dead.

[LadyNintendo]

Forgive me for sounding frivolous in such a tense and serious situation as this, but...MEGA OBJECTION!!!

(Here's the second part of that objection because the whole thing was too long.)

......You posted that as a joke, right?

[Pale Dim]

I thought it was kinda funny! OBJECTION!

[DW]

It is true, I just can't believe he thought this was true. I had already said that before, in fact.

Not to mention that if he was injured this badly, he would hardly be typing by now.

[MagmarFire]

......You posted that as a joke, right?

Actually, I was quite serious about it... >_<

[Zelda Veteran]

I stared at the nothingness in the confines of my mind... All was dark inside, and I could do nothing but think about what had happened over the last few hours. It all seemed like a familiar nightmare of a past life, whatever the hell that meant. I just knew what I was feeling, and I could almost pinpoint it with deep words of passion and meaning. I snapped to attention, as a loud squeaking pushed me out of the voids that were my thoughts. I sat up, and looked around. The fellow spirits of the boxcar were now alert, and stared at the door. I didn't know what was going on, and I looked around frantically. The spirits seemed anxious. Suddenly, I knew what was happening, and felt rather dumb for not realizing it sooner.

The train had rolled to a stop. The squeaky brake system only manifested that it was an old train. A train as old as death itself... I heard a noise from the other side of the door, and the spirits instantly rose from their positions. The door slid open, and Rusty placed a foot inside the boxcar, and leaned on his knee. "Alright, get yer fresh air.  We don't have a lot of time for a rest stop- 20 minutes max." My eyes lit up. I had grown bored with sitting with a bunch of dead people inside a train older than dirt. I stepped out into what could only be described as an ocean. An ocean of corn stalks, wheat, and tall grass, that should be tickling my calves right about now. But the feeling never came, and a shiver ran it's familiar runway of my spine.

I had no feeling. I had almost forgotten. It was raining. I always loved rain.  The feel. The smell. The sound. The way it glistened as it fell from the heavens. As I was, only two of the four sensations made it to my spirit. The sound, and the view. I no longer smelled, nor felt anything. When I was living, I would never have guessed that being without two senses would make such an impact on me... I took what I had for granted, and I only wanted it back now. This would come to be known as my first wish as a spirit: To feel the rain.

"Hey." A voice came from beside me. I turned and looked at the source of the greeting. A boy about my age, maybe a year younger looked back at me with the same sad eyes that I possessed at this point. Sadness... Thats all that I could feel at the time. "Hey." I replied. He stared off into the rain, just I had been before he had interrupted me. "Don't you miss it?" I nodded, automatically understanding what he was talking about. I looked up into the sky, and heaved a sigh. "Where do you think Rusty is taking us?" The boy turned, and looked at me a bit confused. "Rusty?... Oh! You mean the engineer of this train!" I nodded. He smiled a bit, before sitting down in the field. I followed suit. "I almost forgot his name... So much has happened in the last seven hours..." I laid back in the stalks of corn, and stared into the sky once more.

"So its been seven hours since you died?" I thought about what was going on, and felt almost odd for asking such a question. Not something I ever thought I would say. "Yeah." he replied. "I was in a wave-pool at a water park, and I was too tired to swim any longer. I called out for help, but nobody heard me. I went under the waves after my muscles gave out. I kept convincing myself that I couldn't end this way. All I can remember is my strength returning, and me surfacing." The boy paused for a moment, and then went on to tell the rest of his death. "I pulled myself out of the water, and realized that I couldn't feel the cement. It didn't bother me, because I figured it was just a side-effect to how tired I was. The life-guard dove in, and pulled a boy out of the water."

Again, the boy stopped. I was anxious to hear what he was going to say next, but I decided not to rush him. We had all gone through a lot recently. His voice came forth once more. "It looked just like me. I rushed over to get a better look at the scene. Thats when I realized that... It was me. I stared at myself, as the life-guard pressed an ear to my chest. She pumped on my a few times, but gave up after 10 minutes... I hated her for not saving me... I hated everyone at that pool... I still do. They ignored me like I was nothing." I closed my eyes, and did what I could to picture the scene. "After I died, I made my way out of the park, and began walking home. Thats when the Dead-Train came out of nowhere, and picked me up... How did you die?"

I stared into the rain, and began to explain how I had died in the crash. All that I saw. All that I felt. He was silent the entire time I told the story. After I told him about how my heart had been massacred, along with my body, he sat up, and looked at me. "I'm awfully sorry. I've never been in a serious relationship, so I couldn't comprehend what you felt." I stood up, and so did he. I turned around to look at the train, and noticed that a few of the spirits were sitting behind us. We had attracted a crowd with our tales. "Thats pretty tragic young man... I don't know what I would have done if Bonnie here had ever done something like that." The old man put an arm around the elderly woman, and she slightly smiled. I sighed. At least he had someone to be with for this ride... he had someone to care for.

