CHAPTER 1

The dull thumping of my heart made my breath hitch. Oh, how long has it been since I heard the sound of my own heartbeat? 

 How did I forget the numbing fear as it filters through my veins? Each beat was a reminder of my mortality, the frailty of my existence. Yet, here it was again, that faint, familiar rhythm, stirring memories long buried.

Your dazzling smile reminded me of a time long ago, a time when I would feel the cold droplets as I danced in the rain, when the world felt alive with possibility.

I could almost see myself, twirling beneath stormy skies, laughing as the water soaked through my clothes. I remembered how I would admire the cherry blossoms in winter, their delicate petals defying the harsh season, just as I once believed love could defy all odds. 

My playlist back then was filled with love songs, each melody a reflection of my yearning heart.

 Thinking of it now, I always seemed to sympathise with the wilting flowers, their beauty fading as they succumbed to the inevitable march of time.

How much time has passed? Now it remains merely a distant memory, and yet, in that split moment, you seemed to stare at me. 

I took one step and another, the space between us shrinking, hope flickering like a fragile flame. 

Could it be...? Can you see me, truly see me, after all these years?

For a moment, I forgot the chilling cold creeping down my spine. The sensation was so vivid, so painfully real, that I felt alive once more. 

 But the illusion shattered as quickly as it had formed.

Ah....how funny, I almost forgot...I no longer have a heartbeat, after all.......

 I'm long dead...

The realisation washed over me like a wave, pulling me back into the abyss of my existence. 

The heartbeat I thought I heard was nothing more than an echo of what once was, a cruel trick of the mind. The warmth I felt from your smile was a mere shadow of a past life.

I stood there, a ghost among the living, tethered to a world that had moved on without me. You walked past, oblivious to the specter in your midst, your laughter ringing out like a beacon of life. 

I watched you go, my steps faltering as I reached out, my hand passing through you like smoke.

In that moment, I realized that some memories are too powerful to fade, even in death. 

 And though I was no longer among the living, the echoes of my heart, my hopes, and my dreams lingered on, haunting the spaces between the past and the present.