Capítulo 1: Lost World
The boy looked right, looked left, his eyes viewing the far ends of the horizon. There was "dried grass" as far as his eyes could go. There was no air. At least that's how the boy felt. The grass still moved from time to time — sometimes slowly, sometimes rapidly. He didn't understand why they moved. What was the purpose of their movement when they had been long dead? the boy thought. Or perhaps were they not dead? Light found itself quite mysteriously on this uninhabited planet; its intensity was always the same everywhere the boy had landed his feet. It never changed. There was no "dark" in this world.
The boy looked ahead, then slowly started walking through the knee-length grass with a little bit of effort.
After walking for some time, he arrived at a wooden cottage. It was entirely made of wood. He went inside.
"Welcome back, Steve," said a girl that was seemingly the same age as the boy. The girl had long black hair, round black eyes, and thin limbs. She was the sole companion of the boy.
The boy shook his head with disappointment, indicating that he hadn't found anything edible, even after walking miles after miles.
The girl smiled a sad, lonely smile and put her hands around him with tenderness. Unspoken yet understood words hovered in the room: "It's okay, we'll find a way, surely."
*
The two had lived in this lifeless world alone for as far as they could remember. Since night didn't exist, it wasn't possible to tell the time and how long they had been there exactly.
It seemed as if time had frozen. The land had dried, and strange grass-looking things had sprouted from the ground, guided by those mysterious, tiny ball-like things that fell constantly from above. Seas and sky had faded. There was not a single drop of water left that might have given birth to a new life. It seemed as if the world had been abandoned by God. Or perhaps it had met the sole inevitable fate of all things: death.
*
The last thing they could remember was being with each other. They couldn't even recall their names. The girl thought it was boring to address each other by "hey," so she had given the boy a name: Steve. Giving someone a name was probably not anything special, but this was the only thing anyone had ever given to him. Moved with joy, the boy had told her he would forever cherish this name.
"Why don't you give me a name, too?" the girl had requested.
"Can I?" the boy responded hesitantly.
"I mean, I want you to give me a name." She gave a radiant smile.
The boy thought for a bit, then said, "Your name will be Lina then."
---
Time flew by without them fulfilling one of the essential needs of living: food. But the boy could function, like walking and talking without eating anything. And so could the girl. Though he found that energy had been slowly depleting from his body, and if he didn't replenish this energy soon, he might be in trouble. It was probably the same for the girl, even though she would never admit it so as not to make him worry.
One day, the boy decided to travel to the distant lands, hoping to meet a new life and probably find some food or water along the way. As he walked, he was getting tired of seeing the same, old scenery of dried grass again and again, so he started to count.
He walked far and wide, but he didn't see anything anywhere other than those strange grass. When he returned, in vain, he was still counting. "604998, 604999, 605000, 605001."
He opened the door and saw her lying on an edge of the house, hugging her knees. Her eyes had become lifeless with boredom. He had never seen her so sad and lonely before. When she saw him, her eyes lit up as if life had re-entered them. She sprang into his arms, giving him a prolonged hug. At that moment, the boy realized an important truth about the world: wherever there is life, there is warmth. When he wandered around out of the cottage, away from her, he always felt some sort of coldness in his heart — even though it was summer — and that feeling was quite unsettling and painful. And he understood that it was this girl's warmth that had kept him alive. If she suddenly disappears, I'll probably die from the coldness of the absence of life, the boy thought. And she must feel the same way.
The boy could feel the immense warmth of this girl in front of him. The warmth of a living being. The only warmth on this lifeless planet. Tears rolled down his cheeks and fell onto the girl's shoulder. She was still holding onto him. He reciprocated the girl's act of affection by putting his arm around her back and muttered, "I'm sorry."
If I'd been gone, she'd probably have sat there until coldness would have gotten the better of her and slowly put her to eternal sleep, the boy thought. He made a promise to her that he would never leave her side, and she wouldn't have to feel lonely ever again. The girl rejoiced, saying she couldn't have asked for anything better in the world.
*
The girl hypothesized the world had been destroyed, leaving just the two of them alone. The boy wondered how something like that could even possibly happen. Why only the two of them were alive when the sky, mountains, waters, winds, and their memories were gone?
