I narrow my eyes with some discomfort after a while. My footsteps on the grass are calm and soft, barely raising the slightest rustle among the stalks. The closer I get, the more intense my heartbeat becomes, as if my body knows something my mind cannot yet comprehend.
Not long after, I reach the weathered wooden door of the hut. I raise my hand, and with a single push, that door goes down with a dry creak.
A slight noise echoes as the door hits the floor, kicking up some ancient dust. The interior is revealed.
There is nothing inside.
It is just an empty hut, abandoned by time. Green grass has begun to grow on the floor as if nature is reclaiming the place, and some light filters through the cracks between the boards, creating golden lines in the gloom.
Nothing more.
With some disappointment, I enter the ramshackle wooden hut. I raise my head to look at the structure, the old beams, the uneven ceiling... and for a moment I just breathe. A long sigh, like someone trying to release years of invisible weight.
"It's a nice place..." I murmur, smiling softly, taking in the detail of the grassy floor, the splintered wooden walls, the dust particles dancing in the light. A light breeze blows through the planks, caressing my face. I sit on the grass, letting the silence envelop me.
...
"Hi. Have you come to see me?", A woman's voice, soft but close, breaks the moment and brings me out of my thoughts. My body reacts instantly, tenses. I jump to my feet, ready for anything. Pure instinct.
"Please, there's no need to be nervous, I've been waiting for you," she says calmly.
I turn around quickly, Inside the ramshackle little shack is something new, something that wasn't there before.
A small pile of stacked bones glows bright green on the floor, like embers from an ancient campfire. Above the bones floats a small, vibrant green cloud that seems to pulsate with a life of its own.
"Can we talk?", the voice comes out of the cloud again. It sounds calm, almost... nostalgic.
I, for my part, take a step back, still watching the cloud carefully. There is a thick silence between us, I remain on guard, though the cloud doesn't seem to have hostile intentions. In fact, it emits a faint humming sound, like a humming... a soft, familiar and beautiful melody, like a forgotten lullaby.
"Would you like to come back?" she asks again, her voice is crystalline, almost hypnotic.
I nod my head, without much thought. I don't know exactly what he means by "go back", but if it means getting out of this strange world... or better yet, back to my own, then yes, of course I want to.
"It's a bit annoying, You know?, I've been here for a long time, waiting for you, and when you finally get here, the first thing you want to do is leave, Aren't you being a bit inconsiderate?", she says with a playfulness, though I sense a shadow of reproach in her words.
"I... I don't know," I reply, letting my guard down a little. I've been here for so long... trapped in a meaningless loop, a constant repetition that leads to nothing. I want out.
I look at her with some hope, as if she might actually be able to help me.
"This place seems magical, I'd also like to understand how I got here... a floating piece of land in the middle of... the universe?"
The cloud is silent for a moment, she seems to be thinking. Then she lets out a light laugh, almost mocking, but not unkind.
"In fact, it is, this place is floating in a nearly dead universe, but it's not something you can understand now, and as for how you got here..." she pauses, the cloud glows brighter for a second before returning to its normal tone, "You came because your soul is connected to this place, this is your home... your home, where you should be."
Her voice sounds wistful, but loving, as if she's speaking from a very distant memory.
"Are you...?" I ask, taking a couple of steps towards the cloud, intrigued.
"You're a little cruel, Ferr. Have you forgotten me so easily?, After all, I am your wife... the woman to whom you swore eternal loyalty."
My eyes narrow. I stop. My hand is halfway out, outstretched, almost touching the cloud.
Does this have something to do with that strange tombstone?, the one with my name engraved on it, the one I touched just before I showed up here.
"We used to have a nice little house here... playing together, sleeping together, watching this almost dead universe and just hanging out, you and me, it was like that for a long time... and now..." her voice cracks slightly, though she tries to keep that playful tone.
"I guess I was never enough for you," she concludes with a mixture of anger and pain, well hidden behind a smile I can't see, but can almost feel.
"No... well," I reply with a faint wry smile, I simply don't remember that.
"I understand, you've changed, but I'm still here, You know? Even if you don't remember me, you're still my husband... Don't you think you should give me something as a reunion gift?" she speaks again, this time with a slightly playful tone, as if trying to hide something deeper behind the lightness.
I remain silent, not knowing what to answer. My fingers slowly caress the surface of the green cloud, feeling the seemingly endless softness, like warm silk floating in the air. The texture is so real that for a moment I forget the absurdity of the situation.
Then, I hear a slight moan coming from inside the cloud, something between a sigh and a laugh.
"Hmph... hey... We just met again after so long, you don't remember anything about me and... Do you want to do it already?, You're a bit of a... pervert, hahaha," she said inside the cloud lets out a charming laugh, as if it's having fun with the situation, as if nothing really bothers it.
I just let out a snort, something between resignation and irony.
Have some fun with me, honey... and then, later, we can do whatever you want..." she suggests with a strange shyness, as if not wanting to push, but at the same time wanting me to accept her proposal.
The cloud glows brighter, its green glow pulsing in soft, steady waves, as if it were breathing.
I squint, Is this possible?, Have something resembling a romantic encounter with... a cloud?
"I, well... I could try, hahaha," I say with a slight chuckle, more out of irony than nerves. Nothing makes sense here, so, Why not?
And I simply continue to gently pat the cloud, as if it were a living creature responding to my caresses. And it does. It vibrates subtly.
...
Some time later...
...
I am sitting on the grass, leaning against the trunk of a bright green tree that looks like it is made of emerald glass, silently observing the universe. A sea of stars and strange planets stretches out in front of me like a living fantasy mural. On my lap, the little green cloud rests peacefully, as if it were a sleeping creature. I caress it, feeling its ethereal warmth.
"That... was really possible," I murmur in a low, barely audible voice, "I didn't think I could do those things with a cloud..."
A purple-hued planet, with fractal rings and a luminous trail, slowly passes near this small floating island in the middle of the universe. It doesn't look real, but it is. Everything is here, even what should never be.
"Would you like to stay here? With me, forever...", her voice comes again from the cloud, soft, sweet, serene. But her question weighs like a stone in my chest.
I think. When I first came to this place I stopped feeling hungry. Even the negative feelings I was carrying around, the guilt, the pain, the anxiety... all that was ripped away from me, as if it had never existed. This place... this forgotten piece of the universe... it's beautiful. It is a refuge. A silent blessing.
I've been tired for a long time. Ever since I was reincarnated in that other world, everything went downhill. My health, my mind, my memories... everything was declining, slowly withering away. But here, everything seems to flow. Everything seems to heal.
"I... I don't know," I murmur at the end, not strong enough to decide, just staring at the impossibly coloured planet as it floats nearby, as if it waiting for an answer too.
"It doesn't matter," she replies with a calmness that cuts through the air, "Sooner or later... you'll end up here."
The green cloud stretches gently, like a sheet of warm mist. Her ethereal body begins to wrap itself around me, enveloping me completely in an embrace that has no arms, but feels more intimate than any human touch.
And then... I close my eyes.
"No... well," I reply with a faint wry smile. I don't remember you. I don't remember you.