Chapter 1 - My death

My name is Lisa, a corporate slave who works full days, from morning to night, for minimum wage. I'm 35 years old and still single. I've never dated anyone; in fact, I'm still a virgin today. During family gatherings, my relatives always ask: "When you'll get married and have offspring?" To be honest, such questions make me sick, as if I want to vomit when I hear them.

I also wanted to get married, I wanted to feel love, but because of my work, I didn't have time to spend on these things. Unfortunately, I couldn't just quit my job, being unlucky, I had no choice but to sign a long-term employment contract. That time my coworker made a fatal mistake, he ran away, and I happened to be at the same location when he made the mistake, so I was the one accused and the prime suspect. That's why I had to take responsibility by signing an employment contract with my salary deducted by half a percent.

"So unlucky," I said in a voice that sounded like someone who was dying.

As for romance, I've never dated anyone, it's not that I'm unattractive, but I'm just not that interested. Many guys liked me when I was in school, but I didn't return their love, because I had no reason to accept it. Besides, I'm an unlucky person, if I'm in a love relationship with someone, bad luck will befall my love story, and I don't want to feel the sadness of that, it really sucks. That's why I haven't had a boyfriend until now.

....

The cold night air pierced my skin even though I was wearing a thick office uniform. While walking on the edge of the sidewalk, I looked around intently, and found a quiet atmosphere with the melodic sound of the wind caressing my ears. I took my smart phone from the pocket of my long skirt and turned it on.

"Ten o'clock at night..." I closed my eyes for a moment, then sighed with frustration, "I hope I don't run into any jerks in a place like this. The deserted streets make me unable to think of positive things. I'd better stop thinking of something bad."

My smartphone rang, making a meowing sound, and a news notification appeared on the screen. With a languid look, I clicked the notification with my thumb. Although I was aware that reading or playing on my phone while walking was risky, I decided to read the night news to distract myself from negative thoughts.

"News from MOA. A high school student won first place in the international math Olympiad and received a prestigious award from the minister of education. It was published eight hours ago... it seems like my phone was late in bringing up this news notification. Well, it's only natural, my phone is old hag anyway."

I turned off my smartphone and put it back into my skirt pocket.

"Math Olympiad, huh? Makes me nostalgic. Back when I was teen, I was nicknamed a child prodigy because of my intelligence. I always won international Olympic championships in all subject areas. Actually, I wasn't that brilliant, I was nothing compared to Albert Einstein. All I do is understand things I learn from books. Sometimes I can be wrong too...."

"Winning a prestigious competition does not guarantee a bright future, the proof is that I, a former international Olympic champion who won many times, became a corporate slave because of her misfortune. It's so sad."

....

After arriving at the gloomy-looking, dimly-lit bus stop, I sat down on an unkempt public seat, and took my time reading a digital book about regional development on my smartphone. I yawned many times while reading it, but I stayed focused and was still able to understand the contents of the digital book I was reading.

"In order for the economy in a region to run well, the regional leader must build adequate infrastructure, encourage investment in various economic sectors, provide support to small businesses, develop human resources, encourage innovation or research, and so on. Maybe I will read the details on each point when I get to my place."

The public bus had arrived and stopped right at the bus stop. The bus door opened automatically, I stepped into the bus, and found a driver wearing a dark blue uniform and three male passengers. The driver was a 56-year-old man, he looked fresh despite working at night, occasionally tugging at his thick brown mustache, then scratching his tan skin, and glancing at me with his bright black eyes.

"Coming home at night as usual, Lisa?" The bus driver asked with a small smile on his face.

"Yes, that's right, going home at night as usual. You also drive the bus at night as usual, I hope you don't carry ghosts as passengers."

The bus driver chuckled, then said jokingly, "If the ghost is a beautiful woman, I'd be happy to take her anywhere, even to the graveyard."

"I'll tell your wife if you're interested in a beautiful ghost."

The bus driver laughed softly once again, "Please don't, my wife is very fierce. She's so scary when she's angry and always makes a big deal out of trivial things, but that's her cute side."

"You're a husband who's afraid of your own wife, huh? That's cute."

I sat in the front passenger seat, close to the driver. My right hand reaching into my briefcase, I took out a spicy mint.

"Hey, this is for you, don't get sleepy while driving." I gently tossed the mint at the bus driver.

The bus driver looked back and caught my mint, "Oh, thank you, Lisa." Then, he unwrapped the mint and popped that spicy candy into his mouth. After that, he started the bus engine and stepped on the gas.

....

On my way on the public bus, I just looked up at the bus window, watching the beautiful cityscape at night. The towering buildings were brightly lit and the traffic was busy even though it was approaching midnight. I sighed, looking at the tall building that was a luxury apartment with a lethargic gaze.

"If I wasn't unlucky, I'd probably already be living in that fancy apartment," I shook my head slightly, "no, you're wrong, Lisa. I should be grateful that I can still eat well and sleep in a cozy rental, at least I can protect my head from the sun and rain. There are a lot of people who are far less fortunate than me out there, they have no place to live and even eating is difficult."

I let out a short sigh.

"I can't be greedy."

....

The bus stopped at a small bus stop, I got up from the passenger seat and patted the bus driver's left shoulder gently.

"Good driving, here's your pay, old man." I handed the bus driver some money.

