Caleb didn't know how much time had passed. Around him was the never-changing vast expanse of darkness, an endless one at that. The good thing is, he didn't know why, but he didn't feel a bit of boredom even though he was the type of person to get impatient easily once left alone on the side without doing anything. Contrary to it, he felt weirdly at peace.
'This might be better than going to hell,' Caleb scoffed at the idea.
After all, he was pretty damn sure that he would land to hell if ever it was real. Everything he did in his life, he did them for his best interest. Is he evil? If you ask the people around him in his life, they would definitely nod their heads without hesitation.
Yet Caleb didn't think so. Evil? No! But he wasn't a hypocrite to claim that he was a good person... 'Still, I'm at least a law-abiding citizen.'
'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..."
Just like that, seconds, days, weeks, months, or even years... He completely lost track of time. At first, he resolves himself to count in seconds as much as he can. But after he reached counting from one to one thousand seconds, he got distracted. In the end, he helplessly decided against such an impossible task.
While Caleb stared at the lightless void, although he didn't have eyes to begin with. He felt a sudden tug on his soul. A call, so bizarre, but it felt natural. Suddenly, a sphere of light emerged in the direction where his gaze was. Rays upon rays of light that pushed the darkness away appeared.
'What the?' The sphere got bigger and bigger. Caleb almost took a step back when he remembered that he didn't even have feet. Caleb felt that a strange force pulling him. What's more, he couldn't even resist. Helpless, he can only give up. 'If you can't fight it, enjoy it? What's the worst that could happen, right?'
Of course not! Caleb struggled with all his might. He didn't know what was on the other side of the sphere. Fear is an instinct of humans and the oldest fear that has existed since ancient times was the fear of the unknown!
Just like that, the immovable met the unstoppable force. 'No!!!'
Lastly, a little girl, whom Caleb thinks to be eight years above. She has big eyes which were currently glued to his face. A small delicate nose, pinkish cheeks, and white skin. The little girl wore ragged white clothes, and a pair of wooden slippers, and her hair, supple hair reached her small shoulders. In Caleb's eyes, she looks weak and brittle.
"Jacob, did you dream of something bad?" The middle-aged man sat on the ground to face Caleb and patted him gently on the back.
Feeling the strong hand, Caleb pushed his miscellaneous thoughts to the back of his head. "Umm..."' Caleb responded with a nod of his head.
Since he didn't know what was going on or how he was supposed to behave, Caleb decided to take a careful approach. Do less, talk less. It was the old routine to avoid making mistakes.
The middle-aged man stared at Caleb for a moment before giving him a gentle smile. "Well, don't move around much. Rest well, understood?"
Beside him, the middle-aged woman breathed a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen to clean. She carefully walks around past a red, square mark on the floor.
Caleb, once again, responded with a nod of his head. But deep inside, he was already complaining. 'Damn, stop talking to me!'
"Brother, do you want this?"
'Huh? Brother? Does this mean I got reincarnated? Yet I can still remember my past life. Seems my damned wish actually came true!' Caleb eyed the piece of bread on a small palm. Two pairs of big brown pupils stared at him in the eyes. In the corner of the little girl's mouth, Caleb notices crumbs of bread.
For some reason, Caleb felt warmth in his heart. He could see that the little girl was obviously hungry, and it wasn't enough to satiate her. Yet she was offering it to him. 'Umm? What am I even thinking?'