I looked at my newest friend, and extended a hand. "I'm Tacey, but everyone calls me Tay." The boy grasped my hand, and nodded. "I'm Donnie." He sighed. "Well, I was... now what am I?" I looked down at the ground. I couldn't come up with an answer that that shockingly hard question. "I was Donnie... I never loved before. I never saw the ocean. I never left my state..." I now felt worse than before. At least I had done some fun things... this guy... he didn't get to live. Donnie looked down, and his wispy hair hung over his eyes. "I-I... What... I never got to live like everyone else... I... Why did we have to die at an age like this?... Its just..." he paused for a moment, and looked up. "Its not fair!" he began to cry... but the tears didn't come...

[TP Zelda]

This...is creepy. XP But good.

[darkphantomime]

Definitely a short story, it has that sort of narrative.

NO one seemed to take me seriously the first time... -_-

Anyway, can't read  the objection, font's too small.

[MagmarFire]

You know, this really does make you think . . .  Excellent work, ZV! Keep 'em coming!

[TP Zelda]

Too creepy. Too good. XP

[Mysterious F.]

ZV, you seriously need to take a job as a writer. This is brilliant. I love it.

[Zelda Veteran]

The grass swayed like my feelings of life after death. It came to me like a dream of a dream that I didn't wake up from until the dream inside the dream ended. Then the real dream was cut short, and the eyes of my soul were fully open. I had no idea what life was, or how short it could be. Never did I think the next one would be me. Just another soul reporting to death, like the many others who were waiting at their stop. The stop to their existence. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and I was about to speak, when a familiar rasp struck my ears. "Alrighty then, playtime is over." Most of the souls turned to see him, but I didn't have to. I didn't want to. I had hoped that I wouldn't look like that when I grew older as a wandering spirit.

Would I grow older? Would I remain as I was? Would I ever find peace? It struck me that I hadn't gone to heaven, nor had I fallen into the dark abyss of hell... was I just average in my behavior? What prevented me from finding my peace? I thought about this, as I turned to look at the large train, which sat so silently in the tall grass. I stared at the boxcar again, and looked back to Rusty. "C'mon now, we have to get moving again, or we'll run behind schedule. Everyone in the train." The word everyone struck me. I suddenly turned to look down the field, where the other boxcars lined up. How had I not noticed it? I haven't a clue. But hundreds upon thousands of spirits filled the field along the train. I took in a breath, and held it.

I couldn't help but stare at the thousands of dead people. Somehow, it didn't scare me. I used to fear the dead, and now I was marching with the rest of them into the train that would take us to God knows where. I stared up into the stars, and sighed. Had God forgotten me? Did Hell reject us just as Heaven had? Were the streets of gold too golden for my feet? Were the sins of my impure soul not fit for the home of the angels? Was I just good enough so that I didn't have to go to hell, and was I just bad enough that I wasn't allowed into heaven? I pondered this, as I stepped into the boxcar, and took my place in the pile of hay. My new friend laid down a foot or two from me, and looked at the ceiling. "Donnie... Why are we still here?" He turned and looked at me. "You mean on Earth?"

I nodded, and looked back to the ceiling. "Has God forgotten us?" He shook his head, and responded, "God wouldn't forget us... but then... why are we here?" I smiled slightly, glad that I wasn't the only one wondering, but it quickly vanished. "I don't know... I can only guess that we were too good for Hell, and to bad for Heaven." Another voice came from my left. It was cracking, and I knew instantly that it was most likely the old woman we had seen earlier. I turned to see her, and her husband who sat next to her, watching the people enter the boxcar. Her words made sense. "Listen here now... God has forgotten nobody. I believe that for some reason or another, he left us here for a reason. I think that our lives were cut short from his plan, and that our souls still have a purpose here..." My eyes widened. It made a lot of sense, and relieved me in a sense.

She smiled, and extended a hand and rubbed my wispy shoulder. "It will be alright, I'm sure. Just give it a bit of time." I watched as the last few souls boarded and the door slid shut. I turned and looked to see of Donnie had heard her words, and he obviously had from the look on his face. He turned and stared again at the wood ceiling. "Time..." he muttered, as he smiled. "Yeah... we just have to give it time." This brought a bit of a smile to my face too. It gave me hope. That hope suddenly turned to confusion, as I heard a screech from outside. Why were we stopping? What was going on? Last I checked, Rusty was in a bit of a hurry. Thats when I realized that we weren't slowing down. A few souls, including me and Donnie stood up. "Whats going on?" Some man said from across the room.  

