Without Having Each Other

Chantal is a dynamic young woman, a humanist, concerned about others and very determined. Her life will take a turn when the person she appreciates most tells her what her life’s purpose is.

She will have to make a decision, whether to continue in this life or give up; in either case, loving that person she longs for so much won’t be within her possibilities; that’s why in this life she’ll have to act differently… so the result is different; otherwise, she’ll have to learn to live without him forever.

There she was, always helpful, thinking of others. At Christmas time, Chantal always organized gatherings where she sold food or collected used clothes to get money and help those most in need. It was a way to feel good about society; with that she brought a little happiness to the less fortunate. A family tradition she’d kept since she could remember, and when her parents died, she decided to continue it.

“It would be a great help if I did this with someone else. Where is my friend who always helps me?” —she sighed, gathering her long chestnut hair. It was impossible not to be stunned looking at her: her thick eyebrows, a bit darker than her hair, eyes of a blue between dark and light, prominent pink cheekbones, fleshy lips almost always painted a light pink, and teeth not very perfect, but white and well cared for. A young woman of about twenty-six, not very athletic, but thinner than the rest; at this time everyone neglected their figure to eat and spend the night drinking. The happiest time of the year, no one doubted that.

“I think you need me” —a man answered her, smiling, and Chantal jumped, because she hadn’t heard him approach.

“Ernesto! How happy I am to see you here! What joy!” —her words were always an incentive for him; he enjoyed the sound of her voice, the calm she radiated, the woman she was. Seeing her had become a necessity, and more and more, it was hard for him to spend so much time without having her near.

“Long time no see, I hope I haven’t arrived late” —the smile was wide. Chantal always enjoyed his presence and his rich smell of cinnamon and honey; she didn’t understand how a dark-skinned man, so manly, with that somewhat long black mane and intense dark brown eyes, didn’t wear cologne, and in the end gave off that edible smell. Many times she had to tell herself he wasn’t food.

She shook her head, smiling, looking at the floor. He bewildered her; in fact, she’d been longing to see him for two days. She always saw him on December sixteenth, when she started collecting clothes, since five days later she held the bazaar to sell food and deliver all the money and clothes to the shelter near her house.

“To help me today… Yes, you’re late! Come on, let’s start folding and sorting all these clothes; later we’ll have time to talk. We have to go out in the car to look for more; this time you arrived two days late. Are you leaving two days later?”

The question caught him off guard; he didn’t know what to answer. She had never been so direct, on that topic.

“If you want me to stay a little longer, I’ll do my best.” —Ernesto smiled at her, parting his fleshy lips and showing his perfect teeth. The man was like something out of a magazine.

No matter how much Chantal had always hated the model prototypes all the girls drooled over, since she always said beauty faded with time, that she preferred sensitive men with some brains, Ernesto was the exception to the rule; she’d been seeing him for fifteen long years around these dates; he always helped her, asking nothing in return, and to her amazement he always seemed to have the same beautiful, sensual appearance. On the contrary, he seemed to grow more handsome as the years passed. When she was between fourteen and eighteen, she felt ashamed of herself for drooling over a man much older than her. Between nineteen and twenty-five she had a boyfriend who, between habit and wanting to forget her eternal love, endured endless mistreatment and depressing situations. Now, at twenty-six, she was alone, but she wanted to finally try it with her friend.

“Ok, we’ll talk later, we have a lot to do.”

As always, the day was long; they visited many houses; people were kind, but sometimes they didn’t even flinch when told it was to help others. Chantal felt great anger seeing how people could be so mean and insensitive to others’ needs.

“Change that face, you’ll get wrinkles if you keep that frown.” —the teasing tone made her let out a smile.

“It outrages me to see how they are; they only care about themselves, even though look!” —Chantal pointed at a big house; from above you could see those who lived there had a lot of money— “they said they had nothing to give; that was a big, disgusting lie.”

“Later we’ll find humbler people, and I’m sure they will have something to give; that’s what matters.”

Chantal nodded and put two more bags of clothes in the car.

“I don’t think anything else fits” —she shrugged her shoulders, complaining about people who didn’t give simply because they didn’t look or take five minutes, but anyone could complain about her for always wanting to give more.

“It’s time to go to your house to organize all this. Although I’m hungry, can we go eat first? My treat” —Ernesto took her hand without realizing, without thinking, and managed to see how his friend blushed. At that, he moved away and walked toward the passenger seat.

