Chapter 2: Fragments of the Past

In the middle of her peaceful and uninterrupted sleep, Emily undergoes a dreamlike state. Her spirit is still asleep but her mind is exhibiting an activity. 

Emily opened her eyes. She finds herself in a place filled with blinking colorful lights and loud banging electronic music. She saw a round table where different liquors are placed. Crumbs of fries, chips, and crackers are scattered on the white tiled floor. People are dancing, carelessly while holding bottles of beer. All of a sudden the front door opened. Emily saw herself walked inside the place together with two other girls named Kendra and Holly and two other guys named Zachary and Greg.  They are laughing like it's their last day on earth. They all sat on the couch, still laughing. Emily realized that she's watching a part of her past. 

Emily saw herself grab a bottle of beer from the center table. She chugged it straight to her throat. After emptying half of the bottle, she grunted. All of her friends laughed at her. 

"Is this how I really act?" 

"Chill Emily! We have plenty of liquors here," Zachary said. He laughed afterwards. 

"This beer is pretty strong!" Emily commented. 

"Don't drink too much Ems," Kendra advised. 

"Come on guys! Don't spoil the fun," Emily said. 

"If you say so." Greg grabbed a bottle of beer and he dink it the way Emily does. He emptied half of the bottle as well. 

"Don't drink too much Greg, you'll drive later,"  Zachary advised. 

Emily gets the bottle she grabbed earlier then she emptied it.  She burped hard after doing that. She felt a burning sensation on her throat. She is about to get another bottle but Kendra stopped her. 

"That's enough now," she said. 

"Oh come on! I want more!" Emily protested. 

"She's having fun Kendra, don't stop her," Greg said. 

Kendra still hasn't let go of Emily's hand. She pleaded Emily to stop drinking. 

"What's wrong with you? You are not like this before?" Kendra questioned 

"I have problems okay? I have issues at home and I could use a  drink," Emily replied. She then gets out from Kendra's clutches and she get another bottle of beer. 

"Issues at home, I have issues at home, " Emily just kept her gaze towards herself. Her past self, just kept on drinking. Kendra wrapped her hands around her shoulders. 

"If you have problems, you can say it to us," Kendra said. 

"Enough with that kind of clichés Kends!" Emily chugged another bottle of alcoholic beverage.  

"Kendra's right Emily. If you're going through some tough stuffs, you can unload them to us. We're your friends after all!" Zachary tried to smile, but his face just looks awkward. 

"My problem is not that serious, it's just that, my parents keep on treating me like I am still a child!" Emily complained. 

"So this is all about rebelling," Kendra assumed. 

"I think so," Emily said. 

"That kind of behavior is normal for our age. Sometimes we get this urge to just let ourselves free from the strict clutches of our parents but, still we have to be responsible and careful," Kendra advised. 

"Why are you being so preachy tonight?" Greg asked. 

"I'm not! It's just that-" Kendra paused for a moment. "You know what, never mind. Lets just go out there and join the others," she continued. 

The five of them went to the pool area where people are dancing around while showing a lot of skins. Thee topless guys dived into the pool while holding each other's hands. Five girls wearing bikini are dancing at a corner. Loud banging music echoes throughout the place. 

Emily's soul followed herself. She saw herself talking to random people. All of a sudden a bright ray of light passes through her vision, prompting her to close her eyes. The moment she opened them back, she found herself inside a car. Greg steps into the driver's seat and the rest hopped at the backseat. Greg closes his eye while shaking his head. 

"Are you sure, you can drive?" the past Emily asked. "I don't want to die yet," she added. 

"No one's going to die tonight, I am completely capable of driving." Greg shakes his head again, trying to shake off his dizziness. He then started the car and it began to move. Greg drives a little fast. 

"Slow down, Greg!" Zachary tapped Greg's shoulder. 

Greg suddenly stepped into the break. The car stopped at the corner of Route 34 and Route  36. An over speeding red pick up truck emerged out of nowhere, hitting their car. The pick-up truck pushed their vehicle so hard until it tumbles over. Emily and her friends couldn't even scream. Everything happened quickly. Emily's soul is thrown out of the car. Her living self on the other hand tried to get out of the car through the window. A piece of shattered glass pierced through her abdomen. Fragment of the glass also scattered throughout her face and knees. Her body is filled with blood. She tried to remove the glass from her abdomen but it's no use. She kneels down and vomited an enormous amount of blood. She looked back and saw her friends. All of them are still inside the car, unconscious. Emily tried to scream for help but she's too weak to even whisper a word. She eventually  collapsed but her mind is still conscious. She heard a loud ringing sound, a kind of sound people hear when a microphone feedbacks. She also heard the sirens of emergency vehicles and the muffled voices of people. She closes her eyes, slowly until, eventually, she passes out. 

Emily's soul witnessed all of it play out. Another ray of blinding light passes through her eyes again. After that, she found herself at a playground. She saw her self as a five year old girl, playing with her father. She was having fun. her father carries her around while she just laughs. 

