Darkness Dissolves When the Door Opens

Misery

“Jules, you okay?” 

The sound was literally echoes. The ringing in Jules’ ears wouldn’t stop, and every organ inside his body felt like yoghurt. His head was very painful, but no blood poured from it.

Jules touched his side. His palm met a smooth object pillaring his body. Bandage.

He focused with his sight. A couple of seconds later, his vision came back and he finally saw the cloudless blue sky above him. It was the morning sky, light blue and cheered. He grumbled and tried to move his body, but ache came hurling right after.

“Just relax, Jules. Your back must’ve hurt. Lean over the tree if you want to sit.”

Glenn helped him. 

“What happened?”

Glenn sighed. “It’s not the time for that. You need to rest. We’ll handle everything.”

Though Jules wanted so bad to ask questions, everything ached inside of him. His bones felt like they’d been torn one by one. His head had an inescapable migraine, and his unscratched arm didn’t feel like it was still attached.

So without his brain commanding, Jules closed his eyes. He slept. He drowned between nightmares of sadness and he was diving in to find joy, but none could be found.

Glenn didn’t move. He stayed right besides Jules as he slept.

And almost exactly one hour later, Jules jerked back to life with full enthusiasm. His body still hurt, but he remembered something from the day before. His eyes were wide open, and Glenn knew what would happen afterwards. Glenn knew what exact question Jules was gonna launch to him. Before Jules even opened his mouth, Glenn frowned.

“Where’s Rake?”

Glenn brushed his short hair with his palm. He hesitated and avoided Jules’ eyes. 

Jules started again. “Glenn, I need you to tell me, where the hell is Rake? Is he okay?”

Glenn put on ‘that expression’ by screeching his white teeth. 

“I’m so sorry.”

Just like that, a sorry, and Jules’ world collapsed around him. He witnessed with his only eyes, the trees falling in the background. The earth rumbled like never before, shaking uncontrollably without a clue of ever stopping. He saw the raging line of fire burning the leaves every second, producing more and more ashes. He saw himself standing in the middle of it all, untouched, but were blinded and deafened.

“I don’t understand.”

“He…” Glenn struggled finding the right word for him. He knew Rake was a friend since they were in Elementary school, and never parted once in their lives, including when the war happened. “He stepped on an active landmine.”

Jules sat straighter, every muscle clenched.

“That’s impossible,” Jules replied rather short-temperedly. “There is no landmine here.”

“Jules, I’m sorry.”

“But, but, that would be−”

“I’m sorry. It’s hard, I know. But he’s gone, and you cannot revive him. He’s gone, Jules.”

Jules leaned back slowly to the pine tree behind him. As his back touched it, he wanted so bad to just slam his head to it as hard as ever. He wanted to break his own back and destroy his own head, but the energy wasn’t there. All he could do was to escape the truth.

“You buried him?”

“We… yes we did.”

“I need to see.”