Click
The tape recorder starts to rasp and for a moment, the only thing that can be heard is the rain that falls down on the ground from the heavy dark clouds above. The forest is quiet, save for the rain. A glance up towards the sky would make the person think that nightfall had come, but he knew that it was about noon. He had made the camp under the biggest pine he could find to try and receive some shelter before the rain started to fall.
Not long before he had found this very tree, a thunderbolt had pierced the sky and its loud crackling sound had brought everything in the forest to an utter silence. Moments after that, the rain had started to fall in copious amount. Even now, the ground was soaked and the small path he had been trudging on was being washed away because of the water. The person sighs, and thinks about the trouble he will have to try and walk through the forest after the rain had stopped.
But what's that? Sounds like a power-up noise…And it's coming from the tape recorder. He turns his head away from the sky, to the recorder in his hand.
"When the leaves fall off and we are left…"
A woman singing, in a language that is not of this world. But it sounds beautiful, as her sweet voice combined with calm musical instruments plays in the background.
"A small seed has to die and become life…"
Even though the language should be impossible for anyone to understand, the person holding it seems to receive its message without any trouble. He keeps staring at it, while his breathing gets calmer for every second.
"When the rain falls down along my cheek, you dry all the tears with your wind…"
He sighs, while casting a glance at the small creature on his shoulder. It was sleeping, he could feel his tiny heart beat in a slow pace. The brown fur was a bit wet, but not completely soaked. He had been curious enough to try and go out from their shelter, into the rain. After sticking out his head, he had rushed back to the safety of his master's pocket.
"Then I see your love for me…then I feel that life is from you…"
His compassion towards the small animal had made him put down his hand in the pocket and pick the creature up. Shivering because of cold, he started to pet the animal. Soon, his shivering stopped and a quiet humm instead came out of him, similar to one of a cat. After giving him a small fabric piece, he had placed him on his shoulder and he soon had fallen asleep.
"When the rain falls down along my cheek, then you know that I love…"
A piano, a violin, even something similar to a synth…All working together with this woman.
"Like the heaven around our Earth, your word stands. And leads me on the road I'm walking on."
The person's belongings were lying right next to him. Thanks to the shelter given from the pine, nothing had become wet. A blue backpack, and with a silvery staff right next to it, resting on the ground. He takes a look at the backpack, and thinks about memories while the music keeps sounding.
"Like the light from the sunset, makes me well. You strengthen the weakness in my soul."
Another voice joins the scene…coming from his own private mind. The voice is stressed, as if its wielder has been running a long distance.
"No, go! I'll stay here and buy you time. Just go, now! If we're going to make it through this, someone has to make a sacrifice. Today, it's time for me to make that sacrifice. So go, damnit!"
"Then I see your love from you. Then I feel life inside me…"
The voice switches, to a much more worried and sad one. It's a woman, who sounds to be on the verge of crying.
"I can't believe you just lied to me like that! I mean, am I only someone that you can go to bed with! A whore, worth nothing more than the dirt covering your coat?"
She sighs, tired.
"I would say that this relationship is over...And it's your own fault, wizard!"
"Like the heaven around our Earth, your word stands. Then I know that you love…"
The woman's voice from the tape recorder had increased in strength. She was almost crying out the words now, to grab the listener by his very spirit and to embrace it. The pet moved his paws in his sleep, but he did not awake. Something has been creeping up in the person's heart at the moment. A small pain, that grows for every heartbeat. His hands are shaking.
"Biggest of all, is love! It goes through Death for me, goes through Death for me…"
His finger is itching above the Stop button.
"It cleanses me on the road again, cleanses me again…Then I know that you love…"
The woman's voice inside his head had stopped its harsh argument, and had been replaced by a man's voice that sounds old. Very old…but still, a hidden power sounds to be lurking beneath it. He sounds calming, and caring.
"Just because you failed today, doesn't mean you have to fail tomorrow. Take one day at a time, and I'm sure you will succeed in my tests just as your friend has..."
"You love me…I give you all…I never leave you."
The pain in his heart is excruciating. His breathing wasn't at all in a slow pace now. Instead, he felt like he was having a heart attack. His finger touches the Stop button, but he doesn't press it. In the distance, a new lightning bolt shatters the constant sound from the rain.
"Now I see your love for me, now I feel life from you. When the leaves fall off and we are left, then I know that you love…"
The pet was getting a bit worried, as he was on the verge of opening his eyes. He feels it, and manages to calm down. He closes his eyes, and lets the tape recorder's song calm him down. But the pain in his heart lingers on, seeming to never stop growing in strength.
"Now I see your love for me, now I feel life from you. When the leaves fall off and we are left, then I know that you love…"
The woman stops singing, and the tape stops with a click. He lets it slide off his shaking hand so it touches the ground with a slight thud. He puts both of his hand on his face, while tears start to fall down his cheeks. A word, merely a whisper, comes from his lips.
"Mom…"
Steve collapse head-first and Darvete wakes up and starts his squeaking in a very frightened voice tone. The rain keeps falling down but around the campsite, the worried pet desperately tries to wake Steve up with his sounds…