My name is Zarifa, Zarifa Risa Bedelia (my parents have traveled to a lot of different countries while my mom was pregnant with me). I’m 14 years old, or at least I was. I died only 2 months ago, along with my mom, dad, and older sister Adelicia. We were visiting Paris, France because I had run away to see the Eiffel tower with my sister. I was there when France was bombed, our plane didn’t take off fast enough, and there were many people in the airport still waiting for their flights. They all died, along with us. The only thing that still bothers me is, my family would still be alive, if it hadn’t been for me.



***

My mom and dad kept telling me we had to leave to catch our flight, but I wanted to be sure to have all my belongings. I kept fighting with them, not knowing why we were leaving but just that we had to go. I made them wait for me until everything was packed and I got to see the lovely Eiffel tower, so they ended up waiting an extra two hours for me to get done before we left. Those extra 2 hours were critical to our survival, but instead I had to have extra items that had no crucial importance and I had to see the Eiffel tower which wasn’t what I thought it would be. When we got to the airport our plane had already taken off, as it had been for the last hour. However, we were scheduled to get on the next plane which would take about 30 minutes to arrive. During those 30 minutes I started hearing strange noises. People all around us started crying and telling each other they loved them. My family did nothing. We just sat there, in silence. No goodbyes or hugs not one of us said we loved each other like all the other families.
Finally our plane arrived. We got up and started to enter the plane. But just as we were about to take our seats, BOOM!!! It seemed as if the entire world were shaking around us. The airport and everything around the airport was crashing down, people were screaming, running, and holding on to each other. Everything was a disaster as flames started to engulf the airport and us. I suddenly regretted coming to France in the first place and had a sudden whir of nausea, as I realized that it was my entire fault. I will never know who survived and who died in that airport, but what I do know, is that my family is gone. I’m gone as well, but the worst part is, I didn’t even tell my parents or my older sister how much I loved them, or how sorry I was, that I hadn’t listened to them and left when we were supposed to.


***
So here I am alone, stuck in between life and death. I haven’t seen my parents and sister at all in this new world; I’m guessing they already crossed over to the “other side” since what happened was my fault, I might not get to cross over to be with them. It’s not so bad; actually it’s a lot more beautiful than earth is! There are a lot of things here I never knew existed, like creatures that look similar to mermaids and strange, unknown monsters that I can’t even explain. All I know, is I need to figure out how to get out of here and how to cross over to be with my family.
I’ve been here for 2 months living on my own for the first time and I think I am doing pretty well. I built a hut close to a river where I get my water and there’s food growing everywhere. I even taught myself to cook, from the experience of watching my grandma cook. The hut I built isn’t the best, but what matters is that it’s stable and keeps the bad weather out. It also keeps these peculiar bugs out. They’re about the size of a fingernail, they’re black, and they have one red dot around their right eye. Their eyes are almost bigger than their bodies. They’re really cute until you try to pick them up. They then open their mouths, hiss, and show their sharp teeth while charging at you. I’ve never picked them up because I’m a little scared to and they could also possibly be poisonous. I’m terrified of them.
Today I realized that I am running low on food and I know that there are some mango trees growing nearby along with lots of cows on a pasture about 10 minutes away. I grab the bow that I carved from small trees outside my hut and the basket I weaved. Walking along I think about how the cows on the pasture are taken care of. Their all enclosed in a fence with a large pail of water that seems like it gets filled up every day. So there must be another person or thing that takes care of them close by, if I could only find where they live.
Finally I reach the mango tree and pick five mangos, a place them in my basket, and then I continue walking toward the pasture. When I reach the pasture however, I don’t stop I keep walking because I want to find the place where the thing that is taking care of the cows lives. As I’m walking I see a home in the middle of two trees that bend and overlap each other. Right next to the house is a river running into a giant lake. The river however isn’t just flowing into the lake it’s going off a beautiful waterfall. I walk up to the house and slowly knock on the door.

“Who’s there?” a deep voice asks.

“I’m looking for the person or thing, that takes care of the cows on the pasture,” I say hesitantly back to a face that I know is behind the door.

The door opens and I see an average height man with blonde hair and blue eyes who looks to be about 19 or 20 years old. He smiles and with a crooked toothy grin, it’s warming because it reminds me of how my dad used to smile when he would jump with me on the trampoline outside our house.

“Can I help you?” the man asks taking me out of my trance.

“Oh. Well I just thought I was alone here so it’s really great to see a human face! I’m Zarifa I live about 10 minutes south from here. I was just looking for some answers of to where I am and how to find my family.”

“Ok. I’m Shallon I live here with my younger brother Luka. Come in and I’ll try to answer your questions.”

