Eve

A Comforting Time

    I saw a bright light upon arriving on the next floor. The light then diminished and I saw a very huge crowd. It seemed like everyone who gathered here had just recently arrived too. They were talking with each other. I tried to walk a little bit further from them. As I walked, I started to understand that all of us were gathered in the middle of a camp area.

    Not far from the crowded place, I saw one elder woman and a boy. They were sitting and talking when they noticed me too.

    “Come here!” said the elder woman while waving her hand to me.

    I walked to them and sat beside the boy. I smiled. They smiled too.

    “My name is Diana. What is your name?” asked her.

    “My name is Airyse, from the flower Iris. How about you?” I looked at the boy.

    “My name is David.” answered the boy softly without looking at me.

    Diana was a very gentle white elderly woman. Even though she was old, she was still pretty. She was an average height lady and a little bit plump. Her hair was short and curly.  She had a pair of beautiful sea colored blue eyes. She was wearing a white blouse dress with floral print on it and also black slippers. She also had her yellow spectacles put on.

    While David was a very cute and handsome boy. He had black short and straight hair. He wore an orange t-shirt, dark green shorts, and blue sandals. His hands were clasping. His face was in sadness.

    I looked at Diana. She nodded her head a bit. I understood it. It must be hard for a little boy to know that he was no longer alive anymore. It must be very painful and shocking for him. I started to rub David’s hair softly. I bent down a bit and started to hug him.

    “Are you okay?” I asked.

    David was silent. However I could feel that tears had run down from his eyes. He then hugged me back tightly. I rubbed his hair again to comfort him.

    “Everything will be okay. Everything will be fine.”

    I closed my eyes too. It must be very scary for him here. My emotions ran wild again. We stayed in that position for roughly five minutes.

    The crowd was getting more and more crowded, as many people started to appear again. It started to get noisier too. I saw some people who tried to walk, however, they were blocked by some force. The same hexagonal barriers that I saw before had prevented them from exiting the area.

    “It seems like everyone has gathered”

    I tried to look where the sounds came from. I tried to bring David to stand up with me. I enfolded my hand with his hand. Everyone gathered in the circle. There was a woman similar to the one I met on the previous floor in the middle. Even though she sounded different.

    “The name is Hanna. I am one of the guides in this place. This is the land of Shinar. You are currently gathered in the starting camp.”

    Everyone was busily whispering.

    “Shinar? Have you heard of it?”

    “Land of Shinar, she said?”

    “How did you bring all of us here? Garden of Eden and now the Land of Shinar, where exactly are we right now?” shouted someone from the crowd.

    Everyone was looking at Hanna intensely.

    “Everyone here was brought by God's power. You all have passed away in your previous life. However with God’s grace, you were all given another chance to find your life answers. Those are either a chance to atone your sins, achieve something that you want in your previous life, or even a chance to return to your previous life.”

    Everyone was in silence.

    “However, to find those answers…” she continued. She closed her eyes and enchanted a spell.

    A light then enveloped each of us. The light was so bright that I had to close my eyes. When I felt like the light had disappeared, I opened my eyes. I saw everyone's clothes had been transformed. Everyone was wearing a white cotton shirt with black cotton pants and black sandals. In addition, everyone had been equipped with a baldric too. I checked my clothes and they have been transformed too.

    “As the world keeps changing, this place has also changed. You guys must be familiar with this type of life, right? said Hanna.

    “You can think that this place is a game. But, this is your new life. I wish you all a good journey.”

    As she finished her words, her body started to disappear and the barrier that was placed before shattered.

    The crowds were starting to get noisy again.

    I looked back and tried to find Diana. However, I was shocked. Diana's appearance had completely changed. She had returned to her young self. It did not only happen with Diana, but all other people were also transformed to a more fitted image of themselves. David and I still looked the same.

    “You are, Diana, right?” I asked her.

    “Yes Airyse. It seems like I came back to my younger age.” she smiled.

    “But, Airyse…” Diana called me.

    “What does it mean when you think this place is a game?” she continued her question.

    “Ahh… It means…” I explained to Diana all the things that I have understood so far.

    A Role-Playing Game (RPG) was a type of game that had been very popular for the past few years, or even more than a decade. The game allowed us to play as the main character inside a story to pursue the goals. However, with the advancement of the internet, the game enabled everyone to play a certain role and make a community inside the game. Thus, in the newer type of RPG games, they started to provide more diverse activities similar to real life and allowed the players to be more immersed with the world.

