The water felt cold, a strange stillness wrapping around Audrey as she sank, her body descending slowly to the riverbed. She barely registered the chill, her mind adrift in flashes of color and sound—fragments of her life drifting in and out like scattered leaves.
A memory surfaced. A conversation, sharp and raw, from earlier that morning.
"You think I don't care?" Audrey had demanded, her voice edged with frustration. "Do you even see what this is doing to us?"
He looked at her, the tiredness in his eyes a familiar ache. "This isn't about caring," he replied, voice cold. "This is about understanding what it takes to keep things together."
Their words had built walls around them, heavy and unyielding, pushing them further apart. Audrey had stared, searching his face for some hint of the warmth they once shared. But doubt lingered, unspoken—a suspicion she'd kept to herself. Lately, she'd found herself wondering if he was giving that warmth to someone else. She felt it in the way he withdrew, the quiet secrecy that crept into their conversations. But confronting him felt impossible; each time she tried, the words caught in her throat.
Another memory slipped into her mind, brighter and softer.
Laughter echoed, and there they were, younger and happier, twirling under a canopy of stars on the night he proposed. He held her close, whispering promises she believed would last a lifetime. They'd been inseparable, souls interwoven, bound by dreams of a future they'd built together.
Her chest tightened as she sank deeper into the darkness. Was it all gone? Had they lost themselves, or had she let herself drift too far from him?
A sudden awareness broke into her thoughts—a pain in her chest, her lungs screaming for air. She realized, with a rising panic, that she was sinking fast. Her body was numbing, her movements slow and heavy, like something was pressing her down. Audrey tried to recall how she ended up here by the water, but it was all so hazy. She remembered walking along the riverbank and a strange sensation of slipping. But now… was it an accident? Or…?
Before she could form another thought, everything went silent.
When Audrey opened her eyes again, the darkness had been replaced by blinding white light, stretching endlessly in every direction. She felt weightless, suspended between nothing and everything, surrounded by an empty vastness.
Disoriented, she stood, her feet touching nothing solid, yet she felt rooted. She took a cautious step, then another, her gaze darting around in search of anything familiar.
"Audrey."
The voice was gentle, but it held a strange resonance. She turned to see a figure standing before her—a human-like entity, tall and cloaked in soft, shifting light. His features were calm, almost serene, but his eyes gleamed with an ancient wisdom and a touch of playfulness.
"Who… are you?" she asked, her voice a faint echo in the emptiness.
The figure inclined his head slightly, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I am Tuin, the keeper of this realm—the in-between. I guide souls like yours, showing them where they'll journey next. Heaven, or…" He paused, leaving the alternative unspoken.
Audrey felt a pang of fear but kept her gaze steady. "Am I… am I dead?"
Tuin's smile didn't falter. "Not entirely. You're here, on the edge, still deciding." He looked at her intently. "Tell me, if you had the chance to rewrite your story… would you take it?"
His words washed over her, strange yet oddly comforting. Audrey found herself drawn in, his question lingering in her mind.
"Rewrite my story?" she echoed, trying to make sense of it all.
Tuin only offered a slight, playful smile, as if he knew secrets she could never begin to imagine.
Audrey's surroundings shifted. In an instant, the bright whiteness vanished, replaced by the harsh sensation of water filling her lungs. She gasped, sputtering as she realized she was back in her body, her face plunged into freezing water. Panic flooded her as she struggled, desperate for air, her senses flooding with terror and confusion.
Someone's hand pressed firmly on the back of her head, forcing her downward. She fought against the pressure, kicking and twisting, her lungs burning as she clawed at the unseen force.
With one final, frantic surge, she broke free, her head bursting out of the water, gulping in precious breaths of air, her heart racing with a fear she'd never felt before.