I enter the house a little unsure but still happy to see an actual person! While he’s not looking I pinch myself to be sure that I’m not dreaming. When I know that I’m wide awake I give out a little laugh that Shallon doesn’t hear. We sit at the table and I ask him where I am.

“You my dear, are in the in between, you’re not dead, but you are definitely not alive.” He says with a small chuckle like what he said was funny. But it wasn’t at least not to me. All of a sudden I started to feel woozy and all I want is to go back to my hut. This man is really uncomforting and he just keeps staring at me.

Suddenly, while I’m thinking about leaving, he gets up with a knife in his hand and starts walking toward me with another crooked toothy grin. However, this time it’s not comforting in anyway. My heart starts beating and as I’m about to let out a terrified scream the door opens and a young boy about my age with olive skin, black hair, and brown eyes walks in. It must be Luka, Shallons little brother.

“What’s going on?” Luka asks as Shallon tries to hide the knife behind his back.

“I was just going to cut some meat for our visitor would you like some?” Shallon asks with a shrug.

Shallon puts the knife away, but before either of them can say anything else, I’m running out the door as fast as I can, with tears streaming down my face, to the safety of my hut.


***

I hadn’t realized I fell asleep until a knock on the door woke me up. I wasn’t thinking as I got up and reached for the knob on my door. I opened the door half expecting it to be Shallon. I wanted to close the door back up but it was too late the door was already halfway open with someone stepping through.

“You don’t mind if I come in do you? I was hoping to talk to you without my brother.” Luka said with a fake smile on his face.

“Sure come in…as long as you promise not to try and kill me.”
“Alright I promise,” he said with a smile that looked nothing like Shallons, “So you ran out so fast I never heard your side of the story, or why you’re here in the first place.”
I led him over to a seat made of dry mud, leaves, and cotton. I explained to him how I got here and how I was looking for someone who could help me and become my friend. I told him about how Shallon sat there staring at me then pulled put a knife and started walking toward me. Then I told him how I was scared and just needed someone to be there for me and help me to figure out how I can see my family again. For some reason I felt as though I knew who Luka was and that I could trust him with anything.
“Zarifa, what are you thinking about?”
“Have we met before? I feel like I know you but I just can’t remember. But I know that we’ve met before”
“Ok here’s the thing. We have met before…You know…before you ran away to France. We were dating when a witch came to me and told me that this boy Shallon and I were going to die. She told me that if I didn’t break up with you the next day you were going to die too. I didn’t know who Shallon was and I didn’t know that you were going to run away to France because of me.”
“I…I…I thought I just wanted to see the Eiffel tower…I would remember if I ran away because of you wouldn’t I?”
“That’s the thing Zarifa, the witch made you run away and erased your memory, and I didn’t know she was going to do that until after I died. I was in love with you and I didn’t want you to get hurt. So I did what the witch told me to do, I met her at a bridge the night after I broke up with you and she laughed and pushed me off the bridge. As I was falling she told me to find a house by a waterfall and if I didn’t do what she said you would be hurt again.”
I was so confused but I believed him every single word he told me.
“Wait what did the witch mean again? All I remember is dying…”
“Zarifa…she had killed you. She stabbed you and made you think that France was bombed. Then she sent you here to make sure that I do everything she wants. Shallon isn’t my brother, he’s her son and I have to treat him or else you will be killed.”
“HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE IF I’M ALREADY DEAD!?” I was in tears and angry then I remember something.
“What about my parents. Luka where are my parents!?”
“You’re not dead. I mean we’re not dead.”
“Then WHAT are we? I thought you said I was stabbed!”
“You were stabbed with blade that makes you sleep…forever…it’s like being dead and alive at the same time. It’s called being in the in between. As for your parents, they’re here meant to hurt you if the blade Shallon has doesn’t work.”
“Work for what? What does he want with me?”
“You’re supposed to marry him and rule this world with him, and I’m supposed to serve both of you until your kids are old enough to rule. Then girl and guy will come in to take our places.”
Suddenly memories started flooding back to me and I remembered how much I loved…love Luka and I remembered the witch erasing my memories and stabbing me.
All of a sudden I’m in Lukas arms crying wanting to say that I remember but the words aren’t coming out of my mouth.
“Are you ok? I’m really sorry all this happened but we will find your parents and get out of here I promise.” Luka said holding on to me with strong arms.
“I…I…Luka…I remember what happened to me…I remember everything before I died…or came here.”
“It’s getting late maybe you should get some sleep I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Wait! Thank you Luka, tomorrow we can start searching for my parents and I way out of here.”
“Yeah, we can.” He said as he left my hut and I fell asleep.