Suddenly, two figures across the room stood up. I had noticed them, but they had been silent the entire time. I figured they were just antisocial. They walked to the center of the boxcar, and removed their hoods. One was a man, and the other was a woman. They looked about in their mid twenties, and had stern faces. Suddenly, the woman spoke. "Everyone calm down. We're not stopping. Just sit down, and relax." The man stepped forward, and nodded in affirmation. "We'll handle whats going on, just sit back, and enjoy the ride." The two turned towards the door, and opened it just enough for the two of them to squeeze through. Then, the man did something that frightened me a bit. He removed a sword from his cloak, as he closed the door.

I stared at the door for a moment, another horrid screech erupted from outside. It really did sound as if Rusty had slammed on the brakes. It slightly scared me that the man had drawn a weapon. What was he going to cut? I began to ponder, as I nudged Donnie. "Dude... did you see that?" He turned to look at me, and when he saw the look on my face, he immediately wanted to know. I shook my head, because I convinced myself that it was my imagination. "Never mind." I stated flatly. The man was probably just going to fix a wheel with a tool that resembled a blade. I sat down in the hay, and tried to relax like I was instructed to. However, now that I had mentioned that to Donnie, he now wanted to know more than ever. "C'mon! Tell me! What did you see?" He pleaded, as stared him in the eye. "It was nothing! Just my imagination, so chill out!" He looked at me skeptically, and gave up.

He sat in the hay, and leaned back into it. "Fine. You don't have to tell me if you don't think you can trust me." I sighed, and turned over. I had to tell him now. "Well... did you see that man?" Donnie's eyes lit up, as he realized that I was about to tell him. "Yeah, with the brown hair? What about him?" I glanced at the door to the boxcar, and turned back to him. "Did you see him... pull a... a..." Donnie nodded slowly. "Yeeesss?" I finally spat it out. "Did you see him draw a sword?" Donnie got a blank look on his face, and rolled his eyes. "C'mon dude... a sword?" I rolled my eyes as well. "Told you it would sound silly." I was about to say something more,  when something happened that nearly made me lose bowel control. Something made a dent in the outside of the train, right in the door of the boxcar! It was a big dent too! A few people cried out in shock, as they moved away from the door. The boxcar now grew silent.

Everyone stared at the door now. Nobody made a sound now. Now that it was quieter, I heard noises. The screeches could now be heard in the distance, not as loud as before. Silent still, another dent was made in the door. I held my breath, as the door sustained a few more hefty dents- until it finally smashed open! Three dark beings shot into the boxcar, and flew around the room! They were fast, and could only be described as shooting shadows! Donnie and I backed against the wall, and screams erupted from the souls in the room! What I saw shocked me, and brought to me the first horrid thing I would discover about the afterlife. One of the swooped down, and snatched up one of the souls, and left the boxcar. I could still hear the man screaming, as he was carried away into the darkened sky! My eyes widened in terror, as one of the beings looked directly at the corner me and Donnie were huddled in.

I couldn't believe what was happening. It was all too fast. It shot towards us like a bullet, and before I knew it, my friend was no longer by my side. The being grabbed Donnie, and began to float away. Suddenly, everything around me was drowned out. I could only focus on the horrid being. Out of instinct, I rose from my position, and grabbed the beings cloak. Donnie and I made eye-contact, as the fabric of the phantom's cloak ripped from it, and fell back to the cabin-floor. Donnie disappeared into the murky sky along with the dark being. Suddenly, three people dressed like the man and woman who had left flew into the box-car, and tackled the third shadow. I couldn't even comprehend what was happening. I heard the horrible screech louder than ever, as the monster was killed by the flying spirits. The man's sword was drawn, and the woman was using a whip-like weapon, from which spikes emerged. The third spirit was an older man, who held a sword like the other man.

I only watched as it was killed, and the night air silenced. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. Another spirit landed inside the boxcar, and stood up. She had brown hair, and brown eyes. She carried a crossbow, and wore a cloak just like the spirits who had just killed the shadow being. I only watched as she advanced towards the group of warriors, and they began to talk silently among themselves. I stared out into the sky, and began to cry a dry one. I felt horrible inside. I then realized that I was still clutching a piece of the shadow's cloak. I looked at it, and studied it. It seemed to be made of a rag-like material. I clutched it, and stuffed it into my pocket. I could only wonder why we hadn't been informed of such creatures. Why did they want us? Somebody would be answering a lot of questions. I again stared into the night. They seemed to have retreated... Retreated with my friend in their clutches...

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Thanks for all your comments guys. They really keep me going. Thanks Whocares, thats what degree I'm going for in College actually.

[Mysterious F.]

Still great. Those things remind me of the dementors from Harry Potter, but they seem more like Grim Reapers then that. I can't wait until it's revealed what they are.

[Zelda Veteran]

I didn't see much of harry potter, but I think I know what you're talking about. Back when the commercials for the game were airing they had something like what I'm describing. Anyways, yeah, I've planned ahead quite a bit.