Prompt
I enter the cave, and find...
Botner
...a woman, sitting on a bed. She watches me with a bored look on her face, and
moves a little away from me. I ask, “is this you?” She nods yes. I want to
sit down next to her, but something tells me not to. So I say, “it’s me,
Celeste.” I say, “is this your cave?” She says, “yeah.” I ask her, “is that
your cave?” She nods yes. I ask, “is this your body?” She says, “yeah.” I
try to sit down next to her, but I’m not strong enough. So I say, “is this
your dead husband?” She nods yes, and holds up her dead husband’s cane. I
ask, “is that your dog?” She nods yes. I ask, “is this your cat?” She nods
yes. I ask, “is this your pony?” She nods yes. I ask, “is that you?” She
nods yes. I try to get near enough to kiss her, but can’t. I know how hard
it is for a TOTALLY BOY to kiss a GIRL. (That’s how I refer to myself to my
own friends). I can get just about ANYTHING ELSE done, much to Celeste’s
chagrin, but kissing is the one thing that I just can’t manage. So I back
off a little. She...
Conclusion
...getting a little antsy, so I put the photograph of her and her family
away, and sit against the opposite wall, so I don’t make her feel
uncomfortable. I take outmy notebook, and start going back over the
information I’ve gathered about this place. Legend has it that you can bring
your loved ones back to life if you bring their body in here. I nev er truly
believed it, but I had to hold out hope that I could one day see my son
again. I’m willing to try anything, except for sacrificing someone else’s
life for him. I found a cult in Alps that claimed they could do it, but
someone else would have to take his place in the afterlife, and neither he
nor I would want that. I’ve been studying this cave when I have time for the
last seven months, and Celeste is the only one who’s ever been brought back.
Others have come, and met nothing but failure and disappointment, so I have
to figure out what is different about this one person. Once I feel like
she’s ready, I start asking her for more information. It’s not all that
easy, because she’s only willing to answer yes/no questions. As it turns
out, she can’t ever leave the cave, or she’ll die all over again. Her family
comes once a week to check on her, which I find quite strange. If this works
with my son, then I’ll find a way to live here with him. I’ll never leave
his side as long as he’s back. I decide to try it, because it’s my last
hope, and if it doesn’t work, then I will have least done everything I
could. I steal the body from the morgue, grateful to my friend who works
there. He made sure no one tried to bury the remains, or anything. I take my
boy back to the cave, and lay him down in the center. Only a few minutes
later, he rises as if he had just woken up from a slightly jarring dream.
For a week or so, we’re happy, but then he starts becoming more like
Celeste. He loses his ability to carry on a normal conversation, all the way
to the point where he can only say yes or no. Still, he’s back, and he
understands me, so I stay, and we stay together. A few weeks later, though,
things start to get worse. I too can only comprehend true or false now, and
if I could, I would ask myself, “is this really living?”
No comments :
Post a Comment