Chapter 3 - Meeting at the Grave

“Hellooooo?” I asked again, standing in front of the floating fire. But the fire remained silent despite my sudden disturbance.

I raised an eyebrow. Why is it not responding?

But it was speaking at the front of the grave earlier…

I tried calling it again, but it didn’t respond. “Did I make a mistake…” I whispered, still not getting a response. Not until—

“W-what are you?” the fire responded.

“!!!” Startled, I took a step back. “No, I’m nothing suspicious.” I said.

The fire started shaking suddenly. “W-why?” it said, its voice shaky.

“Why?” I tilted my head in confusion. “I don’t mean to startle you. I just approached you to ask for something.”

“…” the fire remained silent.

It became quiet again…

I looked at the fire that was floating in front of me. It was an unusual thing to see, something you wouldn’t even imagine seeing in your whole life. It looked like a fireball, something you would see in shows. But the thing is, it didn’t feel hot even though I was in front of it, which is a bit unusual.

After a few seconds, there was still no response from the fire so I decided to break the silence, “I was actually wondering… Do you mind if I ask a question?” I asked, still curious about its existence.

But even so, the fire remained silent for another few seconds. If there’s something I noticed about it, it was trembling—not in the way that the fire flickers, but rather as if the body itself was shaking.

I took a deep breath, going in for another question despite getting ignored. “I was actually wondering… Are you really a floating ball of fire?”

“Huh!?” the fire exclaimed, “W-what are you talking about?”

“You are a floating ball of fire right?” I continued.

“A floating ball of fire? I don’t know what you’re t-talking about!”

Is it not aware that it was a fire or what? What’s happening?

“Please calm down…” I raised my hands trying to calm the situation.

“H-how can I calm down? You’re talking n-nonsense!” the fire said as it moved back slightly.

Huh… I was just asking though? I thought in my mind, but I couldn’t say that to the fire. Still, I stared at the trembling floating ball of fire in front of me which made me more confused.

I don’t get it. What is it scared about? It’s not like I’m doing something to it.

In my last push of trying to calm down the fire, I raised my hands again and shook my head. “Please calm down… I am not going to do anything. I was just asking because I saw you in front of the grave.” I paused and took a deep breath, “The thing is, I can see you floating away from a far earlier so I decided to hide.” I explained and scratched my head.

I smiled, finding its existence intriguing. “I was actually surprised to see a floating ball of fire in the cemetery. I thought I was seeing some spirit or something.” I continued.

“I’m a human!!!” the fire shouted. “I don’t get what you’re talking about!”

“A… human? Huh?” I asked in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense. I can see you fine, and you’re a floating fire.”

“I’m not! B-besides what are you doing in h-here?”

“You’re not? Then you’re a human?” I chuckled. “I might be hearing you wrong.”

“H-how can you laugh… That doesn’t make any sense…”

I blinked. “What’s wrong with my laugh? I’m a human, of course I can laugh.”

“A human!?” the fire shouted. “I-I hope you’re kidding right now.”

“Uh…” I shrugged. “I am not kidding. If there is something that doesn’t make sense to me is that you’re a floating fire… How come you’re a floating fire?”

“You’re the one who doesn’t make any sense. Why… You’re a skeleton… How can you stand and talk like it’s nothing…” the fire muttered as it slowly moved backward. “Don’t move. Don’t you dare move.” it continued, as if it was threatening me.

“A skeleton? Now you’re not making any sense.”

“I said don’t move!” the fire shouted. “Don’t do anything else…”

“Uh…” I blinked, confused as to why it shouted all of a sudden.

What’s wrong with it?

And in a matter of a second, the fire suddenly—SPRINT!

“WAHHHHHHHHHH!!!” the fire floated away at an incredible speed, screaming as it floated away.

“Hey wait!!!” I shouted, trying to reach for it but I was too slow. “What… what was that about?” I muttered in confusion.

The fire flew away within seconds, leaving behind my unanswered questions.

“That was fast… But I wonder why that ball of fire could even talk? Kind of reminds me of the spirits, is that how spirits are supposed to look like?” I pondered.

I mean… a floating ball of fire who is talking in the cemetery? That’s a spirit for sure, there’s no way that it’s not a spirit.

But why did it run away? It’s not like I did something to it.

Well, who knows…

I looked at my hands. “A skeleton huh… I don’t see any reason for that fire to tell me I’m a skeleton. But…” I muttered as I looked from a distance. “I wonder what that thing is… A floating fire, and it’s talking on top of that.”

If this is really a dream, then I think some things are meant to be unexplainable.

I chuckled, fascinated at what I had just seen since it was the first time I encountered such a thing in my life, even in a dream. Not only that it was rare, but it was also an odd encounter to have.

“Now, what to do…” I turned my head behind me, seeing the gravestone where I was sleeping. “The fire also visited this one right?”

I approached the same gravestone, curious about why I was here and why the fire visited it. I crouched down, since the text was a bit hard to read. “Hm, let me see…” I leaned closer to read the text clearly. “Rest in Peace, Shade Graves… huh?”

I frowned at what I’d read. “Am I reading this correctly? Or is this man has the same name as me?”

I continued reading the epitaph on the gravestone. “Born on November 01 2009 and Died on November 07 2024…”

I froze as I finished reading the text, realizing that we only not had the same name, we also had the same birth date.

“Really…” I whispered. I couldn’t see my face, but I knew how ugly my expression was right now. My jaw dropped in surprise. No. No… No…..

Did I somehow die?

I looked back at the grave, my hands trembled as I tried to reach for it. I touched my grave, feeling lost.

Why do I have a grave in here?

My hands clenched into fists, and my eyes blurred for a moment, unsure of what I’m supposed to feel.

“I DON’T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT DYING!!!” I shouted with all of my might.