The bus driver accepted the money and put it in his uniform pocket, then he looked at me and smiled kindly, "Oi, I'm not that old. So don't call me old man. By the way, thank you."

I got off the bus, then gave my thumbs up to the bus driver before the bus door closed automatically, and got back on the gas. I took my smartphone from inside my skirt pocket and turned it on to look at the clock. It was 22:31 at night.

"It's a 30-minute drive home. I'd better hurry back to my rent and get some rest. I'm really tired."

As I walked toward my rent, for some reason I started to feel a slight chest pain, and my left arm and neck were also aching. I also started to break out in cold sweat and felt a little nauseous.

"All of a sudden my chest hurts. It seemed like I needed more rest. I realized my lifestyle was unhealthy; I rarely exercised, always ate fast food because I didn't have time to cook, and worked every day until late at night. I hope nothing happens to my body."

I accelerated my footsteps, when I arrived at the door of my modest rental, I reached into my briefcase for the key. Unfortunately, I didn't find my rent key in my briefcase. I started to get confused.

"What? My rent key isn't in my briefcase?" I unpacked the contents of my briefcase and placed it on the floor, "Nothing. The key isn't there. Maybe I left it at the office when I packed my stuff!? Ah, what a bummer! How am I supposed to get into my own rental? There's no key duplicate shop open at this time of night."

....

Helpless and at a loss for words, I just sat on the cold floor and leaned against the door. I folded my legs and lowered my head with frustration increasingly gripping my head.

"Damn, why is it like this? Should I sleep in a hotel tonight? But, I have so little money left. Shit."

Suddenly, the pain in my chest got worse, I reflexively held my left chest and whimpered in pain.

"Ouch, why is my chest pain getting worse? Then, my head is also getting dizzy. My vision is starting to blur? What's wrong with my body? Could I be having a heart attack!?"

My breath caught in my throat, my chest felt like it was being pressed down by a giant, heavy rock. Every second felt like an endless century as the pain stabbed into my heart. Desperately, I tried to catch my breath, but the air seemed to have become my cruelest enemy. The flashing lights outside the rental seemed to pierce my eyes, stinging and blinding. My body began to feel weak, and darkness began to invade my vision.

"Oh my God, am I going to die? I die in a miserable state... I haven't even married and had a family. I haven't felt the warmth of love. I... I don't want to die yet. Please don't take my life."

I fell down and burst into tears. In the eerie silence, the only sound was my slowing heartbeat, as if to indicate that my life was coming to an end. It felt like I was drowning in an endless sea of darkness, with no hope of returning to the surface.

My neighbors who heard the sound of my sighs of pain immediately came out and approached me, I could see that they came trying to save me, even though my vision was starting to darken.

"Lisa? Lisa? Hang on, we'll call an ambulance! Don't lose consciousness, okay!? Hang in there, you can do it!" A woman who was my neighbor, patted my face in the hope that my consciousness would hold.

Meanwhile, a man who was also my neighbor was seen calling an ambulance with his smartphone, he was shouting, asking the ambulance to come to my location immediately.

"You're good neighbors... I'm grateful to have someone to be with me in my last moments. Please pass on my last message to my mother... sorry for not being able to give you grandchildren."

I breathed my last after saying so. My tear-stained eyes remained open and my mouth gaped open. It hurt like hell when my soul left my body.

"Lisa? Hey, Lisa!? Don't say that! You're a good person, stay alive! Hey! Hey!" The woman who was my neighbor kept trying to wake me up, as if she wasn't willing for me to leave this world.

The man who called the ambulance grabbed the woman's shoulders and shook his head, then he closed my gaping mouth and my open eyes, before taking a wide white cloth from inside his rental to cover my dead body.

....

I stood in front of my neighbors and looked at my dead body covered with a white cloth. I was already dead. This time I didn't have a body, but my form was that of a spirit without a piece of cloth. I could also float in the air as I pleased, through walls, and then the weight on my back seemed to disappear when I took the form of a spirit. I was happy to feel free from this cruel world, but I was also sad because I was not satisfied with my life.

"I didn't expect to pass away. Death is unpredictable when it comes. In fact, I still want to continue my life even if I become a corporate slave, because I'm not satisfied in living my life and wanted to meet my mother after not seeing her for a long time."

I went through the wall and into my rental. Although it was dark, I could clearly see my entire room, perhaps because it had become a spirit. I approached my beloved pet cat named Felyn, she was a female cat, brown in color, and had yellow eyes. Felyn seemed to be waiting for my return, she was lying on a small cardboard box.

"I'm sorry, Felyn, I cannot give you food tonight. I have died and will be gone forever from this world."

The cat named Felyn suddenly woke up and came out of the small box, then she looked at me and meowed at me, as if she could see me in spirit form.

"Meow, meow, meow." [Thank you for taking care of me, Lisa]

I was surprised when I heard that.

"Huh? I can understand cat language?"

"Meow, meow, meow, meow." [You're a kind-hearted human. I'm sure God will place you in heaven when the grim reaper takes you to the realm of the dead.]

I smiled at my cute cat, then I replied in a soft voice, "Thank you, Felyn. You're a good cat. I hope you find a new master who is better than me."

"Meow! Meow! Meow!" [Lisa is my best master! I won't look for a new master! Until death I will remain loyal to you!]

"I see," I smiled and stroked my cat's head even though my hand couldn't touch it, "I'm glad to hear that, Felyn."

To be continued....