Faces of the In-Between (Frerard)

Chapter 3 ~ Tranquil

Agh this took me ages to write and I might fix a few things later, but ill post what i've got so far :P anyways, i'd love to hear what you think of the story so far!

~~~~~~~~~

When Gerard woke up, he was laying on the muddy bank of the creek with the tips of his toes just reaching the chilly water flowing a few feet away. The sun towered over him, but leaves from the trees blocked out most of the heat. His ratty clothes clung to his skin; Gerard couldn't tell if he was wet from the creek or from all the humidity. He fluttered his eyes open a few times and let them adjust to the morning haze. Bright rays of light danced through the leaves above him which captivated his attention for a few minutes. The songs of birds were sounding all throughout the the tall trees surrounding the creek. Along with the soft gurgle of water over the rocks of the creek, it was quite peaceful. Tranquil even.

So that was heaven? Gerard had made it to heaven? It surprised him a bit; he wasn't the most religious person, but he had made it to heaven. Yeah. Heaven. That explains the light coming from the sky above. People always claimed that they experience a blinding light when they die right? Gerard was sure this was heaven. It had to be. Coulndn't be Hell because what had Gerard ever done to deserve that? Yeah. Definitely heaven. 

But where's God. And Jesus? And... angels or whatever you're supposed to see in heaven? Why was he laying in a creek? Shouldn't he be floating on a cloud right about now? Okay, so maybe Gerard wasn't too familiar with the bible, and he had no idea what to expect, but clouds seemed like a heaven sort of thing to him. So where were they? Gerard wanted to be laying on a cloud, yet he could clearly see them blowing by above him in the bright sky. Shouldn't he have been be in the sky? That's where heaven is right? The bank of a creek is not heaven, and Gerard was definitely not in heaven.

Gerard had been calm. Really calm. Only because he thought he had made it to heaven. He had killed himself and finally made it to heaven; that's what he thought. The sound of chirping birds and the bright light had convinced him so, but then, laying there at the creek's shore, his hand dug into the soft mud at his sides. The little grains of dirt sifted through his finger tips and dripped back at his sides. It was a familiar feeling, and that's when he knew. He knew he wasn't in heaven.

Mikey was seven at the time, and Gerard was eleven. It was strange just how clear he could remember the day that they had played in that very mud together. Gerard was focused on building a sand castle, but Mikey was more interested in catching a baby frog in the creek. The brothers spent the majority of their summer playing at the edge of that creek: talking, joking, building things, and exploring. Come to think of it, that had to have been Gerard's favorite summer; just because everything had been impeccably perfect. The weather had been much like it was in that moment as Gerard laid on his back on the shore. And the mud... it still felt exactly the same. Sloppy and gritty in his hands. 

He let the mud drain out of his palm, and even though he still seem composed on the outside, his mind was beginning to swarm with questions. It was like a bee hive had been kicked, then everything fell on him all at once. The realization that he wasn't in heaven. He was laying in the very creek he had jumped into. He wasn't dead? No, no, no. He wanted to die. Why couldn't he have just died? How could he have survived his jump from the bridge? That would've been impossible. But there he was, laying a hundred yards from the infamous bridge. 

When he finally managed to sit his body up, he realized that his assumptions had been correct. He wasn't in heaven, and he was alive. All Gerard could think was 'Why?.' Why couldn't he have just died like he wanted to. Why? He became angry at himself. Seeing the familiar forest around him made him want to scream out in frustration. No, this had not been his plan. He wanted to die. That's what he had wanted, and that's what he had aimed for when he had slipped his feet off of the bridge. His emotions were flying around him in every direction. He was confused, angry, and maybe even a little bit relieved to know that he was alive. Not that he wanted to be alive, but at the time, Gerard wasn't in the right mind set to think straight thoughts.