"Maybe we're here for a reason," the girl said, trying to come up with a logical answer. "Maybe we're the chosen ones, who need to accomplish a feat that even sky, mountains, waters, and winds couldn't."
"Chosen ones? Chosen by whom?"
"By God, probably—"
"God? Who's that?"
The girl paused briefly and stopped swinging her legs. "I'm not sure. It's just that I've got this strange feeling. How do you think we came into being?"
They were both silent for a moment.
It was the boy who spoke first. "And what is it that we need to accomplish?"
"I have no idea, as of now."
*
Since that day, the boy took the girl wherever he went. They held hands as they walked so that they didn't feel cold or lonely. They ran on the grassy ground and watched strange lights falling from above. It was all there to do, but they didn't mind the boredom since it didn't matter as long as the two were together.
The girl lay down, pressing her back against the long grass. The boy did the same. It felt oddly comforting. The grass was soft and puffy, and it emanated a sad scent.
"Lina, I think we both were alive in a distant world that was lovelier than this one," the boy said, stretching his hand forward as if he was trying to catch those lights.
The girl listened attentively, saying nothing. So he went on, "Then we died, as everything does. And we were reborn in this world."
"Did you wish to be reborn in a secluded world with a—"
"Never!" he interrupted her. "I'd never want to be born into a world like this!" He paused, looking at her. "Oh, don't get the wrong idea. Of course, I love your company very much, but I'd also love to eat something." He didn't remember the taste of food, if he had ever eaten something in his life that is. But he had heard from Lina that food is something one eats, and that's what keeps life from dying.
She was annoyed because he didn't let her finish what she was about to say before. He apologized and requested her to repeat, but she wouldn't.
They talked for a few moments until the boy had a funny idea: he wanted to pull those grass off the ground and tear them apart. He got up and attempted to do it, and he failed. He felt the grass somewhat slippery when he touched them.
"What's the matter with you all of a sudden, Steve?" the girl asked, also getting up.
"I was wondering," he answered, "if this could be the afterlife?"
"Eh, I don't think that's the case. If so, wouldn't there be some God passing judgment on us or something?" She said the last part casually.
"Why don't we die without eating then?"
"Probably because that's what God willed."
"Or maybe this is hell."
She laughed, "Don't be silly!"
The girl gave a light smile indicating she wasn't concerned at all about such details. All that mattered was they were both alive. If you're alive, you only have to focus on living and surviving, a thought crossed the boy's mind.
She closed off the distance between them and leaning ever closer, smiled warmly. It didn't matter if this was heaven or hell or just some lost world. As long as they had each other, they could forget every other worry.
But their happiness was short-lived.
As the two were walking, holding hands and laughing, the girl suddenly collapsed. The boy's heart almost stopped out of shock.
The boy thought it to be a mystery why they both hadn't collapsed a long time ago and died already. He carried her to the cottage. Sitting in a corner, he gently put her head on his lap. He knew what was wrong with her. All the energy had depleted from her body, making it impossible for her to even move a finger, and she had endured the pain all by herself and tried her best to be cheerful so she wouldn't make him worry. The boy also felt weaker and weaker as moments passed. I'd also soon pass out, he thought.
The girl lay like a timber, with her eyes closed. The boy feared she would never open her eyes again. He feared losing the only person he had. He feared being all alone and being suffocated from the absence of her warmth. He prayed silently she didn't leave him alone. He wanted to be with her. Always.
As if his prayer was heard and responded to by the "God" the girl had mentioned, a gust of sudden wind descended upon the world. The boy was surprised. A bit alarmed. This was the first time wind had blown on this world. He sensed something about the world was about to change. Rather, the entire world was about to change.
*
The wind was violent yet serene and soothing. All of a sudden the boy could feel a great amount of energy swirling inside him — as if his body was some electronic device that had just been recharged by the wind.
The girl's exhaustion was also lifted, by the same wind. She slowly opened her eyes, and the boy was elated. Getting up on her feet, she could feel the gracefulness of the wind. Several flashes of images ran through her mind; they were tiny fragments of her lost memory.
She had an epiphany.
"This wind," she said, surprised. "It's the wind of Eden!"