Chantal felt time stop; she didn’t know what to do. For several years she’d wanted that, but now that it was happening, there she was, motionless, petrified, confused.

“Hey, you’re going to grow roots standing there” —Ernesto called; he didn’t need to see her face to know she was smiling. That made her react, so she walked to the car, a white 2013 Aveo. She loved that color.

“What was that approach?” —Chantal wasn’t one of those women who evaded events; once she made a decision, she’d decided to face what she felt for her friend and would follow through with the plan; besides, she felt it wasn’t the first time he’d gotten so close to her. The feeling was strange, because it was the first time that happened.

“Sorry if I disrespected you, that wasn’t my intention.” —Ernesto didn’t want to make the situation worse; what he’d just done was unheard of; he shouldn’t get so close to her, and he was overstepping.

“I didn’t say it for that reason; actually, I liked it.”

*****

Chantal felt quite strange, because her friend didn’t say a word. She, uncomfortable, preferred to keep silent too. They arrived at the pizzeria near her place of residence. Whenever Ernesto came to her city, he rented the house diagonally across from hers. So, from there, they’d go to her garage to organize the clothes; then he could walk home, no problem.

“Double cheese with corn as always?”

He just nodded, as if he couldn’t speak.

“Hey, stop being rude. Can you at least answer? And relax, I’m sure I don’t have leprosy, you won’t catch anything.”

Ernesto needed pencil and paper, because at that moment he couldn’t speak, or she’d realize where he was, and that was the last thing he wanted. He needed to make her ask to be with him, and if he didn’t manage it in the next few minutes, most likely he wouldn’t be able to see her for many years.

In response, he got out of the car, closed the door behind him, and walked to where she was still sitting, expectant, puzzled by what he was doing. Ernesto opened the door and pulled Chantal out by the arm. She didn’t resist. She just let herself be led.

He approached her gently, but without wasting time, those precious seconds the young man didn’t have to spare. He looked into her eyes and couldn’t help losing himself in them, as he used to do every time he had her near. This time it was very easy for him to perceive her perfume, a blend of orange blossom, peach, sugar cane and pepper. After caressing her cheek and sighing, he kissed her very gently. For years he’d imagined it, over and over, but his shyness, the conditions he was in, and the simple fact that he wasn’t allowed to do anything like that had held him back from acting. The kiss seemed to last an eternity; at that moment she already had one hand on his waist and another on his heart; she hadn’t changed, she was still the same as always.

Two seconds later, countless images of them together started passing through Chantal’s mind, in different eras, with different clothes, in many places, and he kissed her the same way, with the same passion; and she felt the same desire, the same feeling; it was as if something inside her had awakened, and not only that memory she had no idea existed.

When they parted, she had a huge smile on her face, and her eyes shone with happiness. She couldn’t help sighing and letting out a silly smile; by then she was blushing, but at least he’d kissed her and she hadn’t had to take the initiative. Now she knew many things, although she didn’t understand anything… but she felt happy.

“I think it’s time for you and me to get out of here” —a guy who seemed to appear out of nowhere spoke to Ernesto with an angry face, holding him by the arm.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you doing? Don’t take him away! I need him here.”

The words were like music to his ears; she’d said the right words. And that’s why he could stay with her.

“Friend, I’m sorry, you heard the girl, she needs me to stay with her.” —Ernesto felt satisfied; that bought him a little more time.

The very tall man, one meter ninety, long hair, brown eyes, very thick eyebrows and a very manly face, looked at him angrily, although when he focused on her, he smiled at her and even wanted to touch her face, but Ernesto slapped his hand away.

“Hey! She’s mine, you know that well” —he scolded; in response the man pushed him with an annoyed face, then turned his back and walked away from them without saying a single word.

“What was that? What happened? Why did you talk like that?”

“You’ll know in due time; thank you for telling him you needed me with you, otherwise I’d have had to go with him.”

“I still don’t understand, and the more you explain, the less I understand. Start by telling me what’s wrong with you? Who was that guy? Because I noticed he appeared out of nowhere; I’m scatterbrained, but not stupid. Explain to me, I have all night for you… then, after you tell me everything in full detail, I’m going to tell you something I’m still trying to reason out.”

Chantal was absorbed by everything she’d seen; she felt all sorts of things inside her, but things didn’t add up. There was a void she didn’t understand.

