The Lost Soul

What if there was one person in a world, and what if the person is the only one that can not be controlled by other beings, and what if his home is not his real home. My name is Jack Crossfire, I am Person number 5740, and I lived in a world called Centerville. It’s only the size of a small suburb. No one knew what was beyond Centerville, and then again no one cared. My adventure started with a dream.............

  The dream started in a room and I heard voices I did not recognize them, but it almost seemed that I knew them for a long time, and then before I knew it I was sitting at a table with cloaked figures, I did not know who or what (for that matter) they were. They sat there for awhile staring at me, it seemed like forever, and then one of them lifted their hood, it was a man, he had black hair that matched his black cloak, but his eyes were a light green. He said in a demanding voice, “Do you recognize me!” I did not recognize him, but when I think, and examine my mind it almost seem to recognize him, but I could not, but he seems like I knew him for most of my life, but I don't remember ever seeing him in Centerville. The only thing I said was, “Errrr.. I'm not so sure. Who are you?” Before he could speak another cloaked figure said, “Don't tell him, not yet anyways or you will disrupt his transfer.” Before I could ask another question, it was over.







Daily Life in Centerville
 
  That dream seemed so vivid, but since I woke up, I assumed that it was a dream, I tried to forget about the dream but it still haunted me through my daily life. As usual like I did most of my life I woke up and got dressed in my same clothes that I wore everyday, and go to the learning center where I learn the basics in society. Then after I finish going through the learning center I hang out with my three fiends named, Tom, he's a person that likes to do something different everyday, but is limited to his own judgment, he's probably going grow up to make sure people are happy and content. The second friend that I have is Ethan, he always wants to have some sort of fight, when he grows up he might help defend people in some way or another. The third and final friend I have is Caroline she likes to work a lot on her learning, and loves a good puzzle, but hates to turn in after-hour learning work in late. What always seemed weird to me was that everyone wore the something, everyday, a white suit and white pants, but my friends were different like me they wore various items, like Tom wore a blue t-shirt and pants, and the rest of my friends just wore a different colored t-shirt, very weird.  But anyways after our learning hours we went to the beach.

The Beach

The time at the beach was very relaxing and fun, we skipped rocks a little, we waded in the water a little, and then we just talked, but I was not part of the talking, I was in my own world. I was thinking about the dream, there were a dozen questions running in my head, like who was that person, where are these people from, and why are they talking to me, the dream seemed so vivid..
Then all of the sudden, Ethan got my attention by yelling in my ear, “Hey!”
I said,  “What? What? What are we talking about?”
Ethan answered in an irritated tone, “We WERE talking about places to go for our break, ideas anybody?”
“The lake?” I answered.
“No, too far and wet, next.” answered Ethan.
“The Dessert?” answered Caroline.
“No, too dry, and who would want to go there, you would be the only person who would -”

Tom interrupted, “I got an idea! Camping in the mountains, not to far, not too dry or wet, and we can do a ton of things.” 

Ethan responded, “Hmm.. That’s a good idea! I like that, lets start saving money to go to a good camp.”

They all agreed except me, I was once again thinking about the dream, but this time, the feeling grew and grew, and then eventually took over me.  I knew my friends are trying to talk to me, but I can't respond because I feel paralyzed. That’s when I knew I was fainting, and at that point when I realized I was fainting that’s exactly what happened.

The Faint
 
I again woke up in a room with the same table, but only with one person, then I for some reason had a vibe of which it was, it was the leader who told that other guy to don't tell me who he was. He was once again wearing a black hooded coat that covered his face. I waited a long time for him to say something; it was boiling my blood just waiting for him to talk. Then finally he said, “I have brought you here once again to tell you that you should spend all the time you have with your friends because you are probably not going to see them again soon.” I answered quickly, “Why? Why is this happening to me? Who was that person I saw last time? And why am I not going to see my friends again?” Before I could say another question he held up his hand to silence me. He said, “All of your questions will be answered over time, just wait and keep your mind open, and as for the person you saw last time you will see him again soon but now go back and spend time with your friends because sometime with in time you won't see them again, so its best to try and make the best memories you can make with them, and now you must understand that there are other worlds out there that make mistakes, mistakes that sometimes effect living souls and make them dark, I have said too much already leave now, and remember to keep your mind open.” And that was it for the second dream, and I still wonder a lot of things especially one part, was he relating that other worlds make mistakes to me? Either it does or does not I should keep alert and when the time comes I will hopefully know everything.







