Checkmate

Stories

"Amelia" she reached out her hand for a shake. I extended my hand and said "Atticus and this little one is pup." She told me she wanted to go to the other side now. So we stood up and went to the path to go to the light. She asked if it was okay if she told a lot of stories, and I said yes.

"At an age of 26 I have completed my bucket list already, I went to Norway to watch the Northern Lights with friends. It looked so amazing, we also went skiing. I visited my dream countries like France. France was very amazing, especially at night. Oh and Switzerland. Switzerland was the dream, I actually stayed there for a month as it was very scenic and peaceful. It was like a fantasy world brought to life. My friends and I went mountain climbing in Colorado too, then canyoneering in the Philippines. The Philippines is very amazing, especially the clear blue waters. I've lived the life I wanted, so I have no regrets being here. "

I was stuck on the word canyoneering, it wasn't familiar, or perhaps it was but I forgot." Canyoneering? " I asked, then she said, " Oh, canyoneering is where you explore canyons by hiking, swimming, rappelling, climbing, and many more when you encounter various obstacles along the way. " I responded " Oh sounds like fun, I haven't heard of it before, now I kinda wish I could've experienced it before I passed. "

Next, she told me stories of her adventures with friends and how they went to the movies a lot, kind of like my family and I. "Hey you know we went to the movies a lot, but most of the time we'd be at coffee shops reading books. My friends and I are huge bookworms, and whenever we'd finish a book that has a movie based off of it, we'd watch it at my home theater. Then we'd discuss how far or how close it was to the actual story in the book." She said. I responded "How much fun you had, I'm glad you experienced what you wanted before you passed. I mean, you actually lived the life you wanted." Yeah I did, she said.

Then she asked "What about you? Did you get to live the life you wanted?" Then I told her of how I was supposed to be in medical school a couple months after I passed. After I told her my story she said "Oh I'm so sorry, telling you all that not knowing what you went through." I told her she didn't have to apologize because I was also happy to be there and accompany souls to the other side while hearing their stories.

"Being here made me realize a lot. It made me thankful for what I've already experienced, sure I may have missed a lot but well, it happens you know. That's why when I get to thinking, I wish those in the land of the living will live their lives to the fullest because they'll never know whether they'll ever wake up to see another day or whether they'll be here. " I said. She was then quiet after I said that.

She said she just realized how she'll definitely miss her friends and she's hoping to look over them when she crosses over to the other side, she said. So I just reassured her that I'm sure they will be fine, I mean definitely not now since you've just passed, but soon they will be. She asked how sure I was, but the truth is, I'm not. So that's what I told her, I told her I really can't be sure, but somehow we'd just have to trust the process, that somehow everything would then be okay.

She said okay to that. When we got to the light, she said thank you and hugged me goodbye. As I walked back I just thought of canyoneering a lot. It was so new to me, and I said to myself "What an amazing life Amelia lived. I hope my family is living the life we dreamed of, being health professionals, travelling still on vacation days and during winter. I hope they'd discover canyoneering activities. It sounded like so much fun when Amelia described it. She described it with so much twinkles in her eyes and so much happiness. It was clear that she was proud and happy of her life."

Pup was waiting for me with the stick, at this point it had become our routine to play then nap then play again then nap then play, then she'll nap and I'll be stuck with my thoughts. I saw someone walking towards us, she looked like a teenager about sixteen or seventeen years old.