I opened my eyes.

It was still night time.

I could see few stars in the night sky.There were the sounds of crickets and frogs coming from nearby.
I knew I was by a river.I wasn't sure how I knew this,but....... I just knew.

I knew I was lying on the ground,I could feel the mud beneath my fingers

Odd.

I couldn't feel anything crawling on my body

I could hear an owl hooting in the distance.

"Where am I?" I whispered into the night.

  Had I been kidnapped? My wrists and ankles weren't bound.
There was nothing gagging my mouth.
Although I did notice a lot of old ropes and some concrete blocks strewn around on the ground.

I searched my mind. It scared me that I couldn't remember  my name.

I had no Idea who I was. I searched My mind again.

Slowly ....in flashes of memory I began to remember.

Some one had hit me over the head with something.

Someone..........a woman....

What was her name?.....Jessica...Yes, her name was Jessica.I remembered her face

I remembered her meeting me here and yelling at me.

Why had she been yelling?

What had she been saying?

Then slowly............sounds began accompanying the images in my head.

"Surprised to see me?" she had said as she came out of the bush path leading to this place.

"Rhema, you're actually dumber than I thought if you thought Ere was going to meet you here"she had said to me.

"Rhema"...........Yes!
 That was my name.

Jessica had said more things.
Most of it was distorted.

I could hear music playing in my head.

Why was I hearing music?

"......In your brown eyes,...... walked away....."or so the song went.

It kept on playing in my head as  she was yelling.

"I will never stop loving him " I heard my own voice say.

Then all I could remember was staring at the river.
The river,...........It felt as if I'd stared at the river so many times before.

It's as if I had been to this place many times before.

The music was louder now.

"......In your Brown Eyes,I was feeling low..."

What was it about that song that hurt me so much?

Then something hit the back of my head.And I blacked out.

That's all I remember.

As I sat up on the ground, I studied my surroundings.

I felt a slight pain at the back of my head.What had she hit me with?I wondered.

I recognised most of the things around me but for some weird reason,everything seemed different some how.

Did those plants grow bigger while I was out?I wondered as I stared at the vegetation around me.

"I could still hear that damn song in my head

".....Brown eyes..."

It was frustrating having a tune trapped in your head and not knowing why.

And who the hell was Ere?

Then,as quickly as I'd asked myself that, I began to remember.

Ere was my boyfriend.we had been together for almost a year now. I'd met him a couple of months after he'd been dumped by Jessica.

Though he didn't have a job at the time (which was the major reason Jessica had dumped him)
I loved him all the same.The past one year had been blissful.But all that changed once he'd gotten a job.

All of a sudden,Jessica was in the picture again.
Even before it had happened,I knew it was going to.I could sense It....I could see it in his eyes....his beautiful....brown eyes.

Was that the reason I was hearing that song over and over again in my head?

I stood up and looked around.Aside from the pain at the back of my head.I really couldn't feel any other pain in my body.

What had possessed me to come here in the first place?I wondered, it seemed very remote and a little lonely.then slowly I began to remember.

It was a place I and Ere used to come to....our secret getaway he called it.

A place by the river where we could sit down...talk, hold hands .....and make love.I remembered the nights we'd come here,I remembered the taste of his skin.

I remembered the feel of his arms around me and how safe I'd felt being here.

Now I remembered why I'd come here.I remembered that earth shattering call from him,telling me it was over,telling me he was going to be with Jessica.

I'd felt dead inside.My whole world had been crushed.

"....I can't be with you any more" he'd said
I remembered crying after he'd hung up. I remembered calling him back over and over again.....no answer.

I remembered coming here and sending him a text message to meet me here so we could talk one last time.

"......Brown eyes...."there it was in. That crazy song.Why was I hearing it?It was a woman's voice in the song.but I couldn't remember why I was hearing it.

I'd waited there for awhile,I'm not sure how long.Some where in my head I'd known he wouldn't show I'd known even before Jessica had shown up instead.

How had she known about this place? Had Ere told her?Why had she attacked me?

These questions plagued me as I followed the bush path towards the road.I had checked the surrounding area for my phone. Or anything of value, but found nothing.

As I got to the road, I felt a momentary dizziness.

I blackout again

The blackout must've lasted no more than a few seconds.

That slut must've hit me harder than I realized. I thought to myself as I rubbed the back of my head.

As I stood facing the silent road,I remembered I had driven here. I remembered the smell of the car's interior the feel of the leather seats and the red plastic crucifix dangling from the rear view mirror.

I had a car, I thought.

So why couldn't I remember all these things?

But the road was empty,and I was standing alone.

Where was the car?

