There is no light, just only darkness that stretches endlessly; there is no sound of the bustle of city life, no honking sounds, or sounds of footsteps. Just an endless darkness and unbroken silence, and then there is Andy a guy who thinks that he just suffered the most ridiculous death he ever imagined
Just a few minutes back, he was trying very enthusiastically to impress his group of friends by showing off his balancing tricks, but who knows, an unknown ba***d threw a banana peel under his feet. And the next moment we know, Andy, who is showing off his tricks, tripped and fell on the ground and came to all so familiar blank space of unconsciousness. No flashing lights, no dramatic music, just a soft thud as his skull hit the pavement. No grand battle, no heroic last words, just death by a banana peel. There is just a single regret not seeing the study materials his friend was about to send; I hope he will not send it.
Andy opened his eyes, thinking he would see a grim reaper or something. But to his surprise, he saw towering trees; thinking he had reincarnated just like those fantasy stories he read, he was excited. But he was well…just a wisp.
"I…I am a lightbulb?" Andy muttered in disbelief, that's what he tried to say. But instead of words, all that came were just some soft, floating glow of light that could barely even make any sound. Then came a doubt. Can he even speak?
Andy tried to look around to see where he was and barely managed to get a little vague sense of his surroundings: dense forest with large towering trees that were thick and tangled with each other. And his wisp form was…well, floating on his own. It looks more like a firefly moving here and there aimlessly.
"Well, I can't walk and only float. nor can I talk and do anything to get a great start." Andy signed, thinking, what can't he really do with his body?
Andy decided thinking wouldn't do any good, so he started his first real attempt, but that first attempt was a disaster. Trying to move seems to require more than just his thought. At first, Andy attempted to do some exploring, but instead of floating normally, he was tumbling in the air just like a balloon caught in a storm. He just floated around in circles, slamming into the trees. The continuous slamming exhausted him.
"This is ridiculous; I can't even float properly," he said, but all that came out of his mouth was just a soft light.
Andy finally managed to stop himself from moving and hovering in mid-air. Even though it was not perfect, it was ok that he managed to float in one place. He has no body, no voice; he is just glowing or with a little consciousness. Was this it? Is this his new life?
But suddenly there was a rustle nearby that caught his attention, and thinking he was in the forest, he thought something big was going to pop out and eat him. But it wasn't a monster or a wild beast. It was something even more annoying.
Then a little voice came up from somewhere in the branches above him, but just hearing the voice he felt irritated. "Well, look at you, floating around like a little firefly. Are you doing some performance?"
Andy tried to look around to see if he could find the source of the voice. A small mischievous-looking creature with two glowing eyes and a vaguely almost transparent humanoid shape came out of the tree branches. She looks at him with an experience that can be said to be a mix of amusement and a little disdain.
"Who are you?" Andy tried to ask, but all that came out of his mouth was a slight light, nothing more or less.
That humanoid creature laughed, "You can't even speak properly, can you? Well, don't worry, you will learn it slowly. But I have to admit, out of all the creatures I have seen in the forest you are the most entertaining one. By the way, I am Lira, the forest spirit.
"What are you talking about?" Andy thought, but he couldn't really talk right now, let alone ask this new stranger what she meant.
"I know, I know", Lira continued, straightening herself "You are probably thinking ', What happened to me? Why am I a ball of light?' well, you are lucky you pitiful thing this sage is here to enlighten you." She tried to act like she was some sort of a sage, but it clearly didn't suit her
Andy, with no better options, just stood there, gave up on trying to speak and simply hovered there, a little flustered.
Lira shifted her tone to more serious, though she still had that little mischief. "Look, I can see that you have noticed that you are a wisp now, but to tell you, the wisp has very High potential. The only problem is that you are as useful as a broken compass that can only go on circling around."
Andy has no idea how to respond to that, and he doesn't even know what potential a wisp is supposed to have. But he wasn't ready to admit that he was a broken compass, he is better than a broken compass.
"Now," Lira continued, coming down from the branch of the tree. " I am going to help you out; no more flailing around like a confused jellyfish. Your first lesson is the focus. Try moving in one direction; I know you can do it; think of it like in front of you, there is a treasure chest."
Andy rolled his eyes and looked towards her; focus? What was she supposed to do when he couldn't even float steadily for a few minutes, what was he supposed to do? But, in the spirit of trying to make the best of a bad situation, he concentrated.
But nothing happened. Nothing but even moved from the position.
Lira sighed, clearly unimpressed by him. " How can you move if you are not even trying your best? Fine, I will help you."
Lira closed her eyes and snapped her fingers, and suddenly, a cold breeze came and Andy felt an odd tug inside his.. well, wherever the centre of the being was. As if like a magnet pulling iron, before he could react, he was zipped off way too fast and slammed right into the tree.
"ow," Andy thought or would have thought if he could have experienced the pain.
Lira slowly came next to him with a smiling face. " Now that's what I will call an effort; see how you went in a single direction."
Andy just lay there instead of hovering; he was clearly frustrated. "This is gonna take a while to adapt, doesn't it?"
Lira turns her back to Andy. "Probably, but I have to admit that you are kind of fun to watch."
And that's how Andy's first day as a wisp began, not with glory or a grand battle, but with just a simple series of failures. He couldn't walk, nor could he talk. And apparently, he now has a forest spirit mentor who sometimes likes to act as a sage.
Maybe life as a wisp wouldn't be so boring after all.