Determination

“Ah! Hylfa honey, I’m so glad I caught you in time.” Bron exclaimed, opening the front door of their home just as his wife was putting her coat on to leave. He gently took her gloved hand and gave several kisses to the back where the skin was exposed. Hylfa lovingly shook her head.

“Bronnie-baby, though it’s good to see you, it’s past dusk already. I’m expected at work soon.” She huffed softly, not making any move to let go.

“My beloved, may you spare me a few moments of your precious time?” He gripped her hand in both of his, pleading.

“I suppose I could, though I’d rather not do it here.”

“Of course love.”

The two headed into the living room of their small home. Although they were both Great beings, their house was humble and small. It didn’t take long to settle into the worn love seat. Bron heaved a great big sigh, rubbing at his eyebrows to stop a headache from forming.

“My love, I am plagued. The meetings with the Greater Beings are hopeless. They’re too busy yelling over one another to try and find a solution to the devastation. Is the end truly near? Is there nothing we can do?”

Hylfa took his hand, gripping it tightly. “Bronnie sweet, with all my love I tell you, is that truly all? You are not one of them, you are better, more attentive to the world and its reality. There is no place for you among the Council. You should do what you always do when you’re faced with an insurmountable task, make a bug about it.”

She glanced at the time with a frown. “My, I’m going to be late. I’ll see you at dawn.”

Bron got to work within seconds of the front door closing, racing through the house towards the backdoor and into his workshop. Blueprints, models, and stacks of clay littered every surface of the room. The remains of his last project meant little to him as he pushed everything aside and spread out a new parchment of paper. He was going to make a bug about it.

Setting up the shell was the easy part. He’d done that a million times by now. This stuff came to him like second nature. Bron needed a resilient bug, one that could unite their world and have the skills to overcome the uncertainties the world was facing.

May it be as strong as a Hercules beetle to lift over a thousand times its own weight.
May it be as beautiful as the shiniest of June beetles.
May its shell hold off all enemies, tough as an Ironclad beetle.
May its mandibles bite the heads of any foe.
May its loyalty rival the bees to their queen.
May its teeth bring unworldly pain as a a Bullet ant bite.
May it bring peace to their world.

Hylfa came back from work to an empty house, though she knew exactly where she’d find her husband even in the early hours of the morning. He was exactly where she thought he’d be, hunched over his workbench fiddling with yet another model.

“Beloved?” He croaked, “back so soon already?”

She didn’t say a word, forcefully dragging him away from the army of clay bug figures he’d surrounded himself with, careful not to stumble over any of them.
“Oh, dear me- I haven’t even considered how to bring my bug to life! I can’t make a soul, Hylfa. Not without proper protocols.”

“That’s a silly oversight. Now, to bed with you” She directed him up the stairs, pushing him forward with a hand at the small of his waist even as he threatened to trip.
“But dear, I can’t submit it to the Being of Creatures’s court without a direct order from them. In fact, I shouldn’t be doing this at all.”

Hylfa chucked Bron into bed, diving in beside him, a darkness twinkling in her eyes. “Darling, you and I both know they wouldn’t have a clue.”

“But I need them to see it and approve it for it to gain life.”

“Actually, that is not the case.”

Bron sat up on his elbows to take a good look at his wife’s face. “... Honey? What could you possibly mean?”

Hylfa mirrored him, a mischievous smile easing the exhaustion from her face. “As I was heading to work, it plagued me as it did you. What could I do to help? As usual, I should do what I do best: Find a soul.”

It took a few seconds for Bron to catch up, his face going through various expressions before landing on a wide smile. “Hylfa, that’s absolutely wonderful! We must-”

Hylfa grabbed his elbow out from under him, causing Bron to crash back into the bed and reaching out her arm to pin him down. “Tomorrow. It’s been a long night, and you look dead on your feet.”

“Thank the luckiest of stars that you’ve allowed me the chance to be yours. How could I ever love you more than I already do?”

Hylfa and Bron soon fell asleep, excited for what the future brings.

***

Saif woke up, an unnerving anxiety clinging to him as he forced open his heavy eyes. He was in a vast expanse of nothing. It was deathly quiet, with only a faint murmur off in the distance that he couldn’t make out to keep him company. The world was dark, and various shades of haunted grey.

Memories of his life came flooding back to him, memories he thought he’d forgotten long ago.

He was nine years old, trying to stop his friend from getting pushed down the top of the slide by some bullies only to get pushed in his place, breaking his leg in the process.

He was nineteen, trying to do well in university, and getting kicked out for not doing well enough.

He was thirteen, trying to explain to his dad why he shouldn’t smoke indoors with the heaters on, and getting slapped across the face so hard, his cheeks stayed bruised for days after.

He was sixteen, trying to find a job to help out with the bills, and getting investigated by social services and tearing his family’s reputation to shreds.

He was six, trying to make breakfast for his sick mother and slicing off his finger in the process, spending time in the emergency room with doctors prying into why he had access to a knife in the first place.

He was twenty three, an anti-social mess living alone on the opposite side of the country after too many failures, dying because he couldn’t handle small talk.

How pathetic could he be? The memories of these moments and more flashed in front of him. How could one person fail so much at trying to be good?

And then the memories faded, leaving a sourness behind. Saif succumbed to it, hunching in on himself, not surprised to see he had no body to hold him upright. He was nothing.

But to his surprise, a warmth flowed through him. He looked up, memories of the good times were there. The few times he did right, when he pulled through. He stood up to bullies, he meant well, he tried to help so often, and when he did help someone cross the road, he did it successfully.
And back to nothing. These plains were truly plain. Nothing and no one around

That's how Saif spent his afterlife. Haunted by his failures, consoled by his success, over and over and over again with nothingness in between.

That is, until she arrived.

He didn’t see her at first, her tall humanoid figure blended into the surroundings too much for him to have noticed. Everything about her happened in shades of grey: her long, pin-straight hair was grey, her gloves and coat were grey, her skin was also grey. As she got closer, Saif could see her eyes were grey too, but for a moment, they twinkled gold, and her head snapped in his direction. She smiled with too many pointed teeth.

“You’re new here, huh? Not many newbies around.”

She circled him, seizing him up like a lion would a gazelle. “Hmm, more balanced than the last few… I see, I see… you should do just fine, but then again…” she murmured. “Although, I don’t know… it’s my last shot at this. The Fields of Asphodel are starting to thin out a bit too much. Maybe not you, then.”

She began to leave, but an unknown vigor rushed through Saif’s ghostly form. He grabbed her arm, staring her down with unbridled determination. She took a step back, surprise turning to another wicked grin.

“I see how it is, ghost. I wonder why you’re down here with that sort of look on your face, but I can't pass up on you now. Let’s go, Bronnie’s waiting.”