Short Story
I am Lost, but not afraid. I will whisper, but never speak. I am nothing, yet I am.
I do not know what I am. I do not know how it could be understood as. I am not alive, I am dead? All I know is that I do not live and am not alive.
You do not remember me… Do you?
… I thought so. It’s okay though, I remember you. Perhaps maybe in another lifetime we shall meet again in birth, and in death. The fate of our soul is binded to those who face death but never die.
Do you understand? …
It’s okay that you don’t understand. As long as you listen.
A being that no one sees, a being that does not speak, this is the Silent soul it wanders every day, for years on end through many sights and exposures. It was much like me.
It had no ears, yet it hears.
It had no eyes, yet it sees.
It had no mind, yet it thinks.
It had no heart, yet it feels.
The question that would boggle your mind, but not its. For It did not have one. It does not live, yet It was born. It traveled endlessly and tirelessly, through infinite lands. Wondering, not of itself. But of what will become it.
The Soul had an infinite amount of thought that never seemed to seize. In fact, the soul spends more time in its head than anywhere else in the world.
However every once in a while, it is interrupted by an interesting object it comes across on his endless journey.
The first was like squash, but orange. It was more round than a squash. It was carved as well, with two large black eyes. The living call it a pumpkin…
This became his head.
The second was a strange piece of cloth which seemed to be a knitted garment, with long sleeves. Some living call it a sweater…
This became his torso.
The third, was what the living called “trousers”...
This became his legs.
The final thing was something he found most interesting and rather the most like of his varied possession. Something that would not become a part of him but upon him. The living call it, a red scarf…
The more and more he gained an avatar from these objects the more and more living started to realize in his very existence. Knowing this the Silent Soul did not want to be disturbed, for he knew the living are aggressive and disgusting to everything they touch, including themselves. In hopes to stay hidden, it lays in a place filled with nature and trees.
Yielding leaves of autumn abound, with dancing trees amongst the wind. Singing birds and a shining sun illuminating the orange ground. Yes, this peaceful place was a place where the Silent Soul lay.
For years it had stayed, in this place of nature. Watching the seasons of mother nature change, along with the world around it.
However it would soon all change for himself. One afternoon, when summer came to an end. The Silent Soul heard an ugly noise, it was a cry. Not a shout, not a yell, not a sob. The cry was a simple whimper that could have been mistaken for the wind. He stopped…
The Silent Soul was very good at listening, so he knew it could not have been the wind. The whimper came behind the tree that was in front of him. He curiously investigated the noise, only to find something that shocked him.
It was a small living child. A girl sitting on the roots of the largest tree in the forest in front of a pumpkin patch. She was oblivious to know the presence of the Silent Soul. The Soul knew not to invade the life of the Living, but it could not resist attempting to be kind and nice.
So he sat next to her. She cried still, and so he sat still. The Little girl had already noticed his presence, but refused to acknowledge it. She wasn’t afraid of this creature, she was too involved in the emotion she was feeling.
The Silent Soul thought it was about time to do something. So he poked her lightly.
The girl ignored it, so he poked her again a little harder than before. The girl ignored it, so he did it again, and again. Before the girl finally broke, “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?” She yelled fiercely, “JUST leave me alone, please…” Her voice withered.
The girl was covered with negative emotions. She just wanted to pour her words onto this stranger, but what was the point in telling some random person about her sad life.
She stood up, and began to walk away. This girl did not know the direction she came from nor did she know where she would go. She simply wanted a familiar face to appear so that she may tell her woes to them.
However, to the girl’s surprise the stranger was following her. She attempted to lose him, by running as fast as she could. Sprinting so fast that the leaves made way for her. However whenever she looked back, he was always there standing silently right behind her. So she ran and ran, and ran. For such a long time, before attempting to hide behind a sad old tree and breaking down in tears.
The Soul, however, already understood what she was feeling. The Soul felt pain, and agony. Consuming her behavior and mood. He understood exactly how she felt.
As she cried behind the tree, The Soul sat down next to her.
The girl looked up and sniffled, “Why do you follow me?” The Soul did not respond, but instead wiped away her tears with the sleeves of his sweater. He knew actions spoke louder than words.
“I’m… I’m lost…” She said, “I-I don’t know what to do. My life it’s so difficult and it-”
The Soul put his sleeve up to her mouth, to shush her. Then the Silent Soul began to look up. Curious to what he was looking at she looked up as well.
And she saw the sky. The sky is covered, with the trees of autumn. Making the light through the leaves look orange. Shining the beauty of nature, as it is in front of your eyes.
Living, in the moment.
A nice little telling of a friendship is it not? However the ending of this story is not.
For I have more to tell, so listen well. That this girl is not one from a happy past, and will not get a happy future.
For the girl did not have any friends, the girl did not know how to interact with a world that was nothing but a nuisance. The living treated her poorly, with little to no attention to her existence. Much like the Silent Soul, and I.
