“The Journey to Eternal Slumber : The Fragility of Life”

Date : 1st January 2022

Day : Saturday

Time : 12:00 am - Midnight 

“Oh! My God! What has happened? “, stuttered a figure that lay unconscious on the side of a lonely road in the soft brightness of the moonlight, broken only by the occasional flickering street lights from a distance. Covered in a menacing pool of crimson-blood, seeming frail and defenseless against the hard, unforgiving asphalt, flickering his dull and timid eyes, he smirks at his unsettling fate, gazing at the twinkling stars that seemed to give no explanations to his not-so-vacant mind.

Bearing the pain of the glass that pierced right through his chest, knowing that he had limited time, he felt a wave of memories wash over him. He recollects the past 30 years of his life - those golden memories of his life as Mr. Ethen Christopher Bosco, a rather skilled and professional RAW agent with exemplary potential. He remembers his birth as an infant in Sunshine City Hospital, the lovely moments he enjoyed with his adorable parents, the cat and dog fights he had with his siblings, the day he got his first job with a satisfactory salary, the first time he fell in love, the time he started a family, and being gifted a sweet little daughter, Zarah, from the heavens. Those twenty years formed a tapestry of colors in Ethen’s life—so vibrant and serene. It was a symphony of eternal embrace. 

Seven years ago...

It wasn’t too late when the darkness gripped his heart and a bleak, black cloud hovered over him. ‘26th March 2015'—a night of terror, a tornado that washed away all his happiness. It was the night when he saw his wife savagely stabbed multiple times with a spear; it was the night when he witnessed his very own blood—his daughter succumbing to her injuries. As a result of his dangerous missions and ruthless killing of the demon-minded criminals, all his joys were snatched away from him, and he shrank into a mere being without life.

From that day on, he was paralyzed by loneliness, fear, and nightmares. From a workaholic, he turned into a drunkard. Every day was filled with bottles of champagne and pills. Boozing all the time, he would remember that night, when his wife gazed at him for the last time, with a haze of pain and love in her. Several years passed for Ethen, who lived a pitiful life with no purpose nor direction. His parents and siblings could do nothing but gaze at his misfortune and shed tears for his suffering.

They say life has a cruel sense of humor, but it has a nasty way of bringing so-called hope to isolated hearts as well. The same happened for Ethen.

4 years after his tragic past . . . .

‘20th June,'2020'—perhaps a day of a new beginning for Ethen. As usual, Ethen stumbled out of a bar with an empty bottle in his hand. As he walked on a deserted road, in an unsteady motion, he sighted a black dog with white patches around its eyes. It lay beside the cadaver of its dead puppy, who was perhaps shot by a hunter. As Ethen looked into the teary eyes of the dog, he saw a reflection of his own dark past—his own helpless and weak self. He could see the love in the dog’s eyes for its lost child—the same love that didn’t let him move on in his life. All of a sudden, he could sense a pang of emptiness in his heart, a regret for wasting five years of his life. As his hands rolled through the dog’s furry skin, peace washed over him. He felt a purpose in life, and he opened his eyes to move on. For reasons unknown, he felt a sudden change in his heart, a purpose rolled through his nerves. 

This seemingly insignificant incident made Ethen bounce back to his life from sobriety. After spending around 2 years in rehab, he transformed from a drunkard to a happy and healthy gentleman who now works at a government office. His life seemed to be looking up for the first time in years. He spent time with the dog, whom he named Nicky, his parents, and his siblings.

He was soon forgetting his tenebrous past and filling the gap with the good memories he had with his loved ones. The night he got a promotion at work, he felt a surge of glee in his heart. As he was driving home from work, thinking deeply about what joys further awaited him, there was a sudden change in his fate. His car lost its balance, the brakes were defective, and within a second or two, he collided with a tall maple tree. The sound of crushing metal and shattering glasses was a gut-wrenching experience for him. A loud screeching sound from himself echoed through his ears. He could feel his heart skip a beat as his car turned upside down and he lay with a paralyzed body flat on the ground. A creepy chill crawled his spine as his eyes shut, with the lasting image of the distant stars, and all he could hear was the meak rustling of leaves.

Even though he was half conscious, he couldn’t open his eyes; his body was resisting his mind. He could slowly sense the silence deafening as his heartbeats were ringing his final farewell song. Soon, he felt himself disconnecting from reality; he was losing control over his mind and body. As a tiny tear trampled over his face, he was in an eternal slumber.

As his spirit reached the House of Hades, his body covered underground, his family shed their tears of agony and grief. They were devastated, unable to comprehend why someone who had worked so hard to turn their life around could be taken from them so suddenly and senselessly.

Ethen's death served as a painful reminder that life is fragile and unpredictable. It's a reminder to step back and appreciate the people and moments that make life worth living. And for those struggling to start anew, it's proof that even with the best intentions, a fresh start can be cut painfully short. As Ethen’s tragic desire to start a new beginning became the talk of the town, his family and friends were proud of the willpower he showed to bid farewell to this earth as a reconciled and transformed man. He left a mark of himself in his diary, where he noted down his last words in a wrinkled sheet of his diary that said:

“Life has given me a chance to paint my future, with every colour untainted.

It has given me a chance to let go of my dark past, which weighed me down so low.

Today, with my head held high, I live the life I always dreamed of.

However, the beauty of my past can still be seen in me.

Why should I let it go?

As my past is the strength of my present, that sets me free.

It is my starting line for a new beginning , a new adventure !”