Prompt 2 - Summer Drama (A Summer Gone Wrong)
username; Strudel
{words or art}
- I don't think any ghost has ever expected to wake up dead.
I mean, does anyone expect to wake up when they think they're dying? Even if they died suddenly, who would expect to see themselves as they float in the air?
I can tell you, I certainly didn't expect to wake up that morning, only to find my mourning children and friend as they cried for my loss. I thought there was something more, I thought I would wake up in some type of heaven or hell. I suppose some do, some viscets must wake up elsewhere because there aren't many ghosts floating around. I suppose I was just one of the unlucky ones that had some kind of unresolved issues or unfinished business left behind.
Regardless, as much of a surprise as that had been, I'll admit I was far more surprised when, years later, I woke up as something other than a ghost.
Now let me explain a little.
First of all, in all the years I had been a specter, I had never once slept. Ghosts can't sleep. Trust me, I've tried far more times than I'm quite willing to admit. Waking up at all was a new and unfamiliar feeling at this point. Secondly... I was breathing. I think it's pretty obvious, but I'll say it to make this clear-- ghosts do not breath. Ghost have no lungs or other organs to speak of. Honestly, I'm not sure how we are even able to talk? Then again, no one can really hear us either so maybe we just think we're talking? Ah, either way, that's not the point.
The point is that for the first time in years I; woke up, took a breath, and stood on my own two legs with muscle and bone.
I was alive.
Alive and terrified.
When this summer started, I certainly didn't expect something like this. My summer, I thought, was going to consist of watching my children grow and prosper during another summer without me. I never expected even another moment with breath in my lungs or the wind in my mane. I couldn't explain it, I wouldn't have known where to start ever.
I didn't think much on it then, though, I simply started running through the grass. I was going to take advantage of this, I didn't know what it was or how long it would last. I felt the cool, dew-covered blades as I ran across the field. Every blade ticked and caressed my paws as I rushed across the green expanse. Before I know it, I was stopping to catch my breath on the other side.
I took in the scents of the summer-- my favorite season. It had always been my favorite season since I was a child. Even now, after being unable to enjoy it's full glory for so long, I still loved it. Maybe I even loved it more now that I could smell the summer breeze. And-- the ocean. In the distance I could smell the warm salt water.
I almost ran for the sea next when I realized there was somewhere far more important to go first.
It was time I saw my family again. Or, really, to let them see me. I had been watching over them for years, but now they would be able to see me once more. I was flesh, and blood, and bone. I was tangible. I could hold them, speak to them, be seen by them. Those thoughts carried me as I ran the opposite direction of the sea. I was going to see my family again, I could hardly believe it. It wasn't just a miracle, it was so beyond that.
I saw Riptide first, hunting in the woods. He seemed even larger and stronger now that I wasn't watching him while I floated above. I could practically see his muscles rippling as he was about to pounce on his prey. He saw me coming, and he stopped what he was doing. From the way he was looking at me, you would have thought he was looking at a ghost. Then again, I guess technically I was still a ghost, even if I was alive again.
"Irissa." I could barely hear my brother's words as he spoke. It had been so long since I heard my name, I had almost forgotten what it sounded like on the lips of another. "Could that really be you?"
I smiled to my brother as I bounded the rest of the way to him, he prey was long gone.
"Yes." I spoke softly in response "It's me. I don't know how, but--" before I could even finish, I was wrapped into a hug.
"They told me you were dead." Riptide whispered, as if afraid I'd disappear if he spoke any louder.
"I was." I responded.
"But how then-?" his question was a good one, I didn't have a real answer for it.
"I don't know." what else was I to say to him? For all I knew, this could be one last hoorah before I disappeared into a void.
I really hoped not.
Riptide held me against him for ages. He was so much larger than the last time we had embraced, he hadn't even been an adult quite yet. It was right before the war, when he was taken to fight. I had despised that embrace then-- he had been so small and frail and I hadn't wanted to let him go. I hadn't had a choice. Now, I didn't want to let him go for other reasons.
"I'm so sorry Riptide." I told him, my voice meek "I didn't want to leave you at all, but I especially didn't want to leave you to care for my girls all alone."
Riptide separated from me, still grasping my shoulders. "Never apologize sister." he responded "I love your girls as my own." and I knew what he said was true, I had seen it over the years.
Riptide told me many things about my girls, many things I didn't know. In the end, as much as it hurt me, I chose against going to see my beautiful girls in person. We didn't know how long this would last, and we didn't want to hurt them by forcing them to lose me twice. My heart twisted in my chest as I said a goodbye to my brother. It was starting to grow dark, and I didn't know if I would ever see him like this again. I thought, perhaps, if I woke up tomorrow like this again I would go straight to their den but... something told me that wouldn't happen. Somehow I knew it wasn't permanent.
I walked to the beach, about to settle for the night, when I familiar figure approached me.
"Gustav?" I questioned as the large viscet drew near. He was larger than he had been too, and he seemed like a different person as he approached me cautiously.
"Riptide told me you were here." Gustav responded in a quiet whisper "I had to see for myself."
Gustav had been in love with me before I died-- a fact I hadn't known until after my death. Surely he didn't feel the same though, after all these years?
That's what I told myself at least as I wrapped my frame around his. He had been like a little brother to me. And when I had passed on, he had cared for my girls until my brother arrived home. I would always be grateful to him for that.
I think Gustav sensed that I needed someone beside me. We laid curled up together on the beach for hours while we switched between talking and silence. He looked out on the sea with me until we both finally fell asleep to the quiet sounds of the ocean and eachother's breathing.
He would wake up alone. At least, he would think so. I would know better as I watched him from my place in the sky. My time was up, again. I was ok with that, I had borrowed a day somehow and I was grateful for just those small moments-- that chance to say goodbye that I had never had before.
-------
"So why did we do this?" Tyramet asked, looking curiously to his brother who was beside him. Somehow, he wasn't shivering. Tyr never did understand why his sunny brother didn't seem bothered by the unlivable cold in his realm.
"Don't you see it?" Apollo asked as they both looked through the icy pool and into the mortal realm. "It was to help all of them, in some way. Riptide finally got his chance to say goodbye to his sister-- to hold her one more time. He could never come to terms with it, until now. Thank you."
Apollo smiled to Tyramet, who had granted his request without even questioning him beforehand.
Tyr smiled back to Apollo "This was all certainly unexpected, but you're welcome, brother."