"This is the last thing I remember from my childhood. Why am I having these flashbacks?" 

Throughout Emily's dream, she was taken to different moments of her life. Her dream took her to the time when she had her first set of friends, to the time when she tastes alcohol for the first time, to the time when she had her first kiss with a popular guy, the time when she met her friends and all other memorable moments of her life. 

In the final sequence of her dream, she was in an empty savannah. She feels the grass on her foot. She was surrounded by trees and rare plants. 

"Where am I?" 

A little girl with hubby cheeks, big round Asian eyes and 

roundish nose emerged out of nowhere.  

"Who are you?" Emily asked. She took a closer look to the girl. "You are me," she realized that she's looking at her younger self. 

"That's right! I am you!" the young girl cheerfully said. 

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked. 

"I'm just watching you," the young girl replied. 

"How is this possible?" Emily questioned. 

"Hold my hand." The young girl reached out her right hand. Emily grabbed it by the wrist. The young girl walked around the savannah while pulling Emily. Emily just looked at her younger self. 

I look so innocent. I look so cute. I wonder where I'm going to take myself 

The two  of them went to a field surrounded by sunflowers. 

"What are we doing here?" Emily asked. 

"Play with me!" the young girl commanded. She then approached Emily and tapped her in the arm. "Tag you're it!" She ran quickly. 

Emily went after the young girl. While chasing her child counterpart, she's having a good laugh. For the first time, ever since she became a spirit, she's finally having fun. Her legs passed through the sunflowers. A group of butterflies are flying around them. Emily finally caught her younger self. She tapped her shoulder. 

"Tag you're it!" She started running again and her younger self went after her. After hours of playing tag. The two of them finally got tired. They decided to lie down the filed and look at the beautiful clouds above them. Emily's younger self lied on her arm. 

"What is this place?" Emily asked. 

"This is a place buried inside your mind. A place where you don't face the problems of the real world, where everything is all about playing games. A place you forgot a long time ago. This is your innocent imagination. A world you idealized as a child," the young girl explained. 

"What is going on? Why am I here? " 

"Why did you became like that?" the young girl asked. 

"Became like what?" Emily raised an eyebrow. 

"Became so stubborn, rebellious and bad," the young girl elaborated. 

"You wouldn't understand. you're still a child," Emily said. 

"Why did you ignore me?" asked the young girl "I was the little voice inside your head that tells you to stop acting the way you behaved," she added. 

"I was going through something, okay? I am sorry if I didn't listen to you or to anyone! It's just that my problems clouded my judgement." Emily bit her lips. She tries to stop her tears from falling. 

"Are you ready to go now? Are you ready to leave your earthly life?" the young girl asked. 

"I'm not! I am afraid to move on. I am afraid of death. I wish there's a way to turn things around," Emily replied. 

"There's no turning back now," the young girl said. 

"I know," Emily replied. 

The young girl leaned her lips close to Emily's left ear. "It's time to let go now. Your guide is waiting for you," she whispered. She puts her hand on Emily's eyes and everything turned dark. 

Emily opened her eyes once again. She found herself back in the  waiting place of the spirits, lying over Death's lap. She looked up and saw Death's pale chin. 

"Did you rest well?" Death asked. 

"For the most part." Emily sat up. "I had these series of dream flashbacks sequence. Do you know what they are?" She puts her hand behind her neck. 

"They're your dominant memories. They are the things you must let go before passing to your final destination." Death explained. "It's normal for spirits to have those kind of dreams," he added. 

"Okay." Emily said. She then looked around, trying to look away from Death. 

"What did you see in your dreams?" Death asked. 

"I saw what happened before I die. I saw the accident that caused my death, some stuffs from my childhood and all of the memorable moments in my life, basically," Emily answered. 

"That's the common dreams that spirits have," Death said. 

"How long have I been resting in your lap?" Emily asked. 

"If we apply mortal realm's time, around seven hours," Death replied. 

"I'm sorry. I am really a deep sleeper," Emily apologized. 

"It's no big deal." Death patted Emily's head. He then stood up and offered his hand to Emily. "Wanna go for another stroll?" he asked. 

Emily nods. She took Death's hand and they walked around the place again. Emily's hand feels warmer that time. Death's hand is shaking a little and Emily noticed it but she chose not to mention it. She looked Death in the face. 

"You know what. I think you're a nice fellow," she complimented. 

"Is that so? Thanks!" Death replied. 

"You look intimidating and creepy at first but-" Emily giggled "The more I know the more I change my perception about you," she continued 

 "I'm sorry if I scared you the first time we met,"  Death suddenly stopped walking, he then turned to look at Emily. "Are you afraid of me?" He asked. 

"I was afraid of you. You're my greatest phobia when I was alive." Emily stuttered a little. "But you're okay to me now. I can even walk with you hand in hand." She showed him a forced smile. 

"Let's go back to the mortal realm. It's more fun walking in that place," Death suggested. 

Death wrapped his arms around Emily. A mist of white smoke surrounds them as they transport back to the realm of the mortals.