Ties From Before That Bind The Present
Gerard peered at his watch. It was already past 9.30pm. 9pm... the time we had agreed to meet so long ago. 'Maybe they had forgotten?' he thought. 'Or maybe they have passed on? But no, we all made a promise...' Gerard refused to lose faith in his friends.
The long wait began to take its toll on Gerard, dragging him into a dreamy reverie, one which he now so frequently slipped into in the recent times...
...Young Gerard stood clasping the hands of his three best friends, Yoshi, Vann and Jaron. "On this day, I pledge," he started, the rest in tow. "That I will be present at the fountain at Bugglebay Pier at no later then 9pm, on the 21st of December." The pact was childish, for it meant that they would all have to meet on their 100th birthday. They had all known this, but they had all, with silent conviction, want, to fulfil the pledge. It made sense to all of them. A friendship that withstood the test of time. After that, the band of four filed out of the small town chapel, never to meet again, till it came to fulfilling their promises. All four were born on the same day, all four had met in preschool, so all four decided their time to pass on, would be as one.
...Gerard snapped back into reality. Staring at his now lifeless body, he knew he couldn't wait any longer. Though free from the burdens of the corporeal world, Gerard's soul bled sadness. "Passing on alone," he wondered out loud. " No one to hear me, no one to grieve for me, no one to care about me." More so, his sadness, was for the absence of his friends. "Is this all that our promise is worth?!" he screamed in vain agony.
"Gerry!" a voice cut the air. Gerard whirled around, unsettled by the functionality of his spectral senses. 'To hear even in death. Will i never attain peace even in death? Be hunted by beings of the nether planes?'
As Gerard's phantasmal eyes set upon the source of the disturbance, they lit up in bewildered familiarity. There, floating beside the fountain, were Yoshi, Vann and Jaron.
"But..." Gerard started.
"You'd thought we'd miss this? Gosh, I'm saddened by your lack of faith in us!" Jaron taunted. "No..." Gerard replied weakly. The four friends embraced. The de javu was too much for Gerard, but even still, he felted a renewed vigour from within his spectral form. Death does not bury emotions and old alliances, Gerard realized. Regaining his composure, Gerard shot back,"Now why have you all passed on before me? I thought we were supposed to go together?" Raising his fist in mock anger, Gerard proceeded to give each of his friends a playful punch.
"Sorry bro, couldn't wait, I died a clean 75 years ago, the day after we made that pledge. Was walking home, minding my own business, when a car sped past, slamming into me. The ruddy whacko wasn't appeased by the first one, and proceeeded to give me pancake treatment two times more. I died quickly enough to see myself made into human pancake.Trust me, it wasn't pretty." Yoshi said. Disbelievingly, Gerard teased,"You sure? Or did your musical talents leave you when you were supposed to entertain a bunch of drunkards?"
"Ask the rest," Yoshi replied. Vann and Jaron nodded grimly, and Gerard was convinced. They turned to Vann, as he related his own death.
"Fifty years ago, I was 'experimenting' with an electric socket and got fried. Short and sweet," he said. "In all my retired glory..."
"Well, you were always that 'inquisitive'," Yoshi laughed.
The four friends paused, and a hush silence grew in the air patiently waiting for Jaron's own turn of events. "As you know, Gerard," he said, turning towards Gerard. "I told you all that I had wanted to head to India for a life of conservation. Your reactions and taunting convinced me otherwise. Especially you, Gerard, your outstanding achievements grew much jealousy in me. All of you had your own dreams. All of you worked for them. It seemed, to me, that mine was the most inconsequential. I felt inadequate, I felt inferior. But most of all, I felt jealous."
Gerard winced, feeling pity for his friend. He had never meant for his actions to be a source of antagonism for his friends. He had sought to use his actions to drive his friends.
"So when you all left, I stayed behind. I gave up my dream, and instead sought to do my best for my dad's restaurant. It has now gone regional, with franchises all around Asia. All these while, I slogged and tolled to bury all my troubles in my work..."Jaron continued, shaking his head at the futility of his actions. "Then when i retired, the very demons I was trying to avoid, all came back and, in my reckless agony, I ended it all in a surfeit of alcohol."
The conclusion of Jaron's oratory marked the return of the unnerving silence. Wishing to end it once and for all, Yoshi started," Well, its all over now right? Now shall we, gentlemen, make our way to utopia and have a drink or two with our Maker?"
"Why, you, you haven't forgotten that I don't drink, have you?" Vann retorted.With that, roars of laughter marked the closure of the lives of the four friends.
