Darkness, that was all he could see.
Silence, that was all he could hear.
"Where am I?" Shiguma tried to speak. But when he does, those words completely vanish on his lips.
He tried to speak again.
But now he is unable to open his mouth.
Shiguma's heart sank with anxiety. He felt everything in his body. But at the same time, those feelings were blurred.
He tried to walk, but the leg didn't move.
He tried to move an arm; he could barely feel it.
What...
After trying so many times, he realized that the body was out of his control.
The only thing under his control was a vision.
Suddenly, something slowly emerged in front.
It was a small figure with a heavily hunched back. Its head hung so low that, without the cane supporting its weight, it might have touched the ground.
look somewhat like an old man statue.
From where Shiguma stood, he could only see the shape, not a color that might give it a life.
But once the world started to pull him closer to it.
Shiguma's heart sunk to his own feet at what he saw.
The tattered clothes on the figure were too damaged to hide it completely, revealing a gaunt body with skin so thin that Shiguma could see the shape of the organs inside.
Despite how frightening the bodies look, it is unable to compare with what Shiguma saw next.
The pair of crimson eyes was staring at Shiguma without a trace of humanity.
Shiguma wants to move away from it... But he knows it's impossible.
And the only choice he had now was to look at the terrified figure, wishing this nightmare would end soon.
But then, amid the silence that seemed endless, it started to speak.
"Your time has come."
An old man let out a wide smile, twisting his cheeks on the both side.
"Don't act like you don't know."
Shiguma tried to close his eyes.
"Shaman"
It did not work.
"Ah."
He tried to scream.
But that voice never came out.
"If they never told you."
The scream only echoed inside his chest.
"I'll come to you and tell you myself."
Suddenly, Shiguma felt his left hand being squeezed tight.
"chosen one"
Before, the force quickly turned stronger, crushing every bone inside his hand.
BANG!
The image in front of him instantly faded to white, as if someone had switched on a light. A sharp ringing noise pierced his ears, disappearing a second later.
Shiguma felt a sudden warmth wash over his skin, replacing the coldness of the darkness.
He slowly opened an eye, with the fear that the terrifying figure still remained in front.
Instead, it was everything familiar.
The familiar celling,
familiar window,
familiar desk.
Home...
Bed.
Shiguma signs heavily.
"A dream...huh?"
He wipes off a cold sweat from his hot forehead. Then, he let out a faint smile as his anxiety started to die out.
"ouch"
There was a sharp pain running from Shiguma left hand up to his shoulder.
He thought it was just the impact from numbness.
Until Shiguma raised the hand above his forehead and looked directly into it.
"What..."
A reddish bruise was painted on the center of his palm.
Shiguma's heart skipped a beat, as it instantly reminded him of dread memories in a recent dream.
especially when the old man is crushing his hand.
That's impossible.
Shiguma tried to brush it off and replaced it with a more comfortable thought.
It's just a nightmare.
Shiguma slowly stretches both arms in the air while breathing in and out slowly...
But deep down he knows this isn't working.
Shiguma turned and reached for his phone, with the hope of forgetting those feelings by finding something interesting on a screen.
You got 1 massage.
Mali: Wanna go fishing?
Shiguma stared at the text message for a minute; since today he had no school, it should be another relaxing day.
Shiguma gradually filled his thoughts with all the excitement.
until he completely forgot what's he stressing about earlier.
Shiguma, texting back to his friend with a shot replied. before rushing out of a room to dress.
Then jumped out of the room to get a fishing rod hanging on the front door.
Shiguma is so sure that today will be a great day.
But before he reached the front door, another nightmare struck at him.
"UNCLE!"
. . . . . . . . . .
"He's just faint like usual; don't worry, he's going to be fine."
The doctor took off a stethoscope from his neck before speaking with a comforting voice.
His eye inclines between Shiguma's uncle, who is lying dormant on the bed, and Shiguma, who is standing without taking an eye off his uncle.
Despite Shiguma overall face being unemotional, the doctor could see sorrowfulness in those eyes.
And the doctor can't resist to show his own empathy: "You...look stressed. Want to change your mind about transfering him?"
Shiguma turned toward the doctor.
"Sorry, but I already made up my mind." His voice trembled. "It's my uncle's decision."
"right"
The doctor looked down before reaching to keep all medical equipment in a box.
"I'll call the nurse who could take care of him until he wakes up."
. . . . . . . . . .
Shiguma rides the same bike on the concrete street; there's a bunch of old houses lined up on both sides, many of them standing on short stilts with rusted metal roofs. Small gardens filled the spaces between them, while motorcycles rested beneath the bottom of the house.
"Where are you going?"
Under the red-roofed house, a middle-aged woman in a red sarong waves at him with a strong smile.
Shiguma nodded and replied, before his bike passed, "To friends!"
"Okay!"
Shiguma doesn't even know her name, but he called her "Aunt" like a close relative.
On the opposite side of the road, there's an older woman who sits tiredly inside her house, with gray hair.
He barely know her, but he called her grandma.
Even a group of young boys who are kicking dirty football with their friends—Shiguma never met them before, but he called them "brother."
Just like every usual day.
Despite the smiles of the person on the way, Shiguma's mind still stuck to his uncle.
His uncle currently is left with a person who could take good care of him, yet he's still concerned...
What if he never woke up again?
. . . . . . . . . .
"HUH? You refused to transfer your uncle?"
Shiguma's friend is sweept her long hair to the back and bundling it together against the blowing wind.
"I thought you and the doctor already prepared...how come you changed your mind so easily!?"
She asked Shiguma with ridicule before leaning her hips against the concrete railing of the bridge.
But Shiguma barely heard what she said.
Shiguma had been staring at a massive river flowing between two stretches of dense forest. Its waters extended from beneath the bridge all the way to the horizon.
His mind drifted, thinking how beautiful the river would be if the sun reflected off it,
but right now, the sky was completely cloudy, which made him feel uncomfortable.
"Oh."
Suddenly, Something under the river started pulling the fishing line.
Shiguma quickly spun the reel handle, drawing it back from the river, hoping to get anything more than dirt on a hook.
But once it reached back to him, he saw nothing more than a can.
"So what are you going to do next?"
Mali question suddenly has a strange impact.
It lingered in Shiguma mind longer than it should have.
For a moment, Shiguma found himself without an answer he actually wanted.
he only know of the same cycle of thought that would be repeated all over again.
"I'd continue my normal life," he said.
Hearing the slight tremble in Shiguma's voice, Mali lightly tapped his shoulder.
"Hey, don't stress out... everything's going to turn out okay, alright?"
Shiguma smiled at the comforting words.
It suddenly made him felt better. As if everything around him was being kind, telling him that everything would be okay.
Until he saw something behind his friend.
At the far end of the bridge stood a familiar figure.
A gaunt body under tattered clothes.
"That's—"
Shiguma feel heavy tightness seized his stomach, making it hard to breathe fully. when he clearly remembered that face.
The old man.
from his nightmare.
It stood motionless, staring back at Shiguma without blinking.
Shiguma immediately rubbed his eyes.
Once.
Twice.
But the figure still remained.
"Hey... do you see that guy?"
"Who?"
Shiguma pointed over Mali's shoulder.
Mali turned around, and she looked down the road.
She's rolling her head everywhere, every placed for a long time.
Before turning back, and looked at Shiguma with a pure confusion on her face.
"What guy?"
Shiguma's heart sank.
"The hell, Shiguma...?" Mali's voice wavered slightly. "There's... nobody there."
The words struck Shiguma harder than he expected.
When he realized that the old man who's standing there.
Only Shiguma can see him.
. . . . . . . . . .