BEFORE I RETURN

"What did you say?" Lua asked with a worried expression on her face.

"You will die in a week," a tall woman replied.

“But... why are you telling me this? Are you an angel?” Lua asked.

The woman smiled ironically and turned her gaze to a scene from the past. It was the first time Lua had dreamed and knew was dreaming. Everything around her was diaphanous white. She was dressed in the pajamas she had fallen asleep in and already knew she would remember everything she was experiencing now. The woman was looking at the memory of the day Lua was born. Like a movie playing on TV, the memory could be seen in a floating bubble.

“Who are you? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ALL THIS?” she shouted in a desperate voice.

“It's time to give back what I gave you 14 years ago. You and your mother would both have died if I hadn't been there. But to show you how generous I am, consider it a gift that she can live. All I need is you.”

Lua couldn't say a word. Her eyes looked with amazement and fear at this woman who didn't seem human.

“Are you a ghost? Are you the ghost my dad was looking for?”

"A ghost, you say..." she added while her gaze was fixed on the memory that was playing in a loop.

“There has to be something! TALK TO ME! Am I going to die? WHY?! HOW!?” Lua's heart began to beat faster and new emotions began to overwhelm her.

“There is nothing to be done. Just accept the inevitable. And be grateful that I gave you advance notice! Now you have time to say goodbye to everyone.” The woman said all these things in such a bored tone that it seemed like she was rather talking about a long summer day, not somebody`s life.

“Who are you?” Lua said trying to hold it together. Her presence took her breath away. She was tall and athletic. Her eyes were cold and her words like knives.

"I am the reason you lived for 14 years on this stupid planet. And I am telling you to just accept it. There is nothing you can do. We all die at some point. Some sooner than others. A few people will mourn you for a few days and then ... it will be over." The woman raised her hand and made a gesture with her fingers as if something ephemeral had evaporated.

“Are you heartless or what? My family and friends...THEY LOVE ME, YOU KNOW!” Lua shouted.

“Yes..yes...I know." Her answers were short and devoid of any emotion. "But you have to understand that some lives are more important than others.” 

“What DO you mean by that?” she asked with a powerful pain in her throat. Lua wanted to attack her somehow, but she was afraid of her. She had taken a defensive position, waiting for a suitable moment.

“Of course you don't understand. Your little brain can't understand the universe. Humans are stuck on this planet and that's all they see and know. Nothing more. You can't understand because you're just a pawn. Humans still think they're alone in the universe. Well, the so-called aliens still think humans are stupid. But you were a good vessel for a while and I will remember your name as a present.”

“A vessel?”

“Yes, a vessel.”