//------------------------------// // Fighting what can't be seen // Story: She came into my life like "ZOT!" // by Deleth //------------------------------// I stood in the middle of massive blue nothing, if I were standing at all. I wasn’t quite sure what was happening to be honest. What I did know that I was standing or laying in a massive nothing full of something. Something softish. I flexed my fingers to and fro discovering that the something I was laying on that may have been nothing was in fact something. If felt soft and bladey. Yes, bladey. Like it was soft but had sharp parts at the same time. Which would explain why it was grass. I reveled in the fact that I knew I was flat on my back on grass as my other senses came to me and realized that the massive blueness I was looking at was in fact the sky, filled with one or two puffy white clouds. My ears were filled with a loud metallic clacking sound for a moment causing me to sit up and find the source. Turns out the grass I was sitting on was part of a small meadow which was bordered on one end by a thick forest, and wall of smallish grey boulders on the other, some of which occasionally falling down the pile causing the noise I heard earlier. Flowers of every color appeared in patches mostly near the small babbling brook that cut through the meadow, disappearing into the forest and rocks respectively. Pushing myself to my feet I surveyed my surroundings once more, and decided to head towards the spot where the brook went into the forest, simply because it felt like the right thing to do. I was careful to not step on any of the flowers , in fact I was trying to be careful not to disturb anything in this place since it felt so…peaceful. Honeybees buzzed between flowers and trees, I discovered the brook had a few small, silvery fish in it once I got close enough. The clouds were white and puffy, not threatening rain or other inclement weather. Even the sun which shone high above in the sky merely warmed my face, not making it hot. It was as if everything here was perfect, everything was exactly as it should be in its own natural order. No deviation, no corruption, nothing out of place. And then there was me. Quite unexpectedly, I felt as though I was the only thing in this peaceful meadow that should not be there. I was human after all and humans were far from perfect and in spite of their best efforts managed to somehow corrupt whatever they came in contact with in some small way. My wife and child were killed by a drunk driver, call me cynical. Regardless, my own cynicism it didn’t change the fact that I felt shouldn’t be here, and it was with a quickened pace that I strode to the point where the forest and brook met only to find that the trees had grown so close together and the brush so thick, there was no way I would be able to pass through. It was as if the grass simply decided to be trees and became so, remaining as close together as they were when they were little green blades. I noticed the water in the brook managed to find passage through this thick forest through a small tunnel created by its presence and after edging to the waterline I began to lean over and have a peek. Perhaps this would provide a way out of here. “You don’t want to go that way.” A small feminine voice said and I jumped out of my skin. Fortunately, I landed back in it. Whipping around I beheld a small girl dressed in a shimmering white summer dress. Her golden brown hair fell messily about her big brown eyes, and a wide, charming smile that was too familiar. My eyes suddenly became allergic to all the flowers, my throat tightened but I smiled all the same as she giggled. I presume the sight of her father starting to cry was quite amusing to the child. My child. “Hi, Olivia.” I said shakily. “Hi Daddy!” She squealed happily and jumped into my waiting arms. I held her then. I held and embraced my baby girl for the first time in what seemed like an eternity and my heart couldn’t contain the joy. My eyes stung and blurred with tears but I dared not take my arms away from hugging my little girl and in that moment, that single solitary moment, I was happy. “I’ve missed you so much.” I breathed and a moment later my brain began to kick it. “What…What are you doing here? Where am I?” I asked. Olivia simply smiled at me and held out a hand. “Walk with me.” She said and without hesitation I took her hand and my daughter led me away from the dark tunnel of brush, along the brook. “So what have you been doing while I’ve been away? Do you still play with your friends?” She asked as we walked. “No, I haven’t been playing with the neighbor friends since…since you left.” I was chuckling when I started but frowning when I stopped. “What have you been doing?” I asked, hoping to change the subject away from what I was dealing with. But Olivia simply smiled at me with eyes that sparkled with wisdom that no normal 8 year old would have. “The woman you are staying with is very nice, you know, not at all like she’s been acting lately.” She said and I blinked in surprise. “Oh? And how do you know that?” I asked only to once again be met with a knowing smile, and my head began to hurt a little. But as I looked at my little girl she simply grinned as the world around me began to dissolve into