Ch. 2 How To Be A Cat (2)
[What is this!]
This bodyâcould it be called a body?âwas as light as air.
I looked down at my hand and saw a dim grayness. Not only was I glowing, but I was also half-transparent.
Oh my god! I was like a ghostâ¦a soul now. I wanted to faint, but I could not. A soul left behind had no such physical capability.
I missed the feeling of sensation. My hands and feet were trembling, but my transparent fingertips seemed to blur like smoke.
[No.]
I clutched my hand and cried out for fear of disappearing. The small white bird studied me and spoke once more.
[Somethingâs wrongâ¦]
[What do you mean?]
[No matter how many humans there are, I canât believe you even have parents with the same namesâ¦itâs a mess.]
Its voice turned contrite.
[Itâs my mistake. I apologize.]
Waitâ¦did that mean I was not supposed to die?
But I was dead now. A scream escaped me.
[No way, then get me back! My bodyâ¦why am I like this!]
[â¦I canât return you.]
[Why not? If Iâm not supposed to die, then I should live, right?]
[Your body is already dead, which was why I was able to retrieve your soul. A soul can only pass through a dying body.]
This all sounded crazy. I desperately wished I could faint.
The angel of death spoke in a more resolute tone.
[I have no choice but to create a new one.]
[Createâ¦a new one?!]
Here I was, a drowning man in the open sea, grasping at a piece of straw for rescue. I had no choice but to rely on this angel of death.
It continued to speak.
[A new human body for you. Iâve erased the car and your body altogether, and there is no wreckage in your world. The humans will only think you are missing.]
Erase? My body? My car? That monthly paymentâ¦well, you canât beat that!
[Thatâs fine, then. How long will it take to rebuild my body?]
[Iâm sorry, but my creation isnât my specialty.]
[Just tell me how longâ¦!]
[At the earliest, one year.]
I looked at the bird in shock. There was nothing more unfair than this. But what choice did I have? I needed that damned angel of death, despite the way it so casually spoke of my situation. It may have killed me by mistake, but it was still some kind of mystical figure.
[I can build the body sooner with the help of another emissary or superiorâ¦but if this matter is discovered, neither you nor I can live. The otherworld doesnât tolerate a single cog out of place in the wheel of life.]
Did that mean I would have to float around as a soul for a year while it finished building a new body?
I looked down at myself. I was not standing on the ground and there was no sensation in my feet. It was in an incredible state of being. This definitely wasnât possible with a hidden camera program.
[But Iâm innocent here.]
[So you want to die like that?]
I couldnât find an answer at that moment. I felt bad about being dead, but what did it mean to die?
[Human, I thank you for not dying. By that, I mean your soul has not crossed into the afterlife. If it had been, I will be destroyed for my mistake, and you will spend your lifespan in the room of reincarnation. The otherworld will not bring you back.]
I was struck dumb by the birdâs words. There were no other options for me. The thoughts in my head were so dizzying that it was hard to know what to be angry with and what to feel sorry for. I was dead, and this angel of death was the only thing that could bring me back. I had assumed its work would only take a day or two, but a whole year? By then, everyone would notice that something was wrong. something was wrong. Even if I was supposed to be gone on a trip for a month or two, my whereabouts would be questioned.
[Iâll be gone all that timeâ¦]
[Youâll be considered missing for a year. After that, you can return to your normal life, but for now, your soul will remain here. If you roam the human world, youâll be considered a demon.]
I didnât know whether to be relieved or not.
[I have work to do! And I have a family waiting for meâ¦]
[Do I have to repeat myself? The best I can do is rebuild your body. What more do you want?]
The birdâs beady, emotionless eyes stared back at me, but my anger couldnât be contained.
[I canât stay in this place for one year and do nothing. Iâll go crazy. You talk like its someone elseâs concern and expect me to say, âYes! Alright!â Do you understand me?!]
The angel of death had the decency to look ashamed at my outburst.
[So what do you want to do? This is the only place where your lost soul can be the most secure! Do you want to be food for demons? Or do you want to be turned into a demon and then taken by another angel of death? Then your human self wonât be able to reincarnate for a year and youâll have to go through hell! Either I try to hide the evidence of my mistake, or we both suffer!]
