The game of fetch takes us to the mouth of a large cave. I toss the stick inside and follow Sunny's bright white outline as she goes deep inside the cave to retrieve her wooden treasure. Within an hour we are so deep inside the Earth I am sure I can feel the heat from the Earth's mantle. Sunny wags happily and plays a game of going in and out of my legs rapidly chasing her tail, yet never quite catching it.
"Ah Sunny, here we are on the perfect vacation. No people, no conflicts, no politics, just a man and his dog." I say.
Sunny rolls onto her back for pats. Eager to please I comply. The pleasant repetitive action is relaxing.
Other than the steady drip of water I finally have silence. A frightening thought occurs. What if none of this really happened. What if I am having an elaborate dream. I do have a very strong imagination. Straining I try to force myself to consciousness. Nothing! Sunny is still on her back receiving pats and I am still an oily black shade with a penchant for bad jokes.
It occurs to me that there is no reason for me to expend the energy to be corporal. I relax. Now a bat could pass through me as if I were not here at all. I like this place. Time passes. I miss my wife. It seems a bit ironic that Life was there for me when I woke from my cycling and all I could think about was Sunny and getting revenge for her. Now I have Sunny and there is nothing I can do to get Life back. I am overwhelmed with the sense of loss. Sensing my grief, the cave moans out in such incredible sorrow the echos cause tears to fall from the stalactites. A swarm of bats hurry to fly away, knowing that whatever made the plaintive wail is a danger to all living things.
Time passes very slowly in a dark cave. Perhaps ten thousand drops of water has passed since I came down here with Sunny, perhaps ten trillion. I don't know and I don't care. Even Sunny has stopped wagging her tail, sensing my distress. I find her stick and toss it as far as I can. Sunny's tail wags like a helicopter blade and with great joy she goes into the cave complex in search of her wooden prey. I realize this is my opportunity. I couldn't do this in front of Sunny.
I have suspected that there may indeed be a way for me to end my existence and rid this world of a monster. I am a ghost. My thoughts, my dreams, my everything is nothing more than energy. I do not fully understand the science but somehow I can manipulate that energy with whatever sentience I have remaining to me. What if I accelerated that energy to the point where my sentience simply unravels? It has to be possible right? Right?!? I begin to concentrate on the problem. I focus all of my power on accelerating my energy. I can see sparks of energy arching from my resting place. It's working! Faster. Faster! Faster! More arching energy! The cave glows as more and more sparks of energy fly in all directions. The cave echos with the static sound of energy being released throughout the cave.
As the power begins to drain my thoughts become muddled. I see myself firing a gun at an Abrams tanks. Cooper is there and then he is gone. I push the throttle forward using the jet as a weapon to kill as many people as possible. I awaken and devour every lost soul in Lansing. I kill. I kill. I kill. I see Joe trying to convince me to shake my murderous impulse. There is a little girl. Sunny. Even my dear wife is shouting orders at me. The sparks are now long blue tendrils of lightening hitting stalagmites and stalactites indiscriminately. A stalactite hits the ground. I see white. I begin to dream. I begin to sleep. Darkness.
Heaven and Hell are pipe-dreams. They are idealized visions created by living people hoping to explain the unknowable to ease their fears. That is one more unknowable I can scratch off my list. The blissful void, the charismatic chasm of nothingness is gone. In its place is a tongue lapping me in the face. With each lap, I feel my strength, my powers, my sentience returning. I open my eyes and Sunny is alive with energy. Blue bolts shoot from her tongue into my face.
A girl's voice asks, "Is he going to live?"
Sunny barks once.
"Enough!" I say. Then I laugh in spite of myself.
Sunny quits giving me dog kisses. I focus and see Dawn, the little girl I killed in my village. She is smiling and patting Sunny on the head.
"Mr. Archer, why are you down in this big dark cave?" She asks.
"I came down here to get away from all the troubles in the world." I say.
"You're funny Mr. Archer!"
"Yes I am, but why do you think so Dawn?"
"Because you can't hide from trouble. Trouble always finds you. My mommy told me that."
"Well your mommy was right. I am in trouble."
"How come Mr. Archer? Did you break the law?"
"Yes, Dawn. I am afraid I broke a lot of laws. I have let everyone down."
"Not me. You are my hero and my friend." Tell me how I can help you get out of trouble!"
"Well Dawn, I am not sure what to do. Maybe that is why I came here. I can't be with the living anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because when I am around the living, people die...like what happened when I got too close to you with that gun when the tank attacked our village."
"I already told you that was not your fault. It was my fault for disobeying mommy. Nobody will blame you for trying to help people. People need your help and I am going to help you!"
"How are you going to help me dear child?"
"We are going to play a game."
"Okay, what game do you want to play Dawn?"
"I want to play hide and seek."
"Are you sure? I am very good at that game!"
"Yes!!! Mr. Archer, I want to play hide and seek!!"
"Okay..." I say.
"TAG!!! You're it!!!" Dawn shrieks.
"Dawn?"
"Yes, Mr. Archer?"
"How did you find me?" I ask.
"Your friend Mr. Joe told me you were sad and said I could help cheer you up."
"You have dear...and Dawn?"
"Yes, Mr. Archer??"
"One...two...three..." I say.
"No fair, you are peeking!!" Dawn says.
"Okay I am starting over NOW! One...two...three..."
"Sixty! Round and round I go, until I find Dawn."
I focus my powers. Every drip, every bat, every single blind cave cricket is like a drum beat to me. Tiny changes in the air current, in the temperature become my instant alarm bell. I sense Dawn is hiding near in a large rock near the cave mouth. Clever girl! However this is one game I wish to drag out.
"Sunny, I can't find Dawn!! If I don't find that girl we will never be able to save the world from bad guys! Where is she Sunny?" I say.
Sunny runs toward the rock that Dawn is hiding in, but I detect another ghost is watching us from up high. I become a blur of darkness, flying up to a large stalactite above my head.
"Well, children are not the only people who hide in the dark!" I say.
"This is the best seat in the house man. I didn't know you were so good with kids"
"Well Joe, neither did I. Now get down from there and watch me work" I say.
"You really do know how to kill a good time" Joe says.
I rush up to the giant boulder where Dawn is hiding and sit on top of it. Sunny is already lying curled up on top of the rock, pretending to sleep.
"Hmm, I think I lost her, Sunny. Dawn is too clever for us. Lets just sit on this big rock and hope she decides to come back and claim the winner's prize!" I say.
"Prize????" Dawn asks.
"What prize do I get?"
"First you get a big sloppy boy kiss from me."
"Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! Mr. Archer I lost! You found me!"
"Okay, well then second prize is you get to come with Mr. Archer while he saves the world from the bad guys!" I say.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaay!" Dawn says.
"How are you going to do that dude?" Asks Joe.
"Well I am not entirely sure. We can't rely on mortals. This has to be a job for the spirit world." I say.
"Brother I am with you, but we don't even have any Society technology anymore." Joe says.
"We don't need it. We have something better."
"Oh yeah? What might that be?" Asks Joe.
"I have a second chance with Life!" I say.
I push my hand deep into my skull and pull with all my might. Like Athena emerging from the split head of Zeus, so too a figure emerges slowly from my own head. Like Athena, she is weaponized.
"Took you long enough to figure that one out, smart guy."
Sunny wags her tail at once.
"I did not know you were in there" I say.
"Yes you did!"
"No I did not!"
"Yes you did!!"
I go to give the woman with the two katanas a big hug.
She slaps me violently.
She smiles. "Yes you did!!"