little whirlpools of every color until… “Hold still, Asher! You need to drink this!” Rarity pleaded. I was vaguely aware that I was in my room but it was hard to tell with all the shaking. Oh wait, that was me shaking. Why was I shaking so badly? “Asher, please!” Rarity was crying now, I could tell because some of the wet tears landed on my face, but my vision refused to focus on what was going on around me. “Oh, confound it!” She yelled in frustration and suddenly my entire vision had turned a light bluish hue, and the world became much less shaky and a small phial with a thick looking red liquid inside. All at once the phial was upended and forcibly inserted into my mouth. I swallowed on reflex and whatever was in that phial burned on the way down my esophagus, coating it with whatever was in it. I coughed as Rarity’s force field released me but the liquid continued its downward trajectory in spite of my body’s best efforts to stop it. I locked eyes with Rarity and could see the fear and concern reflected in her eyes. “Stay with me, Asher…everything will be okay.” She said, not sounding too sure of herself. Her light blues were rimmed with tears and as the world began to go dark again the last thing I could keep in focus were those worried, blue eyes. I was standing in the meadow again right next to the brook and Olivia, right where I had left off. “See? She’s trying to save you.” She said simply. “Save me from what?” I asked but once again Olivia simply smiled and took my hand again. “Walk with me.” She said, and I did. She led me across the beautiful meadow then, away from the brook and more towards the wall of boulders some of which would still fall, filling the meadow with a now familiar metallic clacking noise. As we walked a pair of bluebirds flew into our view, chasing each other in a graceful, if somewhat romantic dance before flying out of sight again. It struck my strange that it was only just now that my wife entered my thoughts while I was here – wherever here was – walking with my deceased child. “Mommy is okay, you know. She’s happy here. And me too!” Olivia said with a giggle, seeming to know what I was thinking. “What?” I blinked. “Mommy, she’s happy!” Olivia repeated as we walked. Meanwhile my brain finally kicked into gear – again – and I stopped walking suddenly, with Olivia continuing onwards a few paces before turning to face me. I knew that wherever I was or whatever was going on with me was something that I was not privy too. It almost felt like I was getting a sneak peak of the afterlife but with the knowledge that I could not stay here, for now. “Sweetie…” I started but wondering if might be better that I say nothing. That I let the bliss continue with my own ignorance the prop that keeps it from falling. “Olivia, where are we? What is going on?” I asked. “We’re here.” She said simply, never faulting in her smile, “We are in Heaven, and your head at the same time, Daddy. You’re here so that you know that Mommy and I are okay. We’re happy, very, very happy.” I didn’t know what to say to that. She had been so cryptic with everything up to this point that I didn’t expect a direct answer. Of course, I’m me. I’m an extremely direct person to the point of rudeness at times so God, wherever he was, would certainly know that about me. If this were a little slice of heaven, which I thought it was. I had my daughter back after all. But then there was that feeling again, that sense that I didn’t belong here. That I was a foreign invader who was only given a pass to visit. “I’m going to have to leave you again, aren’t I?” I asked with a heavy heart. “It’s only for a little while.” Olivia said, “When you get back here some day it will be like you never left.” “I’m going to miss you.” I sighed. “We miss you too.” My daughter replied and ran the few steps it took to jump into my arms once more, “Remember, Mommy and I are happy, and be nice to that woman whose staying with you, she’s really stressed out too.” All round me it seemed time had stopped. There was no sound coming from the birds or the falling rocks any more, the babbling brook seemed to be paused in mid stream as the running water still appeared to be doing such, but the ripples and bends in the water were still. Even the trees were paused in mid breeze, their leaves stuck in whatever position they were in when everything stopped. In my heart, I knew it was time. I had to go back to the real world. “Asher.” I heard the familiar voice then, it almost sounded like my wife whom had passed and I looked around for her, but she wasn’t there. “Asher.” The voice was soft. Softer than a normal person would speak but it was familiar as well. I meant to ask Olivia if she heard it too but in this land that was suddenly motionless she was gone, save for a breeze against me that was steadily picking up steam. “Asher.” The breeze had turned into a roaring wind now, drowning out all the sound around me and as hard as I tried I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand on my feet. As I tumbled over I noticed there wasn’t even any ground to land on before… My eyes opened to the half light in my room, or rather, my ceiling. I knew it was my ceiling because in all the years I had lived on the farm I had come to memorize what the paint finish