Lurky Homes, an acolyte of the Temple of Light, stood among the smoldering bodies, glued to the ground. Or maybe, he wasn't standing. Maybe he was lying there on the mud ground, among the scattered dead. But he was breathing, wasn't he? Breathing heavy. So, no, he wasn't dead.

The carriages, the carts, the donkeys, had been ripped apart by the rock bomb, each lay toppled, burning in flames. The crowd wailed, people ran helter-skelter in agony, others yelled. But none of these details made any impression on Lurky.

The bodies were all he saw.

The bodies, remained on the ground with fire arrows, stuck onto them, with the carriages, all billowed in oily smoke.

Most of the bodies were blackened; many were broken; a few still moved from the shaking force from their beloved, who weren't ready to ascertain their death. Lurky moved a leg forward. His breath came in ragged gasps, drowning out the wails around him.

'Brace up boy. It will be okay. There's been a mix-up. There had to be.'

But there was no mix-up, was there? This hadn't been just any group of travelers making their way through busy Old City roads on a fateful morning. This was a group selected by the Church, the Temple of Light. A group of believers.

And today, Lurky had hugged his mother, Rose, and his younger sister, Emily, in happiness as they were going to Mena, to see the statue of the Almighty. Not just any statue, a statue that had been carved out of the real resemblance of the Almighty God of Light.

Someone was screaming behind him, screaming his name. "Lurky!"

Lurky staggered forward, tearing his eyes from the disgusting scene that was an aftermath of flames.

'Oh, my dear God of Light, please!'

The bodies were everywhere as he stumbled over them like a man possessed, pulling them to see their faces. His hands trembled, and a soft whimper followed him.

The scream from behind took on a guttural tone. "Lurky…!"

Lurky leapt around the bodies, frantic.

'I beg you, Almighty. I beg…'

Just then his eyes fell on it. The golden pendant that used to be on his mother's necklace. The facts crashed in on his mind, like bricks tossed from above. The first was that he had mistaken his mother to be among the travelers, so, she should still be alive, at home. The second was that Rose had stubbornly traveled alongside other believers, and must have been burned to death.

The second thought was the truth.

By the side, another body lay beside his mother, and the third thought came into his mind.

'Even until death, Emily still cling unto mother.'

Something snapped in Lurky's mind then. No young boy could see what he was seeing and remain whole. Air seemed not to enter his lungs again; his heart would never beat with the same rhythm it had. Nothing would ever be the same.

"Lurky…!"

The two bodies lay still, dead and unfeeling, and he stared at them in utter horror. He clamped his eyes shut, dropped trembling arms to his side, and lifted his chin to the sky. His breathing settled to long pulls. His muscles quivered from head to toe.

'Tell me this is a dream. Have I fallen into a trance?'

"Lurky…!"

Lurky's hands knotted to fists and he began to sob, open mouthed.

His eyes caught another sight in front of him. Another dead body, blackened by flames.

He moved forward.

At the hands of the dead body, was a staff, with orbs at its top that is meant for illumination.

Some men on white robes stood around the dead body, their faces saddened by the sight. Some pressed the body's chest, down, and allowed it to pull up. Down again… and continuously, they pressed onto the chest as if to revive the dead body's breath.

He looked closely, and what he saw shocked him.

'How!'

The dead body was a complete replica of himself.

The youngest acolyte of the Temple of Light, at just Seventeen years old.

The dead body was him, Lurky.

'But still, how?!'

"Lurkyyy!"

The call cut through his mind for the first time, a scream full of excitement. Lurky caught his breath and jerked his head to the sound. Three young people stood on the sidewalk, their faces beaming with smiles.

"Lurky!"

The lady among the two young men screamed at him.

"Come now, it's time…"

"Time for?"

But Lurky suddenly began to walk, holding his chest as if his heart wanted to fall. He stumbled into a run.

He wanted to make sure what he saw wasn't right. He wanted to be sure that young boy's dead body wasn't his. He wanted everything to come back to normal. He wanted everything to be clear to him.

But he couldn't speak out.

Just then, he halted in front of the three people who had been calling his name over and over and over again. And he wanted to ask plenty questions, but the words were not coming.

And the truth dawned on him. Nothing would ever be normal.

Nothing. Ever.