“ You Were The Brightest . . . ”

'Why does it hurt?'

Everything scorched his skin.

'Is it death? Have I finally died?'

He thought it would've been more serene, like letting his body float on water. But everything burned, he guessed he deserved it deep down but he doesn't know exactly why. He could do nothing else but hear life around him, voices everywhere, talking everywhere. He couldn't hear a word they were saying, they were so distant but they knew they were there.

The voices talked and talked, they did for a long time and they didn't stop. Then he was alone with a single voice, it talked to him every day, so broken and soft. He would've loved to respond but he wasn't able to, he didn't know who this person was but he seemed lovely enough just by listening to him.

Lots of things seemed to have happened but he couldn't understand what was happening, there was fear, sadness, and hopelessness in these voices.

Were they in agony too?

The longer the time passed, he felt the scorching agony in his body less and less, and he could hear less and less.

There was more than one voice, circling them like vultures, he could hear the two sneaking from behind. He'd like to warn the voice but nothing came out of his own. Then there was nothing, had the voice been killed? He felt himself burn hotter as the vultures tried to take him away, he couldn't let them.

The lovely voice was alive. He felt a huge wash of relief. Those vultures didn't kill him but there was more than one voice now, and what seemed to be a crowd.

Why were they so happy?

That one voice who's been with him the whole time seemed scared and desperate.

If only I could help.

A few days passed by and they seemed to be alright now, it was more peaceful, no weapons clashing but it was still so loud. But the lovely voice was suspiciously quiet. Then he felt a sharp pang in his heart, an agonizing one. The feeling surged throughout his body like someone was pushing a knife into him. The scorch became furious at this and decided to punish him more. He wanted to scream but nothing came out.

Stop! Please stop! He tried to call out but was unable to. But like someone had heard his cries, the knife stopped and so did the burning.

It's been forever since he felt good, there was no scorching pain inside him now. He could stay like this forever, oh how he would have loved to stay in this way forever. And the lovely voice came back, it seemed like he was away this whole time, then who had he been with for the past few days? This certain voice didn't seem to like him at all, but he was still grateful for what she did.

After that, almost everything was quiet, only the bustling of the woman in the distance. He wondered when the voice would come back and get him for good. Each visit seemed different, but the same voice altogether. He sounded braver and more determined. Something had changed in him, he wondered what happened while he was away.

He was resting peacefully when another voice came in. Everything went quiet and all of a sudden, a sharp edge pierced the side of his chest, there was a sense of numbness within him and it was like nothing was possible for him now. He heard the crack of his heart echoing everywhere but he couldn't do a thing.

What is happening to me?

Then the familiar voice had taken him away to safety, he wanted to feel relieved but the numbness was still there. Thank goodness. But there was another voice, a quiet and stern one. There's a hidden tone within this person's voice that he found suspicious, he decided that he didn't like whoever this was and would rather have him away from the lovely voice.

The numbness disappeared and he felt a horrid sharp pain ripple throughout his body, followed by scorch. He felt his heart in a slit but couldn't do a thing.

Once again his peace was short-lived and gradually the numbness came back, but it wasn't from the sharp pain he had experienced. It was slowly overtaking him as the days passed by and the voices became more distant, he couldn't chase them no matter how hard he tried.

He felt sleepy and his whole being was begging him to just drift off. All he had to do was close his eyes and drift off. After that, he would finally be free from this torment of existence. But what if he would never hear the voice again?

The voice sobbed, he wished he could reach out and comfort him.

Then slowly he felt different, it wasn't the scorch in his body anymore. There was no scorch.

Everything felt cold like a candle doused in water, and as he breathe out,

his flames had finally gone to rest.