, one will always have something unique in her.

"Kyle...come back...don't go..." That's odder. Why is my heart beating fast and my mind starts to think that the Kyle she's talking about is me?

If it really was me, I would've said that 'I'm not going anywhere, I'm right beside you, I'll never leave your side' or something like that. But I'm not that Kyle, right? It must be someone else.

It had to be someone else.

Her eyes slowly opened. It took a minute or two before they widened and almost popped out of their sockets.













We both screamed.

one — the sick joke

"That's the sickest joke I've heard in my entire life." I heard a voice that made me open my eyes. Where exactly am I? I began to look around. I found myself in a wide room, with a huge queen-sized canopy bed placed by the large glass window framed by the ivory-colored wood. An armchair was settled by the fireplace, where the voice probably came from. There was only dim light, so the fire gave most of the light inside. The floors were covered with carpets of different shades of blue. A completely unknown location, as I may say.

"B-but it's true, mistress. He really did die at the pool. Even his coach was horribly shocked by the incident. No one saw it coming." Hmmm. The story kind of reminds me of something. Oh, right. It's just like the one about my death. How horrifying. How pitiful the guy in their conversation was. he ended up just like me.

"But it's ironically impossible! I know Kyle is a very good swimmer. He can't die because he drowned!" Why do I have a feeling that the subject of their conversation is me? Or is it just my nonsense thinking?

"There was nothing they could do about it anymore, mistress. His body is being groomed for the burial. Mr. Morris' body is going to be at the St. Michelangelo Chapel downtown."

That rang the bell.

Crap, I am dead. But, who is this so called 'mistress'? Why does she know me? Her voice sounds familiar but I can never be sure.

"What's with the sudden change of attitude, Nadine? I didn't expect that kind of reaction." A wicked voice came from the door. She was standing with her both hands on her waist. Have I seen her somewhere?

"I'm not in the mood to play games, Nicole. And what do you mean 'that kind of reaction?" This Nadine person said sarcastically. The Nicole person smiled devilishly.

"Apparently, I was hoping for a jocund aura in this area of the house. I was thinking that you might be exulting now that your rival for the Olympiad title is gone with the wind. It's a surprise to see you so mad at the news." Rival for the...Olympiad title?

Sh!t. So that's why Nadine was such a familiar name to me.

Nadine Coleman. She's also a swimmer but from St. Augustine Academy, an exclusive girls' school, which happened to be my school's, St. Boniface Academy, an exclusive boys' school, long-time rival for, like, everything. She's the greatest swimmer in their school so she's always trained for the inter-school swimming competitions. Not that I'm saying that I'm the greatest swimmer in my school. We were battling for almost every trophy that can be claimed. And now, our subject of battle: the Olympiad title. But now, she'd be the winner, since I lost to my game. And she won to hers.

"I-i would've cared less about the title. If I lost, then I lost. But...his death...was unexpected. Surprisingly unexpected." I agree so myself. I guess, life's too short eh?

"Am I hearing you right, Nadine? You're having a change of heart? Could it be that...?" I know her now. She's Nadine's older sister by two months. They're Irish twins, in simpler terms. But they look pretty much like each other as if they were twins. But Nicole looks more matured than Nadine.

"Spare me the sudden conclusions, Nicole. He's still a good person, and there's nothing else they could do about him. Can't you understand, Nicole? He's dead! He can never be born again. He won't be here anymore. He won't be..." Then I heard soft sobs escaping from her lips. She's crying because of...me? I rushed to see her by the fireplace. And then...

I tried to reach for her face, but my hand just passed through her tear-filled eyes. I felt a pang of an unknown emotion. Is this what they call...?

"Great. Now you're crying. I better get outta here before any words came out from your mouth to Mom's ears." And she walked away, closing the door as she left, leaving me with her crying sister.

I hate to see her crying. I feel so uneasy. It makes me panic. I feel like I'm such an idiotic person to make a beautiful girl like her cry. I wish there was something I could do for her to stop crying. I wonder what can I do...

"I hate you, Morris! I haaaate yooou! If you were only alive and here with me, I'd be...I'd be..." Hmm. That was convenient. I didn't even have to ask her that.

I am with her, am I not? But for the alive part...I'm not so sure myself.

"That's why you're there, Kyle Morris."

Who goes there?!

Prologue

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Exactly how long do I have to wait? Time is quickly ticking its way down to nothing. I can't concentrate. I can't think. I can't breathe.

"And now, for our next batch of swimmers, we have Gerald Smith from Hundsburg Academy, Pete Anderson from Louisville School, Kyle Morris from St. Boniface Academy, Judson Moon from Wittenshire High..."

And as our names were called, each of the contenders took a step to the platform. Breathe, Kyle. This is your last chance to show them all what you've got. All your efforts and hard works will soon be paid. If you only breathe...

"Ready, get set..." And a shot was heard.

Everyone was screaming like hell. But I couldn't concentrate on that now. One stroke after the other. My arms and legs have to move in coordination to each other. One stroke. Then another. And another one.

Now, for the rounds...













HELL!

My legs couldn't move. Not cramps, precisely. It was like they were frozen solid. I tried to flap my arms but it seems to be useless and stupid. Gasps and shouts were everywhere. They were suddenly so loud. It's too much. Definitely too much. I slowly opened my eyes only to find clear blue.

The color of water, but why is it above me...?

Am I drowning?

How ironic. I am a swimmer after all...

Well...

There goes my trophy...

Way above the surface of everything.

The next thing I knew...













I am dead.