This girl’s father and mother were no longer in love. However, it soon became clear to the girl.
Every night, the girl would hear the parents arguing with each other about her. They would feud over little things, and would care not of the other. They were selfish and selfless. All at the same time, it’s strange.
But when the sun arose, the little one woke up. She would find her parents back to normal. Covering her with fake love, and pretending joy. They were selfless in trying to keep her happy despite hating the other parent, and selfish for wanting her to stay a certain way where she wouldn’t be a problem.
The question was did they love her? This is something I couldn’t figure out. I may never understand.
One night, she had enough of their arguments. She went downstairs, from her room and yelled at them from the top of her lungs.
“You’re all LYING!!! You always lie!! I just want everyone to stop!” She yelled,
The parents were shocked, unable to respond or catch her when she ran away.
With no friends or family to support her or tell her it’s going to be okay. She was under pressure, of the fact that she has no one. She felt like a nobody, she had no body, she was lost.
Her sad life does not give you a pleasant feeling. Does it? However when she became friends with the Silent Soul. She was more than pleased. Her attitude changed over time when she talked to him. To have someone she could trust, someone to show all of her emotions to her.
Because he would always listen to her, and attempt to express his thoughts through small lessons of acts and examples.
Everyday, around the afternoon, she would go to The forest to meet the Silent Soul. She would constantly sneak away from the house, with her parents never noticing.
She met the Soul, everyday. With every day, came a week, with every week came a month, with every month came every year. Many years passed, and the little girl became little no more. The Silent Soul did not notice however as time became irrelevant to him, so to him it just seemed like a minute had passed whenever she was away.
The girl did not mind that he did not speak, though at times she would try to get him to talk, by asking various questions.
But the Soul always insisted on being quiet. Never to speak, but to always listen.
“Why don’t you speak?” she would ask him everyday before she left and everyday the Soul responded with silence and a twist of head. She would smile knowing that she had been heard.
…
… but then one day. He disappeared. Without a trace. Without a word. See at the time he had disappeared, the girl’s parents had separated. Finally too disgusted with one another.
“Were moving?!” She said in utter disbelief.
“Tomorrow.” her father said sternly, boxing away his possessions.
“Why?!” She said pathetically. Her father sighed, and took off his small glasses.
“Your mother and I- We don’t have-, we don’t…” The father sighed again, “Please, don’t make it harder than it already is.” The father turned to his daughter, but to his dismay he saw his daughter getting up from her seat and running towards the door all the way back to the forest.
Crying. Not sob, or a yell. But a whimper…
… but when she got to the forest, tears came from her eyes, she did not see or hear the Silent Soul. In Fact after a while she was so dumbfounded to where he may be, as she checked all the locations where they usually met, where they’d go, where they’d arrive. However all of it was for naught, as the Silent Soul no longer should himself.
Only one thing rose in the girl’s mind, Why did he abandon her…
The thing is, the Silent Soul did not abandon her, in fact he was there. However something about the Soul was different. He could not be seen.
He could not interact with the world he had onced interacted with. He watched his dear friend search tirelessly for him. Distressed and discomforted by his disappearance.
The girl yelled out curses, before falling down and crying in the exact same tree they first met in front of a pumpkin patch…
Now you may be wondering, why couldn’t The Silent Soul be seen by this girl. Well you see my dear, that is because the Silent Soul…
Was dying…
He does not choose when to stop existing, and he may never see his friend again because of it.
You see, the Silent Soul was born due to accepting death but not dying. He was quite literally a living death. You see the Silent Soul, as not always a Soul. He was living, however no one ever noticed his presence. No one cared for him, no one was nice to him, everyone walked all over him. Never noticing his presence.
The Silent Soul was saddened by this for all he yearned for was a friend, but not a single soul would give him a chance… Except one.
“Lost” A voice as low as the wind whispered.
The girl looked up, “Who’s there?” she asked bewildered
“I shall be gone” The Silent Soul whispered.
The girl immediately figured out this was the voice of The Soul, “What, No! I want to talk to you again. Something terrible happened and I need you here!”
The Soul felt his voice fading and forced his final words, “please remember me…”
The girl shed a tear as the wind howled in her face, she heard the voice become silent. She looked in front of her, where she saw a pumpkin with 2 large black eyes. Wearing a red wool scarf.
So she walked up to the head calmly, put on the pumpkin and scarf.
And began to wander.
… What happened to the girl? Where is the Soul? Well… Lets just say that the girl never forgot the Soul. Her body may have died and rotten, but she did not.
They say when you die, you lose your memories, but this is not true. You lose your memories when you start living again.
Her soul continues to walk the face of the earth wearing a pumpkin head, and a red scarf. Saying nothing but whispers, never being noticed by anyone. She would continue until she found him friend again and when she does,
She will tell him a story of loneliness, and friendship. So … Do you remember me?
Silent Soul?
