My name is Poppy

Present Time

Seth was standing at the 20th step of their staircase feeling exhausted when his phone rang. He picked up the call instantly.

"Dad, I can't see him. He could be out." Seth said with a sigh to the person on the other line.

He's been going up and down the staircase and circling the house since 4'o'clock in the morning, like a madman looking for his lost cat.

"He will not leave the house, as I have said. Just try to find him. Perhaps he's doing something stupid again," said Seth's caller, and even before he respond Seth heard some sort of impact in the storage room. He quickly canceled the call and slowly approached the storage room door with his heart almost pumping out of his chest. He got hold of the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

"Waaah!" screamed Seth in disbelief.

The wooden chair fell off the floor and found a man with a good body built squiggling his feet while his body is hanging from the ceiling. But he wasn't dead. He looks more furious than that.

"Geez, uncle, what are you doing here?" Seth snarled at his uncle with his hand on his chest, trying to calm himself from shock at the scene he witnessed.

It is his uncle Simon, wearing all black, which made him look like a ninja without a mask. He also has long, shoulder-length hair like a teen girl, a mustache, and a beard that hasn't been shaved for ages.

"What think I'm doing? Playing?" said Simon, annoyed by Seth's sudden appearance. "Go pick up that chair, put it under me. I'm going to get off."

Without further ado, Seth immediately put the seat under Simon's feet while removing the cord from his neck. The trace of the tightrope is noticeable on Simon's neck, leaving a trace that he committed suicide that fails. Irritated, Simon left the storage room, and Seth followed in his footsteps.

"Uncle, for the nth time why are you trying to get yourself killed again?" asked Seth to the back of his uncle.

Simon turned and raised his brow towards Seth. "Why are you asking? Are you upset because I haven't died yet? No worries, we both feel the same way."

"It's not like that, Uncle. Aren't you tired yet? I mean, you're sure you'll prove the saying, try and try until you die? Well, for your information, nobody knows that motto anymore!" Seth said with a chuckle.

With a blank expression on his face, Simon started walking again and Seth went to follow him again.

Simon's on his way to the kitchen to get some water.

"It is easy for you to say because you don't know the feeling of someone like me watching the people around me die, while I'm still strong as a bison." Simon drank some water, then continued, "No matter what I do, I'll never die."

Seth approached Simon and put his arm on his uncle's shoulder, trying to console him. "Isn't it a little weird, Uncle? Come to think of it, everybody wants to live and you, you want to die. That's what I'm talking about."

"Why wouldn't I want to jerk? At my age now, I should be in heaven already wintering.." Simon said without expression on his face.

"But uncle! are you even sure you're going to heaven if you die?" Seth asked with a laugh.

"Silly!" Simon glared at Seth. And knock the boy on his head.

"It hurts, uncle," Seth complains while caressing his head.

Simon turned the pitcher over to the refrigerator and washed the glass, then put it into the cabinet.

"Why don't you try marrying someone, Uncle? Maybe when you're a parent, you'll be able to spend some quality time with your kids," says Seth in a serious face. "So you won't kill yourself multiple times again, because you're busy with them."

"Aha! If I can't help you die, then maybe that's what I need to do. Find you some maiden that your charms will bewitch." Seth said with a grin on his face.

It bemused Simon. He said nothing and turned his back on Seth. The latter watched Simon walk away calmly.

*****

On the rooftop, Simon was there like a bird, admiring the view from above. His skin is absorbing the coldness of the air. Nobody was outside the village because of the curfew. And that's what he wants, the feeling of being alone.

The year 1500s.

In the mountains where Simon's family lives. It wasn't easy living in those days. Except for hot weather, plants and crops dry up. There's been no rain for several months. And since there were no good crops, it became a period of starvation. Simon's father owned a large lot that he has run since they died of an incurable disease. As an only child, Simon had no companion in the little lodge in which he grew up. Simon collected firewood that he used for cooking and heater every night. It was a different day, though. The sky was dark, and the wind was whispering strangely. Many people rejoice at the thought that Bathala had heard their prayer that it would rain so that the crops would live and the harvest would be good.

A few hours later, the sky was getting darker. People thought it would be a great storm, which is why climate change and animals are being disrupted. During this period, nobody is aware of the existence of a huge and dangerous asteroid that would strike the earth. This happens every thousand years and, unfortunately, it happens on that day. The rays of the sun have vanished in half the earth. People have unleashed themselves because of the supposed end of the world. However, a luminous object suddenly appeared in heaven. There seems to be a major blast in space. Gradually, the sunlight returned, but a portion of the darkness was visible. Then came the fall of many asteroids on Earth.

Simon looked up into the sky and noticed something which seemed to fall out of his place. He can't see much because the sunlight hits his eyes. As the object approached, a fire was surrounding it. Simon came out and ran. The shadow of the flaming object is wide. Simon stumbled several times to hurry. He dropped the sticks and felt the hot object behind him. He couldn't resist turning around. His eyes widened when he saw that the hot rock was coming down on him.

And entire mountains shook when this thing came down. He made a deep pit. Simon holds a plant so that he did not fall on the burning stone under him. Simon felt his foot slowly dull to the waist by the extreme heat. The plant he was holding was also pulled out. Its roots have become visible on the ground.

"Aahhhh!" screamed Simon.

In the end, the soil that holds the root of the plant yielded and Simon fell into a burning rock.

Simon awoke when the sunlight from the window struck him in the face. Simon opened his eyes and turned around. He looked around. He was in a room in the house made of bamboo and they used the coconut leaves as the roof. Simon looked at his body as well, and there were no wounds or scars.

"Is everything only a dream?" asked Simon.

He walked out of the room at once. In the kitchen, using the wood-burning stove, there is a woman who turns around and is busy cooking. At first, he thought it was his mother, but then he looked at her and realized it was someone else.

"Love, is our lunch ready?" A man asked.

As he looked at the woman, he realized she was pregnant.

"Yes, my love. I will prepare the table." the lady said.

"Let me give you a hand," said the man.

The man looked back and noticed that he was standing in front of the room. The guy smiled at him.

"You have woken up. You've been asleep in the past few days. How are you feeling?" he asked.

Simon froze. "How long have I been asleep?"

The man laid his hand on his shoulder and placed him on the chair in front of the dining table.

"About four days. We saw you in the woods, unconscious, probably exhausted, but not injured," the man said.

"What happened to you?" the woman asked.

Simon looked at the table and tried to remember everything that had happened, but remembered nothing.

"By the way, I am Helena, and here is my husband, Lando. And your name?" asked Helena.

"My name is Simon." He says.