“Did you remember something?” —his face was full of emotion and happiness.

“Look, Ernesto, explain it to me; we’ll talk about what I think later.”

He couldn’t resist; he had to kiss her again. And she fell once more into his intense caress; the memories came flooding back, although this time she saw herself running and being murdered by a man whose face she couldn’t see. From the shock and fright, she took two abrupt steps back and pushed her companion away, screaming in terror; she saw it all so real. The people passing by stared at her strangely.

“My love, yes, I know, I have to explain it to you, please don’t go.”

“What are you? No, wait… What are we? I saw myself die, my God… someone was murdering me! Why is this happening to me? What’s wrong with me?”

“Trust me, please, don’t be scared, I won’t kiss you again; I don’t want you to remember anything unpleasant.”

“You should have started with that…” —Chantal walked to the car; she needed to sit down, her legs weren’t responding. Everything in her head had been like a movie— “You have five minutes to tell me what’s going on? If not, you’ll be the last person I’ll want near me” —she felt a pang of pain in her chest; they sounded more realistic in her head, but as she said those words, a sadness invaded her.

My God, what’s wrong with me? —she thought, distressed.

“Don’t say that to me, please, and not out loud either; you won’t like them taking me away and never hearing from me again.”

“Uh-huh, I understand. I’m waiting for you, explain it to me.”

“I’m an elf who can only materialize at Christmas time; that’s why we only see each other on these dates.”

“The concept of elf is quite different in my mind; I pictured them a meter and a half shorter, and somewhat ugly and unkempt.”

“No, we’re not like that; in fact, our appearance changes, depending on whom we wish to help; it’s normal for us to become the ideal of the other living being, with the intention of being pleasing to the eye and so there are fewer chances of rejection.”

“Ok, so you’re my ideal?” —she teased him, looking him up and down, since he was standing beside her.

“I’m very intelligent; consider the rest my Christmas gift to your eyes.”

“Ohhh, and you’re funny too; yes, you’re right, you are, go on.”

“We’ve loved each other for centuries, it’s just that we have a small problem.”

“For centuries? I’m only twenty-six years old, what are you talking about? That’s impossible.”

“It’s not; you’re an elf just like me, it’s just that you decided many years ago to be human, and I taught you how to do it, a practice forbidden for a long time in our race; that’s why you’re the way you are, compassionate, helping others, kind, trusting, and a defender of the rights of those most in need; that’s how we are; not all humans are like you. Very few are, and they were elves at first, until they decided to be human; once they die, they reincarnate and will keep doing so, until they manage to break the chains that bind them to this world.”

“If that’s true, you’re a reincarnated one too.”

“No, I’m just a materialized elf. You’re not; you’re a reincarnated one, didn’t you hear what I told you before?”

“I’m just verifying; it’s too much information. Now explain to me, what binds me to this world? Which, by the way, is quite unpleasant, although it has certain beautiful things I love to enjoy.”

“That’s why you wanted to be human, to feel; there are certain things not allowed to us as elves; humans are the race with the most privileges that exists, despite all their misfortunes.”

“I understand, I wanted to be human to feel different things; I’m not going to refute you or argue with you; that seems like something decided by me.”

“It’s that you’re the version in spirit or essence closest to your first self; you’re the most similar to what you were before deciding to reincarnate; that’s why I’m here, that’s why I visit you since you were a girl, that’s why I kissed you.”

“Let’s change the subject, to what interests me; this is getting a bit embarrassing… tell me… what binds me? Why did I feel all that when I kissed you? Why did I see all that? They seemed like memories.”

“Our closeness always triggers those memories in you; if I hadn’t kissed you, you would have dreamed them after my contact, but having such an intimate closeness, the memories hit you all at once. Although I have to admit this time you’ve taken it more calmly.”

“This time?”

“Yes, we’ve had this conversation several times. The first times, you never believed it; other times you went crazy; some times you ran away and even had accidents; other times you were married and even got restraining orders against me… the truth is, this is the second time you’ve acted so understandingly, and without so much fuss… you’re my Caris, the closest thing to her.”

“Caris?” —Chantal’s marked frown was impossible to hide.

“Yes, that was your real name, your elf name.”

“I understand, and now… what should we do, why do I feel this calm? Why do you tell me all this and I don’t feel like I’m going crazy? Why do I sense you have little time left with me?”

Ernesto’s smile was huge, and he touched her cheek in a kind gesture.

