| And here's what happened.... |
| "Come on man. Lemme have it." the boy said in anticipation. He was a boy, or more accurately, a young man about 17-18 years old. He was slim but had a mildly athletic build. He sat up from laying back on his bed, folding his hands across his chest while moving his legs up and into his body, Indian style. As he sat up, his overgrown bangs fell in front of his eyes, partially obscuring the view of his friend who was sitting in a chair across the room in the shadows. "Well, before I can tell you that, I have to say something else first." He sat quietly for what seemed like an eternity to the first boy. He then leaned slightly forward and gave a deep breath. This is what the boy in the shadows said.. "I've missed prom, homecoming, spirit week, even my own fathers passing while I was away. I didn't belong there Sean. I thought I was out of place here! Nothing there seemed real or right. Then a man came to me and told me that I was going to come home and you were the first person I had to see." the darkened face exclaimed. Sean gasped, but let a small smile show. "Well you're my best friend Bryan, but what about your mother? She was there." "She's an entirely different story man. There's no time to go into that right now." Bryan sighed. "And no, she wasn't there in the way I needed her." "So what do you wanna do? Go for a hang down by the rifle river? Go to the high banks? Can you have a beer?" Sean said laughingly. "No man, let's just stick around here for a while. Do you still have that old gravity defying tree fort out back?" Bryan asked. Sean could now see a large grin on Bryans face through the shadows as if he was remembering some past escapade he and his friends had experienced some time ago. "Sure is, but we were nuts to've ever gone up there, let alone sleep up there. The mosquitos were like vampires on a feeding frenzy. Also the backside of it is drooping down now. I'll have to start pulling it down soon. Maybe next week...How long are you back for?" "Not a whole lot of time, Maybe one day. Wish it was longer but I have other things to do still." Bryan sighed. "Well then we should prank call someone! Go to the school and set off all the fire extinguishers in the place! Come on man, what are they gonna do to ya? Take you away? haha" Sean said laughing so hard he teared up and then began to get very quiet. So quiet that you could almost hear the tear falling from his cheek. There was a long pause. "I missed you man." Sean calmly said. Bryan stood up and put his hand on Seans head. Sean looked up and slowly the sadness in his face was replaced by ease and comfort. "No way! I don't believe it." Sean said in disbelief. "You're a...a " Sean tried to speak but he began to cry again while smiling through the tears. As Bryan removed his hand, he softly spoke. "So I guess that answers your first question then? There is an afterlife and although there aren't angels in the sense you might have believed, there are those of us who have a natural ability to feel for others like no other people feel. We feel so much, that we're considered empathic. It helps in what we do. You're the only person from school that came to my funeral. You're the only person except my father who truly cared. I think...one day...we will see each other again and maybe you will be allowed to do what I do because you're like me." Sean sat silently in thought. Then he rose from the bed and said, "So what about fate? Are you hinting towards the idea that fate is real and I'll be doing what you're doing now?" "No, there is no fate. No set order of events to come. That's where free will comes into play. But that's another story for another time that you'll learn someday." Bryan said as he walked towards the door. He turned and said, "I'll try to come back sometime. See ya man." Sean sat back down on the edge of the bed for hours smiling until he rose again and walked over to the large oak desk in his room...and wrote this story. END |
| A FRIENDLY VISIT BY: Eric L Willard Written: Oct 2003 |
 |
| While reading this story after writing it, one song kept running through my mind the entire time I read along. James Taylor - Fire and Rain |
 |
| HOME |
|
|
|
|
|
| Shiver - short story |
| Prey - poem |
| Adoration - poem |
| Golden tear - poem |
| Nightshine - poem |