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.