Another Realm

No light enters Aria's eyes no matter how hard she tries to blink. She no longer feels pain nor wetness on her skin. However, she knows that she will need to find help soon. Both of her arms fully straighten up to the front so that she can avoid running into something. Each step that she took makes her squirm as the floor is wet just like walking in the field barefooted after the rain.

"Coo-Coo"

"Coo-Coo"

A deep and low pitch sound echoing in the pitch-black madness. Aria takes a deep breath and tries to follow the direction of the sound of the Greater Coucal bird that is a native species in Borneo. As she gets closer, a silhouette of a house can be seen from far.

"There must be someone that can help me there."

Hopeful light beaming from Aria's eyes as the endless darkness has been terrifying. The tiny backpack slamming onto her spine as she hastens the strides. Flickering lights can be seen from the window, the wooden house might only have candles to have that yellowish hue light.

"Any-Anyone home?"

Aria wipes the beads of sweat that were emerging from her pore as she tries to breathe steadily. Soon after she heard footsteps coming closer to the entrance of the house that was on wooden stilts.

"Hello there Aria. I have heard that you will be coming today."

An old lady wearing a bright chestnut long sleeve top paired with a black skirt that reaches her ankle appears in front of the door. Without seeing her face clearly due to the dimly lit area, Aria can hear a friendly and warm tone coming from the old lady.

'I wonder how on earth she knows my name.'

Aria is unable to find the answer no matter how hard she is racking her brain flipping through the memories if she has seen the old lady before in her life. Knowing the old lady does not pose any threat then Aria slowly climbs the wooden stairs that almost bow down to the earth at any time. Rickety sound can be heard as she puts slight pressure on the stairs. The house is severely unmaintained that it is slightly tilted to the right side.

'What is this smell?'

Her nose twitches as she tries to hold her breath. However, this has led her to need more air thus the smell rushes at lightning speed to her olfactory receptor. Defeated, she tries to take a shorter breath by stabilizing her heart rate. However, nothing prepares her for the unsightly view of the house interior.

Clutters cover the floor and the atmosphere is stuffy as the dust fills the air. The house seems as if it has never met a broom before since the last it was built.

"Come and take a seat here, young child."

Her croaky voice split the silent night as she pulled out a chair at the dining table. Reluctantly, Aria lowered her bottom slowly to the broken chair since she fears it might be breaking at any moment now from her body weight.

"I apologize for the state of my house. I have been occupied with trying to warn souls to not cross the bridge which you can see from my house."

The old lady has a sorrowful look on her wrinkled face as she talks about souls.

"Wait for a minute. What? Soul?"

Aria's jaw almost dislocated from her skull when the word started to be digested by her brain. She could not pinpoint her exact feeling at the moment. It is a mixture of fear and shock.

"Yes, Aria. Souls of the one that dies in your world. However, sometimes there are some that should not be here yet. Just like you."

The old lady spread her palms facing the ceiling on the table as if wanting Aria to hold her hand.

"You visited this place when you were still a young child. However, the shaman has sealed your ability since your fragile body could not take the toll from brushing shoulders with the dead souls."

The old lady closes her eyes as if she is reading Aria's history. Matter of fact, she does remember that her grandmother has always brought her to a shaman since she always gets sick during her childhood. The shaman has told her grandmother that Aria's body is sensitive to the lost souls on earth.

Doctors could not find anything wrong with her being. Yet cold sweats will cover her body while her head will be as heavy as a boulder. Aria spent most of her time lying on the random beds whenever they did mandatory visits to the old longhouse. It was probably when Aria was eight years old that she no longer had the ill episode after seeing one shaman that was famous in the region.

"You will need to go back using the same way that you came from. Then you will be back in your old life."