“It’s just that that’s the truth; I can see you in every life you have; as soon as you’re born and I sense where you are, I can go to you and watch you, help you, guide you, until the moment comes to tell you the truth… what happens is that once I touch you, I have to leave; I can’t, it’s our curse; I was condemned to that when I told you how to be human… you would live forever doing what you wanted… being a mortal, and I would exist forever without having you, because I don’t live; this is the closest thing to being dead.”

The words hurt Chantal; she couldn’t imagine that eternal agony; if she felt bad for not having him, and she’d only been at it for years, he must be a thousand times worse.

“Is that why, on several occasions, I approached you and you moved away?”

“That’s why I wore long clothes and gloves, not only because of the cold; and you kept your distance between us.”

“If I wanted to keep seeing you, there couldn’t be physical contact.”

“There must be a way to counteract that.”

The words filled Ernesto’s heart. She had never said anything like that, in any of those conversations.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t you want to?”

“It’s what I’ve wanted for many of your earthly lives; I miss you too much, it’s just that I never imagined that…”

She interrupted him and got out of the car to stand in front of him.

“I’m in love with you, since I was a teenager; you don’t know how many times I imagined stories where we could be together, the times I wished December would come quickly so I could see you… how I suffered seeing you didn’t fight for me even though you knew I was doing badly with my ex-boyfriend; but now I understand everything.”

“I’m sorry, I simply couldn’t, I mean, I can’t get close to you… the more I do, the more I call him.”

“I really want to say: I need you.”

“It’s just that that’s the only thing you must say when they come looking for me; you must say you need me… that you want to be with me; humans are given everything they ask for, even more so if they always act well.”

“It’s logical; if it’s that simple, then, is that the only thing I must say for us to stay together?”

“Only for the moment; when these dates end I’ll have to go, and the reality is that we may not see each other again in this life of yours.”

“It can’t be” —Chantal’s heart seemed to burn; it hurt her; that was truly inconceivable for her—. “Tell me, what can we do? I’ve already lost you many times and I feel aware; I want you with me; I don’t want this anymore; I only want to stay by your side.”

“As much as we want it, it won’t be possible; he’s already coming for me and we’re going to have to decide, like the last time” —Chantal hugged him, and felt afraid of what she was going to hear—. “The last time you faced the one who collects our debt, the one who always separates us, and you ended up dead; he sentenced you to reincarnate ahead of time; you didn’t die naturally or in an accident; I don’t want that to happen again; I don’t want to see you die like that again.”

“I saw him a moment ago; he terrified me; the memories are vivid.”

“You don’t know how painful it is to see you die over and over, to see you grow old, happy in another man’s arms, or crying for the same reason. I’ve suffered in a thousand and one ways, but having your life snatched away, I never want to see that again.”

“That one who came looking for you, who was he?”

“My best friend; he’s the one assigned to come for me in the first instance, but if I free myself from him, a guardian will come, someone powerful who can take me out of here in the blink of an eye, or on the contrary end your life if you interfere.”

“Tell me if there’s a way to stop him.”

“There isn’t, I’m sorry.”

This time Chantal approached and kissed him, but with more intensity. But she’d done it with an intention… she’d know the answer… and she wouldn’t stop kissing him until she got it.

While they kissed gently, Ernesto caressed her; her neck, arms and waist were the softest thing he’d ever touched; the feeling of touching her skin was incomparable. At one point he complained about being in a somewhat public place, since they were in the pizzeria’s parking lot, but he didn’t want to make the situation worse. At least this time it had been different; he was content with the fact of having been able to feel her those minutes.

When they parted, a dark-skinned man, brown eyes, handsome, dressed very elegantly in dark tones, and almost two meters tall, was watching them.

“Thanks for the public show, but this boy and I have to go.”

“Wait, that’s not fair; I want to stay with him; after everything he told me, I insist, I want to stay with him.”

“That won’t be possible; you must stay here in this world and live your life; for his part, he must go with me; you’ll see each other later, you always do…”

Chantal interrupted him.

“I don’t care what you have to say; tell me once and for all, what is it that we both have to do, to stay together?”

“Good question; the times we met you only asked about what you had to do, but this time you speak in the plural; the situation has definitely improved, it’s different.”

“It’s time to go!” —Ernesto insisted.

“No, wait. I must answer the young lady.”