Time Spent with Friends is Everything

  In my opinion I think it’s always a good idea to keep your friends close, but in this type of situation, I am not quite sure. What if I tried to tell them what happened to me, no, they won't understand, I guess I have to act like it never happened..

I woke up in my bed, and I wondered how I got there, and I heard Tom calling from outside, “Hey, Jack get up or your going to be late.”
I replied, “I'll be right down!” Later when I finished getting dressed and joined my friends to go to learning center, I asked, “Hey what happened after I fainted what did you guys do?” Ethan responded, “What are you talking about? We were at the beach till sundown discussing what we are going to do while we camp on the mountains, and then we went home, not unless you fainted inside your own home, I am certain you did not faint.” I replied and sighed, “You must be right, it must have been a bad dream I had when I got home.” But that’s not what I thought, what I really thought was that I knew that I fainted on the beach, I heard their voices trying to ask what was wrong, I knew something unreal is happening and I am going to find out what, I am beginning to notice things that I never noticed before, like today I noticed all of the buildings look similar, very interesting, very interesting indeed..

Later I decided to take the leader's advice by spending time with my friends, since I can't figure anything out when I am stressed out, and I figured that it’s best just to forget it, and go on with my life. So after we went to the learning center we went to get a treat at the shop, we had fun talking to each other, and then I said, “I think we should spend more time together and gather more memories because someday we may not see each other again so its memories like this right now we should hold close to our hearts, and we should enjoy them or you may regret later.” Tom responded, “ Don't talk that way, we are going to be best friends for as long as we stay together and keep close.” As he said that I smiled and said, “Your right Tom, you’re so right.”

The Memories
  The first memory was so different and important, it gave me a different feeling in a different world, it was a totally different experience, and it gave me a look at a different world....

    After my friends and I spent time together at the shop we went home. I first decided to check what has happened in the community today on the information device, but when I turned it on it flickered a couple of times and then it displayed a count down, it said count down to.. I couldn't read the letters I thought it said Final Transfer? And the countdown said 19 hours and 23 minutes, I shook my head and it disappeared, I looked at the information, of course it’s the same as everyday, and so I fell asleep, thinking that I may wake up in that room again, I was wrong.  That night when I fell asleep, I awoke in somebody' else's life, I was walking down a street full of unusual things that I have no knowledge of. Like Hoover Dam, I have had no idea what it was, then a little voice said that it is used to hold back water, I wondered what that voice was, but I had no idea, and the idea of motorized cars shocked me, I have no idea that was possible, and then I walked on a street called Mount Royal Avenue, I saw children playing what the voice called a playground, and the building next to it was called a school, but the school has a name, Alcott Elementary School, and across it was a school called Central High School but they don't have a playground I asked why, the voice said, “ Because they are too old they are more mature and don't need a recess, but instead they have a gym where they get there fitness.” I then got to see the world it was much bigger than my world, and some many things to do. The voice then asked me, “Are you ready to see the history of everything in this world, at least everything I know.” I answered, “Yes, tell me more.” He took me back to the beginning of time and explained everything, he explained everything from the civil war to the history of Westerville, he explained to me the different things that made this world so unique, especially the United States of America, this is where the ultimate freedom started, where everyone was free to do whatever they want within reason, to pursuit of happiness, and the right to have a say in the country. He then showed me some negatives of this world like the judgment of race, war, and bombings; it looked so horrible and in such a great world, it made me think, what if I was part of this world, what would happen to me, would I get discriminated against, will I be considered inferior to the other beings, all of these questions spinned in my head waiting to be answered. This also made me think is this freedom causes beings like myself to do. Then the little voice said,  “You must learn that humans make mistakes, and people say the same thing as you, but they learn to ignore these people and learn to accept that everyone is different, and if everyone was then this society would be very boring, but I ignore these prejudice people by telling myself to keep moving forward.” And then he showed me the people who made a difference in this world; George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King JR. Etc. He also showed me the inside of Central High school, as I sat in the commons I saw some bad things, but I saw many friendships as in my world where a lot of people were independent, but when I saw these friendships it made me smile and think of my friends and made me relate to them.  He then said, “It’s time for you to leave.” As I begin to fade out of this dream I yelled, “But wait I did not get your name or see you for that matter.” He yelled back, “Within time you will know, and I promise it will be soon.” Then that was it for the memories, thanks to the memories, I am starting to question my world I live in, and nobody in my society had ever questioned this world, so I don't know what to do...





