The Biggest Courage of Them All

A few months ago I wrote a short story for a competition held by my uni's journalism club (ICM - Interactive Creative Media). Since I won the  best storyline award, I thought it's worth uploading :).. Here goes:

I walked briskly through a field of grass. The field was strangely beautiful. No trees were around, only grasses and some bushes of flowers. Normally, I would be freaked out to be alone in this place, but I felt this peculiar feeling of peace. All I knew was that I have to keep on walking. I saw a figure at the far end of the field and intuitively I told my feet to go towards it.

I had a very blurred memory on why and what I was doing in this field in the first place. Flashes of images came into my mind but I couldn’t gain any understanding out of it. Trying to ignore them, I just kept walking headed the figure. And then, I saw someone from the corner of my right eye. A few seconds after that, I saw another one on the left. I realized that I’m not the only one walking toward the figure.

As I was getting closer, I could see clearly what, or who to be exact, the figure was. A man, wearing white shirt and pants, was sitting on a rock. He was not smiling, but his face expression was depicting a big smile. At that point I also could clearly saw my other companions in this field. A man was walking from my right side, whereas a woman was walking from my left—both walking toward the man also.

The three of us were walking more slowly as we approached the man, and stopped approximately three meters away from the white-dressed-man. We looked into each other’s face, trying to find some explanation, but no one dared to say a word.

“Welcome,” said the white-dressed-man, breaking the silence.

“I know you all must be very confused on why you are here. To keep things clear, I will cut directly into fulfilling your curiosity before I said anything else,” continued the man in a slow, confident tone.

“You all are here today because you are no longer in the place where most of your family and friends are living in. In fact, you are not in a state that you all call as ‘living’. Simply said, you are already dead.”

When he finished his last sentence, none of us were really surprised. I guessed a long walk in a strange field of grass pretty much giving us a big hint. All he did was giving affirmation.

“So,” I finally reached out to say something, “I’m guessing this is heaven, right?”

“Not quite, I’m afraid. It’s very near though,” replied the man with a real smile, finally.

“Then, where are we?” asked the woman on my left.

“You are in a place of the between. And before any of you asked any more questions, let me finish my part of talking first,” said the white-dressed-man, again in a very charismatic tone.

“You all are here today because you are given a second chance to redeem your life. Your crossover happened during Christmas Eve. And on that special time we always picked a few people that are worthy to redeem their life on Earth.”

I was about to say something when he continued immediately, “In a few moment all three of you will be coming back to sometime before the crossover happened. You will slowly regain your memory as you are living through the moments. You definitely will know when it’s time to make that life-changing decision. And you are one hundred percent entitled to choose the other path which will prolong your stay on the world of the livings.”

After that, we all said nothing—all of us were trying to absorb the things that he just said.

“Well I’ve done my part of talking, and this would be great time if any of you want to ask any question.”

Again, none of us said anything. The question that I was going to ask earlier was lost confused with a bunch of other questions.

“No question? Well okay then, excuse me that I have to do this.”

The white-dressed-man pulled a flute out of his pocket and started playing it. It was really beautiful. The music was like flowing into my ears and came through my mind. I saw everything whirled into pure whiteness and I lost my conscious.

***

The sunlight hit my eyes and I opened them slowly. I was in my bathroom, looking to myself in the mirror. I went out from the bathroom and checked the clock beside my bed. It is shown that today is December 24, 5.30 pm.

I sat on my bed, trying to figure out what was I going to do on that time. I had some recollection it had something to do with Christmas... Oh yeah, late Christmas shopping. I remembered that I haven’t got anything for my sister.

I was back in my parents’ house for Christmas. We always had this tradition of celebrating Christmas together. I myself was a twenty-five years old man, living in a different state from my parents. I worked in a law firm that gave legal help for people who couldn’t afford a lawyer. My parents hated my decision to work in this firm, saying that I’m giving away my law degree for charity. But this was what I think the right thing to do, and I would stick with it.

I drove my way to a jewellery store. I would be getting my sister a pair of earrings. On my way there, I kept on guessing what will be the cause of my death. Was it a car accident? But then, how would I manage to avoid it? The man said that there will be time where I could choose another path in order to stay alive. But when will this happen?

