"Father… please…" I stared deeply into my father's eyes. "Don't leave me…"
My father's hand moved closer to mine, his fingers brushing against mine softly, almost hesitantly. "There's nothing to worry about, my child," he said, his voice calm, but tinged with a sorrow I couldn't name.
I gripped his hand tighter. "But… I can't do this without you. I'm scared."
He shook his head slightly, a small, sad smile forming on his lips. "Fear… fear is natural. But it should not bind you. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting despite it."
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I felt them streaking down my cheeks. "I don't want to lose you."
"You won't," he whispered. "Even if I am gone, my strength, my love… it will always be with you. You carry it in your heart. And that is stronger than any force that would try to take me from you."
I could feel the warmth of his hand seeping into mine, like sunlight breaking through a cold, dark morning. His eyes, those familiar eyes that had guided me through every storm held a serenity that calmed the panic in my chest.
"Remember this," he said softly, leaning closer, his breath brushing against my ear. "Life is fleeting, fragile. And yet… it is precious. Every moment, every laugh, every touch matters."
I swallowed hard, trying to hold back my sobs. "I don't understand…"
"You will," he said, his gaze steady and unwavering. "There will come a time when everything else fades away, and all that remains is the love you shared… the lives you touched. That is eternal."
His hand gave mine one final squeeze, firm and grounding. "Spend time with your loved ones… die with them."
I felt a shiver run through me, not from fear, but from the weight of his words. They were simple, yet carried the full force of a lifetime.
And then, just like that, his presence began to fade like the last note of a song lingering in the air.
I sank to my knees, my body trembling uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and unrelenting, as I clutched my father's hand. His warmth was fading, slipping through my fingers like water. I pressed my forehead against his chest, desperate to hold onto him, to keep him here just a little longer.
"Father… don't leave me…" I whispered between sobs, my voice cracking under the weight of my grief. My chest heaved, each breath jagged, each heartbeat painfully loud in the quiet room.
Memories flooded me, the sound of his laughter, the way he always knew when I was scared, the countless nights he had stayed awake just to make sure I was safe. Every fragment of my childhood, every lesson, every small act of love, pressed down on me, breaking me in a way I hadn't thought possible.
I stayed there, letting myself collapse into the sorrow, letting the tears flow freely. It felt like my entire world was unraveling, thread by thread, and there was no one to catch me but him.
Then, slowly, I felt the warmth of his words linger in me. "Spend time with your loved ones… die with them." They echoed in my mind, steady, grounding, a lighthouse in the storm of my grief.
I lifted my head, my hands still clutching his as if to tether myself to the last fragment of him. My tears continued to fall, but my resolve began to harden.
With a shuddering breath, I pushed myself up from my knees. My legs were weak, trembling, but I stood. I held his hand one last time, pressing it to my chest, letting his presence fill me fully before releasing.
I straightened my shoulders, wiping the wet tracks from my face, and looked forward. The room was emptier now, but somehow… I was not.
I stumbled toward the door, my chest still tight from the sobs, my hands trembling as I fumbled with the handle.
The hospital hallway stretched before me, sterile and quiet, but I didn't notice it. I didn't hear the distant beeping of monitors or the soft shuffle of nurses' shoes. All I could feel was the weight of my father's absence pressing against my chest.
I pushed the doors open and rushed out into the cool night air. The wind hit my face, sharp and biting, but it barely registered. I ran without thinking, feet pounding the wet pavement, past empty cars and flickering streetlights, until I stopped on the edge of the hospital grounds.
I looked up.
The sky stretched endlessly above me, dark and vast, scattered with stars. But tonight, it was not peaceful.
The first vision hit like a bolt.
A figure in golden armor hovered silently over the city, wings spread wide, eyes glowing like molten sunlight. Then another, draped in deep blue robes, spinning a massive hammer as lightning danced along their arms. The air shimmered, bending like heat over pavement, and every time I blinked, the forms changed. Some monstrous, some divine, some impossibly human.
I gasped, stumbling back a step.
A god with long, flowing hair of pure flame hovered just above the street, staring down at me with eyes that burned like the midday sun. Another one, a figure clad in silver and black, held a spear taller than the tallest building nearby, spinning it with ease. Their voices, unspoken yet deafening, whispered through the night air.
They moved through the clouds, riding wind currents, shifting shapes. I could see the faint outlines of familiar faces from myths I'd only read about some terrifying, some awe-inspiring.
I fell to my knees again, overwhelmed, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. My father's words echoed in my mind, grounding me: Spend time with your loved ones… die with them.
The visions didn't fade. They swirled around me like a storm of light and power, gods and goddesses suspended in the air, their forms flickering in and out, some reaching toward me, some locked in battles I couldn't fully perceive.
I raised a trembling hand, trying to shield my eyes, but the images pressed in closer, as if the sky itself were alive with power.
And then, just for a moment, it all paused. The gods froze mid-motion, suspended in the night, and I realized they weren't just visions. They were warnings. Invitations. Challenges.
I swallowed hard, feeling the cold night wind on my face, and stood. The tears were gone now, replaced with something sharper.
I had seen them. I had seen the gods.