The next morning, before the sun had even risen, the doctor went to Peter's tent. He hadn't been able to sleep the whole night. The time was only five o'clock in the morning. Dr. John didn't go inside the tent. From outside itself, he tried to call Peter. Since Peter was in a deep sleep, Dr. John had to call him two or three times repeatedly. Because it was still before dawn, when such a sound was heard, Peter was frightened at first, but then he recognized it was the doctor's voice. He invited the doctor inside. As soon as Dr. John entered, he came and sat opposite Peter. Since there wasn't much light, Peter lit his torch. The faint glow from it filled the tent with light.
"What is it, Doctor, at this hour?"
Dr. John's mind was in a state that words could not describe. He told Peter the truths that Rose had revealed. As Peter listened to Rose's words through the doctor, his body seemed to change in the same way the doctor's had when he first heard them.
"Then… does that mean Rose is dead, Doctor?"
"I haven't gone to her tent yet. My heart won't allow me to. It must be you who tells the others about her death." The doctor slowly rose, ready to leave.
"Then… should I tell the others the whole truth?" Peter asked with hesitation. The doctor turned his head and looked directly at Peter's face.
"Some things are better left as secrets, Peter. Before she left, she asked me to convey her gratitude to you. That is why I have told you everything." Saying this, the doctor departed.
The doctor's words kept flashing through Peter's mind. Suddenly, the light from his torch went out, plunging the tent back into darkness. He quickly tried to light it again, but this time, no matter how hard he tried, no glow emerged. He realized the torch had reached the end of its life. Having completely lost his sleep, he could not rest any further. Instead, Peter sat quietly, waiting for the dawn.
.....
When the sun rose, Peter told Daniel, Francis, and Robert that she had died. By then, the thick veil of fog had completely disappeared from the shore. A few days later, the rays of the sun finally touched the island. The ones who remained on the shore could not believe it. They had thought Rose had survived every danger.
Now, from the twenty-three of them, their number had shrunk to twenty-one. Fear gnawed at their hearts.who would be the next?
If Rose's lifeless body remained inside the tent any longer, it would rot and decay. So they decided to dig a grave on the island. Everyone gathered together to dig.
As per Dr. John's instructions, Peter did not reveal the truth about Rose's illness to the others. Instead, he told them that the wish she had achieved was the most important one in her life.,and that was why the spirit world had taken her away.
It took them some time, but at last, the grave was prepared.
Together, everyone lowered Rose's body into the earth. Afterward, Daniel spoke to them.It was Francis and Robert who went to take Rose's body. Her motionless form lay inside the tent. The two of them carefully wrapped her entire body with a cloth. Then they carried her to the grave.
Together, everyone lowered Rose's body into the earth. Afterward, Daniel spoke to them.
"Does anyone have something to say about Rose for the last time? If so, step forward."
It was Dr. John who stepped forward. He raised his voice and began to speak.
"Rose was a girl who was so afraid, and yet, just as courageous. More than anyone else, I was the one who truly understood her heart. Perhaps it was because she had spent an entire human life in a dream world that her final words seemed filled with all the experiences of life itself. She was a symbol of life itself.
Though the time we spent together was only a few moments, she revealed to me many truths I had never realized in my entire life. No matter what, Rose was a good girl."The doctor stopped after saying his last words about Rose.
Daniel first took a handful of soil from the ground and placed it onto Rose's body. The remaining twenty people repeated the same. Among them, it was the doctor who felt the deepest sorrow. Together, Francis and Daniel covered her body completely with earth.
After the funeral, everyone returned, but the doctor remained by the grave for a while. Daniel, however, went straight to her tent. He wanted to tidy it up and see if there was anything useful they could keep.
While cleaning the tent, Daniel found a box. Hoping to find something useful inside, he opened it. But it was filled entirely with clothes. Daniel took all the clothes out one by one and set them outside. Suddenly, his eyes caught a few pieces of paper lying at the bottom of the box. Daniel picked them up. They were drawings she had made.
The first paper contained a picture of the ship they had traveled in. Daniel glanced at the second paper. It had a picture of Francis. Below that picture, a single word was written:
"Hero."
He turned to the next page. It was his own picture that was there. Underneath it, the word "Leader" was written. Daniel examined all the drawings she had made. Every one of them was a picture of someone on the island. Juliet was labeled as "Best Friend" in her picture. The doctor was described as "A Life Saver." In this way, each person was described with a name of their own.
"Why would she have written Juliet as 'Best Friend'? They hadn't spoken much at all. Perhaps it was this mysterious nature of hers that made the doctor grow so fond of her."
Even though we didn't understand her, she understood everyone on the island.The picture she drew was saying that.In this way, the sorrowful morning faded away. After everyone had dinner together, Daniel returned to his tent. He turned to his habit of writing in his diary.
"Another life has slipped away from my hands. When we try to hold on to life, all it ever does is move farther away from us. Francis's words gave me strength, and only because of that was I able to give the electric shock without my mind faltering. Yet, she died. Fate is like a river. It keeps flowing, and we cannot hold back its current, nor can we cut across it. I will never be a hero here, and the same goes for the others. The word that best describes us is not 'human' but 'those who strive to survive.' At this stage, that is the name that suits us the most. I fully believe in it."
After writing everything that was in his mind, he closed the diary. He lay down slowly to sleep.
Their life on the island continued. Days passed by quietly like that. It had already been more than a week since Rose had died. Even though Rose was no longer with them, her voice and her spirit still accompanied them on their journey there.
To be continued.....