I heard foot steps behind me.
Startled, I spun around fast

"Woah" came the voice of a smallish girl as she waved her hands about frantically in a gesture of surrender.

"....relax...I was just saying hello" she said as I looked her over.She was wearing red joggers,a pink tank top and a pair of trainers.

I quickly looked at my watch.The swatch Ere had gotten me last Christmas.It was a cheap watch, but it was from Ere that is all that mattered.

The face of the watch was cracked and the hands of the watch were frozen at 9:45pm.
The girl just stood there staring at me curiously.

Did I know her?I wondered. Was she yet another one of those memories my mind still couldn't remember?

"Do I know you?" I asked.

"No, you don't ....why?...do you think you do?"she asked with a hint of humour in her tone.

I couldn't understand why everything felt so weird.

The air,the silence.,the road.

"....I'm lost ...I'm looking for my ...my car" was all I could manage to say, as I continued looking up and down the silent road.

Why was I even talking to this girl?

"Are you okay,...were you in an accident...?"The girl asked genuinely concerned.

"...I don't know... I...who are you why am I talking to you....and why are you out jogging this late...?"I asked as more confusion swelled inside me.

"...you...really don't know do you...?"she said to me with a strange look on her face.

"....know?...know what?"I asked as the  song started playing again.

Then I heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.

The headlights of the car lit  up the road.

It dawned on me that we were in the middle of no where and and two attractive young women by themselves out here this late would be too tempting for any armed robber,ritualist or rapists.

I quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the bushes.

"What are you do.....?"the girl protested as I  dragged her down.

There was a momentary jolt I felt as I touched her skin. There was an off chance that the car might not belong to a ritialist,robber or rapist. But I was too scared and confused to take any chances.

Weird.

The car began to slow down.Had we been spotted?

"Why are we hiding...?" The girl asked in her usual playful manner.

"shhhh!"as the car  pulled to a stop.

Fear gripped me.

Long pause.

The door on driver's side opened and Jessica popped out....and so did Ere from the passenger side

"Jessica,what are you doing...?"Ere yelled, his voice sounded oddly strange to me,I didn't know why.

Jessica was running across the road into the bush path. Her hair was longer and her clothes were different. "Had the slut had a make over or gone shopping right after she'd knocked me out?" I wondered.

And why was Ere with her?

Then I noticed something weird.Jessica was crying, she was  barefooted as she ran into the bush path not more than a few paces from where we were hiding.

"What's going on?" I whispered as I saw Ere....my handsome brown eyed Ere running after her.

"Lovers' quarrel"The Girl beside me chuckled.
At that point,I really wished we HAD ran into ritualists and rapists that night I would've fed her to them.

"Jessica please stop this...what are you doing?"Ere was screaming after her.

"I CAN'T LIVE WITH THIS GUILT ANY MORE!!!" came Jessica's frantic voice.

Then they moved further inwards.Towards the area she had attacked me.

What was going on?

I decided to get closer.

I inched closer.

Through the leaves and bushes that surprisingly were easy to go through.

I found a spot close enough to listen and watch without being seen ...or heard.

Ere and Jessica were standing at the clearing I'd woken up in. Of course I was tempted to come out from my hiding place but something was going on.

I had to find out what it was.

".....what's wrong with you.?....why did you bring us here?"Ere was saying.

Through the clearing,through the symphony of crickets and frogs nearby, I could hear in his voice something I'd always thought was just for me.

 It was a warm tenderness.
A loving tone that always made me feel special.

"...when you proposed....and gave me this beautiful ring,......I knew I didn't deserve you...."Jessica's voice was cracking into sobs.

Ring...?...proposed...?what was she talking about?It was in that moment that I saw it...it reflected the moonlight...and it was on .....her left hand.

"Oh my God!"I whispered to myself.
Ere had engaged her?.....

That slut knocks me out and gets awarded an engagement ring?

I was furious.

I was so furious.Then I heard that damn song again.

I couldn't care less where it was coming from or what their issues were.

Ere had hurt me deeply,he had hurt me like no man ever could. I was ready to tell him to go to hell, infact, I was ready to tell the two of them to die.

Ere never deserved me.

Then I  rose from my hiding place and slowly walked towards them."How dare Ere?" I thought.That was supposed to be MY ring......MY RING.

".....what are you talking about...?"Ere asked Jessica.He was clearly confused.
"...do you remember the last sms Rhema sent you??"Jessica

"...yeah..I do, it was over a year ago...around the time she went missing

"...it's exactly a year ago....."Jessica nodded.

At that point I halted my approach.

".....a year.?...what are you guys talking about?" I said out loud.