“Tell me what Ernesto and I must do; I want to know right this moment” —Chantal insisted, angry.

“The truth is, everything is very simple; the gentleman here, Arcel, must become human, and he knows how to do it. You, on the other hand, must have a baby; when that happens, and you die, you’ll be able to meet again on the other plane, that of course, with the condition that you love each other unconditionally when you meet. By the way, Arcel is his real name.”

“What? You mean I must become a mother and nothing else?” —Chantal saw it all as so simple. He could be the father of her child and that would settle it.

“Yes, but your friend here must become human… and that’s something he doesn’t want, at least not for the moment” —the man’s honesty shocked Chantal, and on the other hand bothered Ernesto.

“Don’t speak for me!” —Ernesto reproached him.

“Then why are you still like us? You should be human” —the man inquired with a reproachful tone.

The conversation seemed too unrealistic to Chantal; although she had been somewhat selfish in wanting to become human; but if she looked closely, Ernesto had entire lives watching her die, without having her, and still well aware of what he had to do to end that torment, he preferred not to do it; he chose to continue, just as it had always been.

“I don’t want to be human, it’s not fair; I love my condition, what I do, what I am” —Ernesto was honest, before the stranger’s half-smile.

“I can see that; I see clearly you only think of yourself” —the reproach was injected with psychological venom.

“Don’t blame me, Caris, you only thought of yourself when you wanted to be human. Am I now responsible for us not being together?”

“I don’t know! What’s more, I don’t remember exactly what happened at that moment, but I can assure you that, just from seeing you die once, I would have looked for a way to have you with me as before” —Chantal was very passionate; she was telling a great truth at that moment.

“Things aren’t as easy as you think” —Ernesto explained in his defense.

“Your friend is right about that” —the guardian intervened.

“What do you mean?” —Chantal had a jumble of feelings inside, a mix of annoyance, pain and indignation. She knew no one was obliged to feel or think like her, but this situation exceeded her limits, since Ernesto knew what to do and never did anything for both of them.

“If I become human, I wouldn’t remember what I came to do; maybe I’d never find you, and that was always my fear; that’s why I preferred to have you little by little, for minutes sometimes, but the important thing was knowing where you were, what you were doing; that was enough for me… I love you too much… taking on a human body would make me, just like you, a spirit without memory, and I’d live my life like most people, based on seeking money, not on loving and being happy… understand… there’s a possibility we’d be face to face and never recognize each other, or worse, live so far from each other that we’d never have the chance to love or be loved.”

“I think he explained it well to you; he’s right; he’s not as cowardly or insensitive as he seems; by the way, your time is up; say goodbye; you’ll see each other in another life; to a certain extent I’m kind of bored of having to come get you.”

Chantal understood Ernesto’s fear and agreed with him; she had to be empathetic; in any case, she was the one who had started all this, and they weren’t on equal footing.

Ernesto approached her and kissed her again. Between kisses he told her:

“When I leave, they’ll erase your memory, and you’ll never remember this day; this situation can’t change the course of things, that’s why they do it. I’m sorry, they must do this every time a human sees a guardian” —he pointed at the dark-skinned man— “it’s the third time they’ll do it to you; in two past lives we already had a conversation similar to this one; I know you won’t remember what I tell you, but you can be sure I’ll be watching you from afar; but during this life I’ll never be able to approach you again as what I am.”

Chantal began to sob.

“I’m in love with you; I’ll never forget that.”

“Don’t worry, you will remember that; they’ll only erase what happened between us… really, I’m sorry.”

Chantal kissed him again and through her tears told him:

“While I was kissing you, before that guardian arrived, I remembered that the only way to be human was to be born; stay with me, you can be born in me. I must be a mother, and the love between us must be sincere, but no one specified what kind of love; I’m sure I’d love a child very much.”

“You were always very smart, and I was a bit slow” —Ernesto praised her with a big smile on his face.

“Almost a century and it never occurred to you?”

“You never wanted to be a mother; in fact, you never were one.”

“No?”

“No, your life has mostly always been short; on the other hand, the circumstances of our encounters even caused misfortunes; the times you saw the guardian they erased your mind; other times you never wanted any; you are and will be a free spirit; you always did what you wanted, adding to that that being human is complicated… but you were never a mother… and right now, when they erase your mind, you may continue with your life plans and never decide to have a child.”

“I will have one, you’ll see; I just hope you’re not foolish and forget to do your part.”

