The place was pitch dark.
A tiny creature was walking with a speed inappropriate for its height.
The creature looked like a human baby, dressed in floating white robes. It went up a stairs and walked into a hall where another white robe could be seen illuminated, and this creature continued its speedy pace, and reached the other.
"Oh The Great Soul! I have the list of souls that are to depart from here today. If you could check it, and sign it, I will send copies to all the houses here, and we can send them before we finish our work for today. It is already nearing our lunch. Only if I had received it earlier, we could have...."
The Great Soul looked at the creature that had walked through.
"Dear Wise Soul, I understand your urgency. But, you need not panic. I will personally see that all the souls departing will be sent off without any glitches. I hope you have reprimanded 'The Witty Soul' for not taking care of its duties properly last week.Take care of it, Wise"
"Yes, Great Soul!"
..............
Not so far from there, Witty Soul was trying to win over its own wit.
The Wise Soul looked at it with a stern look in its face.
"Witty! Is everything ready? I want everything to be perfect! If I see you haven't done it properly this time Witty, you will be up on the list of souls leaving here for earth. Do you understand?"
The sound of earth, and the many lives it had lived there made the Witty Soul say, "Yes Wise Soul. Perfect!"
"I hope so", replied the Wise soul.
...............
It was sitting in a quiet corner of a room. It was Soul 13. All of the souls had a name there, and it was Soul 13.
Soul 13 knew that it was the day when it had to leave.
It knew that very well.
A strange sound started emitting from its wristband. Many others were looking at their wristbands too.
The souls had been selected.
...............
Soul 13 had been there for an year now. And now it was time to leave from there.
All the souls who had gathered there at the departure place were looking excited. It was the only one looking so anxious at the board above.
It was just 5 minutes more. They will soon know where they are going to go. But it was obvious.
Today was Wednesday.
So, it meant Earth.
That wretched place again.
But what worried Soul 13 more was which 'species' it was going to be.
It needn't worry anymore for the board had displayed the species name for today.
In that dark room, the board was crystalline white and the letters 'HUMANS' were showing in it.
Soul 13 didn't want to be a human.
--------------------
Soul 13 was looking around for escape, when the huge doors opened and gave way for The Wise Soul and The Witty Soul.
The Wise Soul stood before them, and said, "Gather around Souls! Come closer!"
The Souls all hurried to the front with their tiny foot steps.
All had uniform purple robes and their wristbands were emitting a white glow.
Soul 13 lurked behind, and looked at its wristband with contempt.
The Wise Soul had started speaking.
And at the end of its speech, It made them stand in a line.
The Wise soul then sat on an elevated podium which was as dark as the room. From there, it would send them one by one to earth.
The Witty Soul spoke with each of the soul, and sent each of the soul one by one to the Wise Soul.
The first soul, Soul 81 went forward. It stood before The Wise Soul. Soon, Soul 81 was just a small light. It then vanished.
Soul 81 had left for earth, as a Human.
On the board above, they could see where and how it had been born. It also showed when Soul 81 will return. It was after 34 years. Soul 81 was a human female.
The next after that was a Human Female too. And the board showed its life time on earth as 89 years.
The board showed every details of the soul that has departed to earth. The remaining souls can see all the information, but that particular soul cannot see it.
Irony exists everywhere.
-----------------------
Soul 13 was standing as the last soul in the line. And soon it was just one soul before it.
And then it was Soul 13's turn.
It went forward and stood before The Witty Soul.
"I don't want to go to earth!" Soul 13 blurted out.
Witty looked at Soul 13 with a masked like face. It neither showed anger nor empathy.
"Why?" asked Witty.
Soul 13 looked at Witty and Wise, and said, "Because I hate that!."
Witty started laughing, and Wise joined them.
"C'mon Witty!" Wise stopped him.
Wise asked, "But why Soul 13?"
Soul 13 took a second before answering.
