Tales of the Last

Story #6 (Also V-Day Special)

What Could Have Been

A/N: Chapter 5 has been edited! It was changed to fit this story!


The beep was cold, it was terrible.

A cold wind blew into the small tent they had constructed, a wind of death.

The machine, that messenger, brought up the scans for the third time... A third time.

Gwin looked coldly as the results reappeared, the same as usual, the same bad tiding of pain and suffering that bit into the coldest of days.

Irina looked at disbelief, she didn't want to believe, she wanted for it to not be true. The skeptic inside every human tried its hardest to shut her eyes and heart.

VITAL SIGNS NOT FOUND, read the medical machine, DIAGNOSIS-

The fated words appeared once more, the nail on the coffin...

0000000

Irina stood outside in the snow, covered by a simple coat, protected by a meager garment from the slow flakes of ice that rained from the sky.

"Irina..." Gwin voice called to her, however, he knew she would not respond.

His partner, the vessel of the human race, was as far as anyone was concerned a leaky vessel of doomed voyages.

"Irina... please..." Gwin sighed as he stood next to her, "Please, let's talk about this... It hurts me seeing you like this.."

Irina stood silent as she felt the snowflakes strike her exposed cheeks.

Gwin exhaled deeply, then embraced her...

0000000

The evening was crisp and clear, the white sandy shore was illuminated a nice pumpkin orange by the setting sun.

On the beach, a lone man lay on the orange sand, caressed by the coast and blanketed by the advancing waves.

"Cah! Cah!" the man hoarsely coughed as he gained some air in his lungs, then spit out a foamy amount of seawater into the sand. "What in the world..." he sat up and saw the peaceful coast.

A soft and gentle wind blew on the man's white face, then towards the east.

"I can't believe I survived that..." the man muttered as he looked out into the sea, then sighed and looked up to the twilight sky, "I wonder where I am?" he stood and walked towards the sun.

A quick glance of the beach showed the man it was a generic coastline, sand, sand, and more sand stretched up to where the imagination would allow.

"I need to find someone that could help me." the man continued walking, then started to think, "Perhaps there is a town over there?" he looked to a small bumpy shadow in the distance, "Maybe with boats to take me back home?" he made out the figure of a mast next the bump.

The wind continue to blow, except this time it was fainter, it could barely be felt as it gracefully brushed his skin.

"Depending on where I am, it could take me up to a month to get back home." the man murmured to himself, "But at least I'll be able to see my wife and son again." he chuckled, but then started to feel weak at the chest. This sudden weight pressing on him caused the man to capitulate and sit back down in pain, the grimace on his face appearing for a few moments.

The water reached to his feet, causing a cold sensation to overcome his legs.

"I think I should wait... maybe someone will come around." the man murmured, then sighed and looked to his left, where a sandcastle was standing by a pile of rocks.

This structure caused the man to remember his tours of German castles, since he loved to travel and see the edifices of old. In fact, as he looked at it, this castle looked very much so like such a structure that he even wondered if he was in Germany.

"Hahaha..." the man chuckled, but then pondered deeply, "I hope this is true... I hope I landed back. I could literally just recognize the hill with the oak tree and follow that way back home." he looked around, but only saw sand.

The stars started to appear, the same stars he saw in front of his home were shining in all their glory, stunning the castaway greatly.

"I hope my wife will enjoy this view." the man said and breathed in deeply, though it was kind of forced, "Imagine all the things we would do together... everything..." he felt a big sleep overcome him.

However, the sound of a child's laughter kept him from slumber.

"What?" the man turned around and saw a woman and child, in fact, it seemed he recognized them due to the sudden rise of his eyebrows.

The woman was dirty blond and wearing a large purple sunhat, while the boy had the same brunette he did.

"That's my family right there!" the man exclaimed, "Hey! Elizabeth!" he called out to the woman, "Oliver!" he cried and stood, then ran towards them.

However, the more the man ran closer to them, the more land seemed to generate in between them, as if his mind could not process the new information and repeated the same landscape.

"Elizabeth! Oliver!" the man called to them again, however, they were not bothered and soon walked off beyond his sight. After that, he stopped, and then noticed he had not moved at all, and he had still the same surroundings as before.

It was then were the terrible sleep returned, and brought the man down to the sand...

0000000

"We couldn't save him." a fisherman spoke as he shook the drowned man, "I dun saw 'is ship sink over yonder." he pointed to the sea.

"Shame..." the fisherman's wife shook her head as she saw the coastline littered with debris, this beach was entirely different and rockier than normal, "Looky here, Clive." she picked up the leather napsack next to the man and pulled out a pack of letters. "To Elizabeth..." she read the cover.

"Couldn't have been 'is wife." the fisherman looked at the drowned man's hands, they had no ring on them.

"Oh.. Looky here." the wife sadly said as she pulled out some stained photographs, which included a picture of a sandy coastline, a picture of a large stone castle rising above the forest.

The two living adults looked at the pitiful drowned man and took off their hats in respect.

On the dead man's face, his weak smile drooped down...

0000000

"Irina-"

"Don't call me that..." Irina finally spoke with a hint of agression, "You shouldn't call me Irina anymore."

"Huh-"

"I should be called a Grave." Irina muttered and clenched her fist, "Because that's what my body is..."

"Irina, no." Gwin shook his head, "It's- It's..." he sighed deeply and saw Irina start to weep bitterly.


Please Review and Have a Blessed Day