And then out of nowhere, sound of a gunshot was heard inside my head! My car strayed from the lane because of the shock. I quickly straightened the car again. Was I going to be killed by a gunshot? That would be very, very terrible. I felt my heart racing very quickly. Well, lucky thing that I will have a chance to avoid it then...

Finally, I arrived at the store. When I was browsing for the earrings, someone called me from behind:

“Excuse me.”

I turned around to see a man who then continued, “I’m looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend. Could you help me pick which one is better?”

“Sure,” I replied and walked toward the man.

“She is my girlfriend from high school. She is the love of my life. I really want to give her the best,” the man said with a big smile.

I looked to his ring choices and then asked him, “So, when is the big night?”

“Tomorrow, man. I can’t wait. I’m gonna propose to her in the restaurant where we had our first date.”

I was just about to say something to him when I noticed that someone was standing in front of the door. He was wearing a jacket and a hat, and he looked very nervous. He seemed to be struggling something in his mind. At first I couldn’t see his face because he was looking down. As he faced up, suddenly flashes of images came into my mind.

I saw the mysterious man came inside the store and walked in a hurry. Then without any warning he grabbed me from my back, pointed a gun to my head, and yelled,

“Gimme all of your stuffs. Give it now or I’ll blow this man’s head!”

The store attendant seemed pretty calm for this situation. On the other hand, the robber is extremely nervous. I could see his gun-bearing hand shaking heavily. Seeing the attendant’s reaction, the robber yelled again, “What are you waiting for, huh! Hurry up!”

Suddenly an alarm went off. Apparently the attendant managed to press the emergency button. The robber panicked, and I was dragged around jerkily as he seemed not knowing what to do. Then just out of the blue I heard a gunshot, BANG!

And then the images were gone. The robber was still struggling in front of the store whether he will continue his action or not.

At this point, I knew I have to make a quick decision. I still had the chance to go out from the store and avoid me taken hostage. But then I looked to the man that was still looking out for the engagement rings. I realized that if I saved myself, this man definitely will be the one taken hostage. And most likely he would be the one that will be accidentally shot.

As I only had a split second to make a decision I quickly made up my mind. I knew what the right thing to do was, and I decided to do it. I would not bail and sacrificed this man for my own sake. He was not supposed to die, whereas I was.

A few seconds later, the robber entered the store for real. The next few minutes were just like watching a movie with me being the actor. Everything happened exactly like the images I had before. It seemed like everything was going on slow motion. When the alarm rang, I know in a few seconds I will be dead for real. Permanently. And then, BANG! All I saw was white.

***

I found myself in the middle of the grass field again.

“Decided to stay here?” a voice came from my back. It was the white-dressed-man. This time, no one else was around.

“The other two people have changed their life path, whereas you chose the opposite.”

I said nothing, as nothing had to be explained.

“Well, if you have decided, then let’s proceed. Turn around.”

As I turned around, I saw an archway standing in a place where there was nothing before. On the other side of it was a bright light.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Walk through the arch.”

I stepped slowly toward the archway. Strangely, I didn’t feel any sadness. On the contrary, I felt that I’ve done what must be done. So, I was just walking without any burden. As I completely crossed the archway, everything was white again.

***

I found myself in the jewellery store again.

“Hey, are you okay, man?” It was the engagement ring guy.

The store was fine and nobody was hurt. Most important thing, the robber was not even inside the store.

“Excuse me for a moment,” I said to the guy who was looking for the ring, and walked to the outside.

I finally saw the robber across the street. He was walking away from the store. It was as if the incident never happened.

“He changed his mind,” said someone from my back.

I turned around, and I saw a little girl was standing behind me. I was just standing there looking at her with confusion.

“What you did was admirable. You knew what the consequence was, but you did it anyway. You stood up for something that you believe is right, even though it would be fatal for you. That, requires the biggest courage of them all.”

“So, everything will be fine now?” I asked the little girl. I knew that this is no ordinary girl so I decided to just go along with it.

“Not just fine. You will have a long and happy life. Not because of what you have just done, but because of something that you already have in the first place.”

I looked at her. I was just about to approach her when a pigeon came and flying in front of my face. When I looked again, the girl was already gone.

I didn’t know what to think, as I don’t even know whether my experience was real or not. One thing for sure, I would never hesitate again to stand up for something that I believe is right. And as for now, I believe I have a pair of earrings to buy.