on the drywall looked like over my bed. Some things about me were still blurry until I had the sense enough to rub the sleep from my eyes, and it was only then that I noticed there were many different phials, beakers, and other assorted lab materials that had not been there when I woke up this morning. Last morning. The morning of the day after yesterday. What the heck time was it? Glancing at the digital clock on my nightstand I found another beaker full of a red vicious liquid that seemed familiar and had to slide it aside to find out that it was 2:48 AM. Glancing around the room again I saw that Rarity’s dragon fire vessel was on the far bookcase and almost empty save a tiny, bright green flame that was still slowly swirling about the glass. On the opposite dresser was a frying pan, but I could hardly comprehend why it would be there, so I let it go. My chest hurt and felt bruised and my arm felt weird for lack of a better word and a glance down was all it took to see the heavy gauze bandaging around my forearm, probably more than was needed but it was doing the job, I couldn’t see any blood so…eh. I blinked again and rolled to my left only to find something lumpy and warm in my way. Rolling in place I found that there was a woman beside me, laying on top of the blankets while I was underneath. She was asleep, her breath coming in slow, deep breaths. Her indigo hair was all askew with wavy strands that had fallen this way and that about her face. “Asher…” She said in her sleep and it clicked that it was her that had woken me from the world of…wherever I was. “Ra-re-roreh uuurp.” I burped and covered my mouth, glad she was asleep. “Rarity.” I said successfully and her eyes shot open. “Asher!” She squealed, “You’re awake!” Before I could answer I was enveloped by her arms as she hugged me tightly. “Don’t you ever, ever, do that to me again!” She commanded, never loosening the crushing pressure on my lungs. “I’ll try.” I choked out and with a squeak, Rarity let go so I could breathe again. “Did you catch the name on the truck that ran over me?” “Truck? No, it was a wolf, Asher.” She said, deadpanned. “That’s the – never mind.” I decided that with my sense of humor in tact I could proceed to other topics. “What happened?” I asked as rolled off the bed and retrieved a glass of water from somewhere in the room before I could ask for one. Heck, I didn’t even know I wanted a drink until the water hit my lips. “Well, after you – ehm – took care – of the rabid wolf, you collapsed. I couldn’t wake you, Asher and once I got you inside with a combination of carrying and my own magic you just wouldn’t wake up and then you – you –“ Rarity sat on the edge of the bed, her pale face creased with some sort of inner torment or pain. Good grief, how long was I unconscious? “There was so much blood, I think maybe an artery was damaged or something and I couldn’t stop the bleeding at first then you – you stopped breathing.” Rarity said shakily, and I raised my eyebrows. What was I supposed to say to that? Obviously I was breathing now – quick check, in, out, in, out, oxygen getting to blood, kay I’m good – and aside from my chest and my arm I felt relatively alright. All things considered. I looked up at Rarity to discover tears were coming from her delicate blue eyes. “Oh, Rarity.” I pulled her into another hug with my good arm, making sure her head didn’t land on whatever was bruised on my chest as she continued talking. “I didn’t know what to do!” She cried, “I tried chest compressions as best I could, I don’t know, your anatomy is so much different so I panicked and beat your chest with the frying pan.” Well that explains a couple things. “You started breathing then thank Celestia but you had lost a lot of blood, your breathing was still erratic, so I sent letters for help and Twilight sent me back all of this with instructions for a healing salve and potion. Oh Asher you’ve been unconscious for two days.” She was beginning to calm down now and sat back up. “Sorry about the mess.” She laughed a little and I strained to with her. So it turned out that not only did I help save Rarity’s life, but she saved mine as well. Funny how things like that work and in all honesty I didn’t care about the mess. Saving lives is a messy business. But there was other things on my mind as well and at this point seeing my daughter in wherever I was – I’ll just call it heaven for conveniences sake – seemed like a dream. A very lucid dream. One whose message of giving the indigo haired woman a chance stuck with me into the world of the living, and there was something that I needed to get off my chest. Correction, that I had promised her to get off my chest from the beginning. It was time to tell her about my wife and child. “Rarity.” I started quietly, “There’s something I’ve been promising to tell you about that I still haven’t, and I promised I would, it’s about my—” Gruooooooooooooooooooooorp! My stomach had growled in the middle of a fairly intense emotional moment and with nothing else to do I began to laugh, with Rarity joining in after a moment or two. “How about I help you out to the dining room and make you some eggs, then you can tell me all about it.” She smiled kindly. “Sounds like a plan.” I chuckled, and she helped me out of bed.