As the four apparitions fled into the howl of the night, a body lay cuddled in the snow, with a look of blissful contentment belying the biting cold of the frostbitten winter night. Even in death, the body corresponds to the will of its soul.
The long wait began to take its toll on Gerard, dragging him into a dreamy reverie, one which he now so frequently slipped into in the recent times...
...Young Gerard stood clasping the hands of his three best friends, Yoshi, Vann and Jaron. "On this day, I pledge," he started, the rest in tow. "That I will be present at the fountain at Bugglebay Pier at no later then 9pm, on the 21st of December." The pact was childish, for it meant that they would all have to meet on their 100th birthday. They had all known this, but they had all, with silent conviction, want, to fulfil the pledge. It made sense to all of them. A friendship that withstood the test of time. After that, the band of four filed out of the small town chapel, never to meet again, till it came to fulfilling their promises. All four were born on the same day, all four had met in preschool, so all four decided their time to pass on, would be as one.
...Gerard snapped back into reality. Staring at his now lifeless body, he knew he couldn't wait any longer. Though free from the burdens of the corporeal world, Gerard's soul bled sadness. "Passing on alone," he wondered out loud. " No one to hear me, no one to grieve for me, no one to care about me." More so, his sadness, was for the absence of his friends. "Is this all that our promise is worth?!" he screamed in vain agony.
"Gerry!" a voice cut the air. Gerard whirled around, unsettled by the functionality of his spectral senses. 'To hear even in death. Will i never attain peace even in death? Be hunted by beings of the nether planes?'
As Gerard's phantasmal eyes set upon the source of the disturbance, they lit up in bewildered familiarity. There, floating beside the fountain, were Yoshi, Vann and Jaron.
"But..." Gerard started.
"You'd thought we'd miss this? Gosh, I'm saddened by your lack of faith in us!" Jaron taunted. "No..." Gerard replied weakly. The four friends embraced. The de javu was too much for Gerard, but even still, he felted a renewed vigour from within his spectral form. Death does not bury emotions and old alliances, Gerard realized. Regaining his composure, Gerard shot back,"Now why have you all passed on before me? I thought we were supposed to go together?" Raising his fist in mock anger, Gerard proceeded to give each of his friends a playful punch.
"Sorry bro, couldn't wait, I died a clean 75 years ago, the day after we made that pledge. Was walking home, minding my own business, when a car sped past, slamming into me. The ruddy whacko wasn't appeased by the first one, and proceeeded to give me pancake treatment two times more. I died quickly enough to see myself made into human pancake.Trust me, it wasn't pretty." Yoshi said. Disbelievingly, Gerard teased,"You sure? Or did your musical talents leave you when you were supposed to entertain a bunch of drunkards?"
"Ask the rest," Yoshi replied. Vann and Jaron nodded grimly, and Gerard was convinced. They turned to Vann, as he related his own death.
"Fifty years ago, I was 'experimenting' with an electric socket and got fried. Short and sweet," he said. "In all my retired glory..."
"Well, you were always that 'inquisitive'," Yoshi laughed.
The four friends paused, and a hush silence grew in the air patiently waiting for Jaron's own turn of events. "As you know, Gerard," he said, turning towards Gerard. "I told you all that I had wanted to head to India for a life of conservation. Your reactions and taunting convinced me otherwise. Especially you, Gerard, your outstanding achievements grew much jealousy in me. All of you had your own dreams. All of you worked for them. It seemed, to me, that mine was the most inconsequential. I felt inadequate, I felt inferior. But most of all, I felt jealous."
Gerard winced, feeling pity for his friend. He had never meant for his actions to be a source of antagonism for his friends. He had sought to use his actions to drive his friends.
"So when you all left, I stayed behind. I gave up my dream, and instead sought to do my best for my dad's restaurant. It has now gone regional, with franchises all around Asia. All these while, I slogged and tolled to bury all my troubles in my work..."Jaron continued, shaking his head at the futility of his actions. "Then when i retired, the very demons I was trying to avoid, all came back and, in my reckless agony, I ended it all in a surfeit of alcohol."
The conclusion of Jaron's oratory marked the return of the unnerving silence. Wishing to end it once and for all, Yoshi started," Well, its all over now right? Now shall we, gentlemen, make our way to utopia and have a drink or two with our Maker?"
"Why, you, you haven't forgotten that I don't drink, have you?" Vann retorted.With that, roars of laughter marked the closure of the lives of the four friends.
As the four apparitions fled into the howl of the night, a body lay cuddled in the snow, with a look of blissful contentment belying the biting cold of the frostbitten winter night. Even in death, the body corresponds to the will of its soul.
posted by Windez at 9:05 PM
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