“They’ll only erase your mind; I’ll act differently if the moment comes, I promise you.”

“I’ll act differently too, I promise you, my love” —Chantal approached to give him one last kiss.

“This conversation was very encouraging; I hope you both keep your word, because we’re leaving right now.”

The guardian took Chantal’s face and looked into her eyes. She felt calm at the contact, and then a deep sleep.

*****

Chantal did what she did every Christmas season: help those most in need. This time she’d missed her friend from those activities, Ernesto. It was a shame he hadn’t shown up this Christmas; they’d shared these dates together for years. And the story repeated itself for more than five years.

By then Chantal understood she wouldn’t see him again, and at almost thirty-two years old, it was time to start a family. Forgetting what she felt for Ernesto hadn’t been possible, and risking a relationship like the last one wasn’t a reasonable option for her. She really wanted to have a child; after all, she was already a professional, she had a job, a house with comforts. She didn’t want to stay alone forever; she felt that wasn’t right, and despite that, having another partner was inconceivable to her.

“I’ll have a baby and it will be born for Christmas” —she said to herself, looking in the mirror.

She planned everything; to give birth to a healthy, full-term baby around those dates, she had to get pregnant in March; luckily for her, she’d made the decision in the last days of January.

She made her calls, until she got an appointment for artificial insemination, and on the first try she got pregnant with two boys, a risk she’d taken, since with these procedures there was a very high percentage of getting pregnant with more than one baby.

Since she learned the news, the excitement never left her body; she was sure she was doing the right thing; carrying those two lives inside her was the most beautiful feeling in the universe; she felt fulfilled and happy with her life.

Being a woman alone, without family and with few friends, she scheduled a cesarean for the day she felt the pains; she also hired two nurses to help her with the care, while some aunts on her mother’s side came to visit her, because they lived in other states of the country.

It wasn’t hard for her to choose the children’s names; one would be called Arcel and the other Tarius; they were healthy, beautiful and very tender children. Being a mother was the most important thing that happened to her and the deepest, truest love she experienced in her long and fruitful life.

The life of the three of them was full of success, with the odd ups and downs, but love and respect never failed; the family tradition of helping others was maintained even after the younger of the children, Tarius, died of old age.

*****

“There are our beautiful children and grandchildren folding clothes to give to low-income children” —they were talking after the three of them had died and reunited on the astral plane.

“Our great-grandchildren, you mean!” —Caris intervened, hugging Arcel.

“Yes, my love, and you don’t know the immense joy I feel having you here with me.”

“I can say that, since I waited about forty years for you” —Caris retorted, kissing him on the cheek.

“In that I beat you, because I waited too many lives.”

“And let’s not even talk about what I had to wait, for you to look at me with that little face full of love” —Tarius, Arcel’s best friend, chimed in.

Caris learned that he was the one who always looked for Arcel, when he approached and had contact with her.

“Our love triangle on this plane or reality was very strange; I never even noticed you liked me; I only had eyes for Arcel; but on the earthly plane it was beautiful; those pure and sincere feelings one has for children are the most sincere thing humans have; that’s why I know I wasn’t wrong in wanting to experience all that.”

Tarius burst out laughing; he always hid his feelings, until Caris decided to be a mother; at that moment he told Arcel what he felt, and since she’d gotten pregnant with two, he also decided to be born. The soul enters the fetus’s body in the second week of gestation, so he had time to decide.

“Between brothers, it was almost the same; we strove for your attention, but thanks to divinity you showed no favoritism.”

“That’s right, and I think it went well for us.”

“Yes, we learned too much; that’s why any being decides to be born in those vessels called ‘humans’; the decision to be born, to learn and feel, is the strongest act one can make toward growth; it’s very scary because you arrive on that plane without memories and unprotected, but once you know what you want, everything is easier, more beautiful.”

“It took you several lives to realize that, didn’t it?” —Arcel smiled at her; it wasn’t a reproach.

“But the important thing is that in the end, we all absorbed new knowledge; we all helped each other, and that’s why we’re here, watching our loved ones be happy and helping others have a little happiness.”

THE END

“If you want things to go differently for you, you must act differently; but before that you must think differently, because everything you think and wish for always comes true”

“Inspired by existing theories of reincarnation, collective help, and that we are simply beings of light. We are not a body with a soul; we are a soul with a simple body; that is where the enormous difference lies.”