• The Man of Steel

    I had thought she would guide me to where I had to go, but she didn't. Where would I go from here? I opened my bedroom door; it was still broken so it was never really shut, only one hinge left holding on, but I had always tried to at least make it look normal. Stepping out into the hallway I walked through the glimmering lights, down the stairs and out the door. I hadn't thought to put shoes on for some reason, but it appeared that they magically found their way to my feet anyway. Everything was gray but the lights everywhere made it seem beautiful in its loneliness. I soon came to realize that I wasn't outside because I just felt like going out there, the same attraction I felt towards the computer after awakening was pulling me away from my home now. I walked and walked and walked but never felt fatigued and the only company I had were those flickering lights that were so bright and seemed so close, but I could never touch them. Like walking with ghosts. A sudden change to the grayness began to show over the horizon, distracting me from the lights. I had walked all the way to the school, and a red glimmer, like a sunrise was coming from the distance. I heard a tune in another language, yet the tune was so familiar. I saw the figure of a man with a great red flag marching out of that red sunrise. I waited, because I felt power in this mans image, and he was coming towards me. Finally he reached me, my vision went blurry at first and I felt the same weakness I felt against Jibril at first meeting, but I recovered faster this time around. By the time my vision returned well enough, the man was only a few feet away. I looked up at the flag he was holding; red with a hammer and sickle. This man was Russian. My gaze slowly dropped to his military hat and then to his glasses, to his mustache, to his uniform. I felt like I didn't want to be associated with this person any more the instance I looked him over. I dropped to my knees with one hand over my face to try and unsuccessfully conceal my laughter.
    "Paul, you're mustache is fake, you aren't Russian and you aren't Stalin neither" I blurted out. Yes, this was Paul, I knew him in life as a very influential friend. He also had a weird fetish for dictators and the Soviet Union.
    "Yo dill, have fun dying?" He said with a sarcastic tone that annoyed me a bit, but I shrugged it off and got to my feet reminding myself that it was Paul.
    "Yeah, dying is a blast. Couldn't do much alive anyway, at least I have the care free comfort of knowing that there really is an afterlife now." I explained in a bored relieving manner. My eye twitched a bit at the annoying expression on his face.
    "Dill, Watch out for the stampede!!!" he shouted while pointing past my head. Moments later I heard a rumbling sound and we were wearing viking helmets, chainsaw strapped on my back, and some kinda huge rocket launcher on his. He was holding a battle axe, and there was a sword buckled down into my belt. What the hell?! Was the only thing I could think at that moment. It was the most awkward thing I had ever witnessed, color had returned to the empty world in a flash of mystic light.
    "HERE WE GO! GAIGA CANON!!!!!" He wailed, chucking his axe at lightning speed past my head. Eyes wide and wind flowing through my hair, I heard an explosion in the background, I frozen in place. The axe came so close to my head that it snipped off a few hairs, nothing noticeable though.
    "Dill, stop standing there, Nazi's are on the way, board you're raptor and lets go." I finally turned around to see flames and battle across the horizon. Nazi's? Since when did Paul's imagination become heaven? What is this sickly random reality!? The next thing I knew I was riding away on what appeared to be something out of a Jurassic Park movie, John Williams composure's playing in the back ground. Fear. It was the one feeling I had thought I'd lost after dying. Paul riding next to me was now wearing an oddly shaped visor. He took it off and the world went silent, everything else froze except us. Someone just hit the pause button on a movie I couldn't stand to watch, and if I wasn't in it I was sure it would have been corny anyway. Everything returned to black and white.
    "Hey Dill, you say something?" He said, in a voice that almost seemed cool, all except for the fact that it was Paul's. His was a voice hard to take serious, but something frightened me about it in this moment. Perhaps more creepy then frightening, I'd wager on a mixture of both.
    "Huh? What the hell is going on Paul? Stop treating my death like your fairy tale, I don't need your random manipulations giving me a heart attack enough to snap me back to life."
    "I thought you said something along the lines of 'couldn't do much alive'. What the heck is that all about, you were always the one telling me that anything was possible!"
    "Well after I died I snapped back into reality a bit to late." I argued, this type of conversation seemed normal in life. Talking to Paul was always something new, and usually involved things along the lines of the town of Shirley taking over the world or secret training under the man of steel.
    "Don't give up that easily! You're still you after you're gone from earth, so why should there be a difference in your thinking now! Well I've got a great quote for you brother, something inspiring that gave us both the ability to succeed while you were alive. Just a thought, but a powerful thought!"
    "Dammit Paul, if you quote Buddha, I swear!" My eyebrows narrowed, what was with all of these quotes?
    "Buddha? No not Buddha, better then Buddha Dill!" He shouted. Just his voice was inspirational at this point, I was already anticipating what he was going to say, even though knowing Paul, it would be something not even worth hearing.
    " 'Don't believe in yourself Dill! Believe that I believe in you', sound familiar?" A smirk formed on both of our faces and I patted him on the shoulder, just realizing that we were no longer sitting on raptors and the whole scene was back to normal. This world was filled with outstanding surprises. We both laughed to tears.
    "Even after you die there's always a path to take, don't lose track of it even if you can't see it yourself. You're mind is a music box and I'm the key, Anythings possible so don't forget that."
    "Ha ha ha, Paul you sound ridiculous saying all these things!"
    "Ha! Yeah I know!"
    "Yeah, but ya know, ya made me realize something I completely forgot in the moment of my death. Thanks." I said, still smiling and laughing right along side him. All my fondest memories of him consisted of random stories he portrayed to me like the craziness I experienced earlier. It felt like something of a finale, but now it all had a meaning to me, however ridiculous it sounded.
    "Well you have the point now! And now I will make my dramatic escape that will be remembered for eternity!!!" He shouted and the ground began to shake again. The ground crumbling beneath him, a giant robot like something out of a cartoon burst through solid earth under him. Jumping onto its shoulder paul laughed as he flew away into the stars. Again abandoned high and dry, the world was silent and I was left listening to it.