The small bird was hardly an intimidating presence, but its voice rose, as if to insist that this had all been a mistake. Both sides felt like the other was being grossly unfair to their situation.
Fine. I would give in to my bizarre circumstances. I wanted to live. I could do so again, I just had to be dead for a while! I pulled together my resolveâ
[Stillâ¦]
I wanted to cry, but there were no tears. Such was the condition of a soul.
The bird seemed to sense my mood, and it flew around me and perched on my shoulder. I thought it would pass through my body, but it was an angel of death after all.
[Iâm deeply sorry.]
[Sorry?!]
[â¦And thereâs a problem. It seems like your human soul is very weak. If I keep you alone here, your soul will be destroyed. You will become like the air itself.]
To be like air. My mind spiraled at the thought. I desperately needed a body, and so I clasped my hands and begged to the angel of death.
[Do something. Help meâ¦Please, give me body. This stateâ¦Iâm so scared. I canât!]
To merely exist that way terrified me. I wanted to live again. I needed to go back to my world. The face of a person who would be anxiously searching for me for a year floated in my mindâMom.
Finally, the bird spoke.
[Wellâ¦there is something I can do.]
[Really? I can have a body?]
[Yes. Just not your original body.]
[You mean a dead manâs body, or something like that?]
[Thatâs only possible in human dramas. If it were so easy, I would have suggested it beforehand. Itâs a terrible crime, equivalent to murder by human standards.]
I gave a wet sob as I reached out to the bird, hoping it would change its mind. It flapped it wings and flew out of my reach, then scolded me as if I were a fool.
[I know you are impatient, but itâs impossible to rebuild your human body in less than a year.]
[â¦Why one year? Canât you do it any sooner?]
[It takes ten months to build the framework of the body. The amount of time a human grows in a motherâs belly cannot be changed, unless itâs done by God. Like how water is water and fire is fire, it is a set law of the Universe.]
[Then what about the remaining two months?]
[Thatâs the time it will take to age your body again. I will make a newborn baby out of a sculpture, and place it in the pure world of immortals. Time there runs much faster than in the human world. Two months there is the equivalent of 20 years in the human world. So in all, it takes a year if I hurry.]
[â¦So, if I spend my ten months in that placeâ¦?]
[Then you will become a being of purity. That body wonât hold up in the dirty world of humans. Do I have to explain that an angel canât live in the human world?]
In truth, I probably only understood about half of what it was saying. I swallowed nervously as I looked at my hands and feet, and the angel of death cocked its head at me.
[You look nervous.]
[Alright thenâ¦give me another body. I hate it this way! Look at my hand!]
The bird flapped its wings and took a few contemplative circles in the grey gloom. Then, it plunged its beak into the air, tearing a void into space. Something black rolled out and floated in the air.
[Try this.]
It was a crow with its wings folded. It looked more like a stuffed taxidermied body than a corpse, and it began to drift towards me. I looked at it with wide eyes.
[Try this? How?]
[I mean go inside. Iâve used this body beforeâ¦and if itâs an ideal match, you can stay.]
[How do I get in?]
[Touch it. Then youâll see.]
I was surprised by the angel of deathâs words, but I raised my hand to touch the crow. A crackle split the air, and my hand immediately bounced right off and turned into smoke, before reforming its shape again.
I gasped and took a step backwards. Pain stung my hand, even if I was only a soul. What the hell was this? Was I going to be stuffed into that thing?
[It hurts!]
[Is that not the right shape? Then try this.]
Next, a form of a black cat appeared out of thin air and slowly floated in front of me. My hand still smarted and I didnât immediately touch it, but the body came towards me of its own volition like a magnet. I felt a strange sensation of being sucked in, and the dull feeling in my body gave way to tightening muscles.
âMyang?â (How is it?)
[Oh, that fits very nicely. You wonât need to be isolated to help you acclimatize.]
âMyaaa!â (Eek!)
I screamed in surprise. There was something coming from behind me that wasnât there before! It was poking upwards. What on earth?!
[Because you were a cat in your previous life.]
âMyaaag?!â (Eh?!)
It was an unexpected past!