Centerville Relooked

  When I woke up from that dream I was a totally different person, I was looking at my society in a different way, I was not looking at it like I am the person of Centerville, I was looking at it like the world I lived through the night before. But I had to continue to go through my daily life, but when I went to the learning center I thought I saw a playground and the two schools, but I was wrong, then I thought maybe I can relate the learning center to school, but then I rethought that. School is not like this, in the learning center you only learn what everyone else wants you to learn, and learning does not come naturally, you just watch a brainwash video for 6 hours, they can control everything even your emotions, that’s why I been in a rut for all these years. So for the first time since forever I walked out of the rut, by finally walking away from school. As I walk away I thought of my friends and what they are going to say when I talk to them later that afternoon, and since I had nothing to do then to judge my world, I went home and tried to find something to do, tried to look at the information screen and the entertainment screen, but as I was thinking this, I think these items, in the other world are called laptop and Television, but as I look at both of them I see the count down which is driving me nuts, the count down now says 6 hours and 32 minutes, and then all of the sudden I get an overwhelming sense of falling asleep, so I sat on the couch and fell asleep.


The Final Meeting

  As I was walking home I wondered why I was in this society, and why is this society the way it is, and I thought I really don't know, they never told me or taught me. As I continue to walk home I can feel my old self fading away and the only thing positive about the society I can think of is my friends, I would never forget them or dislike them for that matter. When I finally got home I lay on my bed and thought about all of the dreams, and what I’m thinking about the society, and then while I was thinking about the dream I fell asleep. This time I awoke in the same room where I first saw the hooded figures. I said to the leader, “I don't understand what is going on; all I know is that I know my world is corrupted.” The leader first looked at the other hooded beings and then said, “You are right the society is corrupted, I think, and my council agree that we are ready to tell you about your society. Jack, this maybe hard to understand but we created the world you currently live in.” My eyes grew wide and replied, “Hold on that’s impossible, if that’s true then that means I’m not real, and how could you have made it anyway.” He replied, “We can't tell you about your life yet until we go over some other items first, but I can ensure you that you are real, and as for the society, we used a device called a computer, I am sure after your visit to the other world you know what it does, your world is computer animated we control what everything goes on in it, but we made sure to add emotion to your so called friends to make them look real.” I interrupted and yelled, “That’s not true! They are as real as they can be if they are not real then I’m not real, I’m done with you guys, this session is over.” With that roar, I returned to the bed I fell asleep in.





The Disappearance

I knew my world is corrupted, but I could not leave without my friends. I looked at what time it was, I looked, they should be out of school right now. There goes that word again, I thought, whoa, I am changing. When I glanced at it again I saw the count down; 30 minutes. But I shook my head and I took a picture of me with my friends with me, and with that I ran to the beach to find them talking, I yelled,  “Hey!” They did not respond. I yelled again, “Hey can you hear me?” No response. I walked over to them and tried to touch but my hand passed through them as I did not exist or like I was a ghost. I looked at my hands and thought, how can they do this, they took away they only thing I cared about in this world, my friends. As I was thinking that, I heard Caroline say, “Hey we should get started up the mountain it’s going to be a long hike till we get to camp.” Tom replied, “Yeah I rather not sleep in an unknown place in the forest.” Ethan replied, “Then let’s goes we are all here, there is no reason for us to wait around here. “And then they walked away and through me as if I was just a mist that does not exist. As I watch them walk away I started to feel tears grow in my eyes and drop, in the world I dreamed I think it was called crying. I thought to myself, how they could forget about me, they were the best friends I had. As I was mourning for my lost, I heard I booming voice in the sky, “Jack it is time for the final transfer, you know that your friends are not real, you must return to your home now.” I thought what reason I have to stay here anymore, so I ran home, and then sprinted through the door....










