Green Desert - Chapter 8.5.1 - Fírí

Raíngozé whipped out his gun and fired at the cop, deafening me. The old man yanked his gun out of his coat and aimed at Raíngozé. The gangster ran at me, trying to get behind the car. A flash of light from Sétıpímo’s gun. I dropped to my knees, holding onto the car’s bumper.

Deep pain in my chest. Heart attack. I was too young for a heart attack! The pain spread. My hands fell numb and slipped off the bumper. I looked down. My white tshirt. A dark red blob between my breasts. A wet hole in the center. The gravel hit my back, slammed my head. I’d been shot. I couldn’t feel my legs, my arms. My eyes closed. Red all around. Pain fading away, except the back of my head. Was I going to live? No pain is a good thing, right?

The red faded to black.

Eternal blackness. Everything faded away, even the pain at the back of my head. I floated in a void. Sleep. Just sleep.

And so I did.

A hand shook my shoulder and I jerked awake. Gray daylight, diffuse. A dirt-faced teenage girl crouched over me. Her eyes lit up and she leaned back.

I pushed myself upright. A hillside covered in low bushes. Dark trees nearby. Overcast skies. The hill disappeared into the haze in all directions, just a continuous slope. I looked at my chest. No gunshot wound. No blood. Just my burgundy sweatshirt. And jeans. And two shoes. I wiggled my toes. I was completely healed. Had Vata saved me again? I focused on the girl, who sat patiently studying me. “Where am I?”

She smiled apologetically, her blue eyes sparkling. “The afterlife.”