    As for adventure type of RPG, there were always similar game systems that have been applied on most of the games. Those things that were called status window, skill window, inventory window, and other stuff. These windows enabled us to understand the game and character progress better. And I used to play this kind of game for some time before.

    As I tried to explain the game terms to Diana, I noticed the crowd had been greatly reduced. They started to leave the camp and start their adventure. I looked at her expression.

    “Those are all the things that I notice and know for now on.”

    “I see.” Diana answered.

    She seemed still confused. This kind of world was not something she could understand in a short time unless she experienced it.

    “What is your plan, Airyse?” Diana asked.

    “Me? Oh... I… want to go back to our real world. I miss my family. That is why, I think… I will go on the adventure. Do you want to come with me, Diana?”

    She smiled.

    “I have already lived for 60 years. Regrets… Yes, I have some of that. But those regrets are just the proof that I have lived. I was happy, sad, mad, and beloved. Those feelings will be the best memories for me. You told me before that an RPG allows us to play certain roles, right? I will stay here and live a quiet life once again, I think” said Diana.

    “I see. Okay then.” I smiled. Then, I looked at David who was still holding my hand.

    “How about you? You know that a world that is similar to a game is dangerous, right? Do you want to come?”

    David nodded.

    “Alright, let’s find… the answers together. I will protect you Dave.”

    “Airyse, before you go… Could you spare some more time here with me?” asked Diana.

    “If it is okay, do you mind telling me what your regret is?” she continued.

    “I… passed away when trying to save a child… my regret… my regret is…” I stopped.

    What is my regret? Was it because I tried to save the child? No… I do not think so. Even if I return to that time, I will still try to save the child. So what is my regret? Is it because I do not have a long life? I… what did I regret? Is it because I can not say goodbyes to my loved ones?

    “I… do not know.” I said.

    “But I guess, maybe because I can’t live for a long time.” I said unconfidently.

    Diana smiled. “You are a nice person. Please protect David no matter what.”

    “When I was laying on the bed in the hospital, I thought how painful it would be for my husband to be left alone. I have always wished for him to go before me. So he will not feel any loneliness.” Diana sobbed when saying these words.

    I hugged her tightly to comfort her. I patted her back.

    “And now knowing that I have moved here was something that was very frustrating. I have never lived far away from him for a long time. And living my life worrying what will happen to him now is so devastating.”

    “Diana… I am sorry to hear that.”

    David slowly reached Diana’s hand and held her hand tight. We stayed there for some time to comfort her.

    After she calmed down, I stood up and looked around the camp. The camp was surrounded by mountains with only one way out. There were tents placed everywhere. 20… 25? or maybe 30? The tents were big enough to accommodate 6 people inside.

    Beside the tents, there were some berries bushes and apple trees surrounding the camp and one big well in the middle of the camp. I asked David and Diana to collect some berries while I went to one of the tents. Inside the tent, there were some rugs, leather blankets, jars, and some bowls. I brought one of the jars outside and started going to the well. I started to pull the well bucket and filled the jar with water. Soon after, Diana came to me and helped me to bring back the jar filled with water to our tent.

    The sun setted. We started eating the berries we had gathered and chatted around. There were 3 other people who joined our tent. We told each other about our previous life and comforted each other. The night had come, so I went outside the tent to chill out for a moment. Diana followed me.

    “Are you sure that you do not want to come with us?” I asked Diana once more.

    “I think I will just stay here. I don’t have the courage to travel.”

    “Don’t you want to go back and see your husband?”

    She smiled.

    “Please take care of yourself. Be safe, Diana. I should sleep now. We are going to go tomorrow in the early morning.”

    She nodded. We returned back to the tent. I laid down beside David and hugged him. I looked at him.

    A kid in a totally new place. It must be hard for him. Sigh… I should protect him.

    I closed my eyes and slept.

********

The next morning

    “Please be safe and be careful.”

    “Thank you. Please be healthy and safe too.”

    I and David hugged her for the last time. We walked leaving the camp while waving at her. I held David's hand and walked with him.

    “Dave, you need to stay close to me no matter what. This place might be dangerous. Okay?”.

    “Yes… Airyse.” he answered.