"I was a Human last time too. I had a very bad experience. I don't want to go through all those again"
Wise looked at Soul 13 in disbelief and said, "But you are not supposed to remember your past! Witty must have erased all your memories by now. Witty! What is this?"
"It must have been a technical fault, Wise. Don't be rude." Witty remarked with a not so regretful face.
Witty then looked at Soul 13.
"Yes. You were a Human last time too. But that doesn't mean you can't be a Human again."
"No. I don't want to. It is a pitiful life being a Human."
Witty said, "I know Soul 13. Trust me. I know. I was a Human too. Many times. But you have to go now. The Great Soul will curse you if you do not leave soon"
Soul 13 looked pleadingly at Witty.
------------------
Witty asked it, "Why?"
Soul 13 said, "I was a Human last time too"
"You have already said that!" Wise Soul was getting impatient now.
"I was a Human. I was a good child to the two souls who were my Human parents. I obeyed them. Did my duties well. I was a good human child."
Witty said, "So you want to be a bad child now? Then be one!"
Soul 13 said, "No. That is not it. I was a good one. I studied hard. I was the best at whatever I did. The best. I was like that because I worked hard. So hard and I was at the top. But, you three "The Souls " did not leave me like that. I was working hard, and suddenly I was not the best anymore. I was not even better. I lost everything. My pride chattered to pieces."
Wise and Witty kept looking at Soul 13, but said nothing.
Soul 13 continued.
"It took me an year to gather myself. I lost precious years. When i got back, everyone had gone past me. Do you both know how humiliating that was? Why did you do that? I was taunted after that. And nothing was the same after that. No matter what I did, I was not the best anymore. All because of no fault of mine. Why did I deserve that?"
Wise Soul started saying something, but Witty took over.
"Whatever you said was right Soul 13. You did suffer a lot. But what happened after that?"
Soul 13 said, "Life happened Witty Soul. I didn't get anything I desired. You three great Souls always gave me only difficulties forever. So, I don't want to go there again."
Witty looked at Soul 13 and said, "Why did you not fight against it Soul 13? Yes. We gave you a hard life. But you were supposed to fight it, and at the end we had a big reward for you! You lived your life based on one failure. You let a single fall decide all your choices. Mo wonder you lost your confidence after that! And through out your life you were running away from risks. But those risks had your rewards!"
"But I....."
"Yes. You must live for yourself Soul 13. We might give an other Soul something greater than you. But that doesn't mean you are inferior in any way. All of us are Souls. You must live your life for yourself, and not by comparing it with other Souls!"
"I guess so!"
"Yeah. You do Soul 13! The next time you come here, I will tell you about my Human lives. They were all chaos. I was a Dog once, and even then I lived with Humans only. I will tell it all one day. Now, you go for your life"
Soul 13 smiled at Witty.
"I am ready"
----------------------------
Soon it was standing before Wise Soul.
"And for a minor reward, I will let you see the details of your life in that board before you go." Witty said.
"No. I am fine. Everything will be fine"
Soon Soul 13 was a light and then gone.
The board showed the details of Soul 13, the last soul of the day.
The Wise came near Witty and said, "How can you lie so easily Witty? What if that soul had wanted to see the details? What would you have done then? Even we don't know where they will go until the board shows it. Even The Great Soul is none the wiser."
Witty smiled.
"Soul 13 wouldn't have asked The Wise. It was ready for its life."
The Wise gave a deep sigh.
"You are so uncontrollable Witty. You purposely failed to erase the memories of Soul 13 didn't you? I don't know why The Great Soul still has you employed. I just don't know! You deserve to be a Human again for your mischief!"
Witty put its arms over The Wise's shoulder and said, "Ah! Relax Wise! If I am going to be a Human again, I will go only with you. Remember our life as Human twins?"
"You are just so annoying Witty!"
Witty smiled, and together they went out from the room.
---------------------------------
The Great Soul watching them from above smiled. "This is why you are needed Witty" It thought to itself.
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