The Final Transfer

  The moment I walked through the door I saw a flash and I was in that room again. I sat myself down, and then the leader said, “Now that we have your friends out of the way it is time to explain to you, your life. But to do that we are going to strap a device to your head to return your memory that you used to had before that day.” But before one of them did that, someone said, “Wait he’s still trying to hold on to the memories of his friends.” They all nodded their heads, and the leader said, “Jack you must forget about them, do you want to make friends in the new world or do you want to live in a corrupted world with made up friends.” I yelled, “If you are trying to say they should have no effect on me that is not true, it’s going to hurt really bad to let them go, it makes me cry.” And I paused for a moment and thought if I don't give them up, I will never achieve my full level of friendship and happiness. So finally I said, “I’m ready for the transfer.” They strapped the device on my head and I closed my eyes and saw these scenes that seemed to connect to me, and then little by little the story started to pull itself together, and then it was over, I opened my eyes, and the leader asked,
“Do you remember the story now?” I nodded my head, and they said, “Tell us then.” So I told them, it started before I was born, I was supposed to be born in a world called Earth in country called the United States, the state of Ohio and the city of Columbus. But before I was able to crossover to the world, beings called the soul takers took my soul and put in a different body in a very corrupt world that slowly torture your soul until you have no heart at all , so for 6 years I lived in a world that did not believe in living or feeling,, it started to corrupt me until my friend, Jake helped me by telling me I was not supposed to be here, and so he contacted a group called ”The Gateway” and asked them to return me to the world I was supposed to be born in. They told him that they would have to transfer me to a made up world while they get the transfer ready, and so they created this animated world in a computer, erased my mind and transferred me into a computer, and that’s all I know. The leader replied, “Very good now you understand.” I looked at the person who pulled his hood off in the very first dream and said, “I think that Jake did not want to stay, did not you Jake.” Jake looked up and pulled off his hood and replied, “So you do remember!” I nodded my head. And for the first time I saw him smile. I then said, “That meant that you people must have brought him in because he must have wanted to do something good for me, so he had to give up the life he never had to save me.” The leader nodded, “Your right we took him in to save you, and all of are people from different worlds some joined for the same reason, some joined just to save people from a bad life, you were unique, you were going to have a great life, you were going to be different but was going to make a difference, but The Soul Takers took that away.” I asked, “Everything seems to be answered, I but I don't know what that voice was.” For the first time the leader lift his head showing a smile and then replied, “Luckily when they took your soul they left something behind, something that was watching your place in the world as if it expected that you would come back, so that means all we need to do is transfer with that person.” I nodded my head and asked, “But what is his name?” He shrugged and said, “We could not get a name, it actually came to you that day, that’s the day we figured out that you had full hope of returning to a great life, we are sure that he will give you a name as we start the transfer, are you ready Jack?” I thought for a moment, thought about the world I'm about to go in, there were many questions I wanted answered, but the answer that came from the heart was, “Yes.” The leader said, “Ok, get up and turn around.” I did just that and saw a door, and then the leader said, “The door will open and you will walk in, and I will press a button that will close the door and the final transfer will begin. Please walk in the capsule.” I did that, and he said, “Is there any last words you want to say to us?” I answered, “Yes, I want to thank you and Jake for helping me, and returning my life.” The leader smiled, “That why I am here, to help people get to where they are really going.” Then Jake turned to me and smiled, “You were always my best friend, I could not have leave you there to have your soul rot and deprive you from that world, maybe we will see each other in another life.” I answered, “I'll be waiting for you.” The leader then said, “Ready?” I nodded my head and the doors closed and I heard a voice said,”Final transfer confirmed, beginning transformation.” I heard a faint hum that got louder and louder, and then I fainted. I opened my eyes and saw a person he had brown hair, blue eyes, glasses, a big nose, and a scar on his right eye brow. As I was seeing him I begin to remember my friends, and thought I knew I couldn't forget about them, so for the last time I remember what the wore, how the treated me, the time I spent with them, and I thought again to myself and thought that was time well spent, and then He said, “Are you ready to enter the world of life?” And then I felt something in my pocket, I took it out it was the picture of me with my friends, and I was surprised to see me in it since my friends don't know who I am. And with that I answered, “Absolutely, but I think I should know your name.” He answered, “My name is Alex Jokerst. And that was the start of a new beginning of a new adventure into a new life and was the start of a different adventure that I don't even know of yet.