But they both seemed to be too absorbed in the moment to have heard me despite the fact that I was only a few feet from them.

Still crying,Jessica slumped to her knees as more sobs came.

"....that night....while you slept, I went through your phone and saw the text(sob)....since you had described this place,I decided to come out here to confront her....(sob) myself"

"YOU WHAT??"Ere barked.

Jessica was on auto pilot.Her lips seemed to be moving on their own volition.

"....I just wanted to scare her....(sob). .but one thing led to another....(sob)we had an altercation....I....I picked up a huge stone and Bashed her over ....the head with it....!"

Ere took a few retreating steps away from her.The look on his face was pure terror.

Jessica looked at her hands like she was seeing them for the first time

"......there was so much blood....her skull was cracked open....I knew she was dead"Jessica continued.

Slowly...a picture was beginning to form in my head.

"No!" I said. Somewhere in my head I knew the truth.But my rational mind refused to accept it.
With all the strength in my body, I screamed Ere's name.

Even to my ears, my voice sounded deafening.
The silence that accompanied my scream was most frightening.

Jessica was still kneeling on the ground as she sobbed away.Ere still stared at her with the terror in his eyes.

They hadn't heard me.

Long Silence.

"Does it make sense now?"

Came the voice of the girl from behind me.

I turned around slowly.

The Girl was standing there smiling with her hands in the pockets of her joggers.

"What's going on......Why can't they hear me?"I asked.

"We're dead....that's why they can't see us" she said simply.

I still had the confused look on my face.

"...Jessica killed you here,exactly a year ago..."the girl continued casually.

"....there was just too much blood"
Jessica was saying.

As the horror on my face mirrored Ere's

"....she wasn't....(sniff)breathing...wasn't moving(sniff)...there was so much blood...I got scared"

Ere reached forward and grabbed her roughly
by her arms

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"he screamed into her face as he shook her like a madman.

Long pause

As In my head I could hear that song again.

"....brown eyes..."

I remembered now.

"I was so scared...(sniff)...so I tied her legs with some concrete blocks I found nearby....(sniff)....and rolled her into the river"Jessica continued

Ere was frozen as he stared at Jessica...there were no words.

Just the sound of crickets,frogs and a distant owl.

"...it has haunted my dreams...(sniff) ever since..  So when you proposed today...of all days...I...couldn't take it...anymore" with that.

Jessica exploded into a series of heavy sobs.

"My God" I said as the girl stood next to me.

"....when I saw you..." The Girl said

"...I thought you knew...but I soon realized you didn't so..."

"..but I felt pain" I said frantically.

"...I can hear things..I ..."

"....sometimes we can feel things..hear things...even taste things..." The Girl said calmly.

I couldn't help but notice how gentle her manner was.

".....but those are just memories...from the life we once had" The Girl continued as we watched the crying Jessica and the traumatized Ere.

The song was still playing in her head.

I remembered it now.

I had my ear phones on that night. The song on repeat playing from my phone while I'd waited for him to show up.

I'd taken off my ear piece to talk to Jessica.

Once I was done talking, I turned to face the river again but not before putting my ear phones back on.

It was in that moment that she had hit me....it was in that moment I had died.

It was the last song I'd heard in the last place I'd known happiness.

"....most ghosts I've met don't even realize they're dead.." The Girl was saying



"....so ...what happens now...?" I asked still staring at Ere.

It hurt me to see him scared. I barely even thought of Jessica....my Murderer.

"....I think your Ghost stuck around just to say good bye to him...I'm guessing the moment he engaged her...it woke you somehow...." The Girl said.

I just stood there,transfixed.

I suddenly knew what I had to do.

Ere was crying.

"You need to let him go...." the girl continued.

"...you need to forgive him for what he did to you...otherwise, your soul will never rest."

Long pause

I went to him....and knelt down in front of him.I could still hear the night sounds around me and Jessica's whimpering behind me.
It hurt me to see him cry.

There I was hating him all this time, maybe in death, I was still a fool,maybe in death I still didn't know what was good for me.

But I didn't want to hate him any more.

I loved him too much.

"I forgive you" I whispered looking into his beautiful brown eyes.

 I didn't even bother looking in Jessica's direction.

There was no point.

"So what happens now?" I asked  The Girl.

 But even as I did, I felt myself....fading away.

It was a peaceful feeling...like being welcomed home.

"So....how come...you're still here?" I asked her as the peaceful feeling overwhelmed me.

The Girl Shrugged and said.

"...I was raped and killed on this road many years ago....I guess I'm waiting to look my murderers in the eye one day...."She said simply.

Then she gave me a lovin"....Rest in Peace dear"

Then I faded away...completely.

LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID





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