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2024-10-29 19:42:56Chapter 4 – The Metamorphosis
“I wasn’t supposed to die today” was merely a thought—a whisper—Joaquim uttered in that instant when he found himself enveloped in the flames. Followed, of course, by an expletive cursing, which was only a typical expression by those who believe their time isn’t up yet.
Regardless of his dire situations, what Joaquim didn’t know was that someone may have heard, maybe someone with magic, or some divine being, who took his whisper as a prayer.
Because when death had come, when Joaquim had closed his eyes, he thought he was supposed to see light at the end of the tunnel and all that. Instead, he was whisked off into another and went somewhere else.
Sure, as routines in life-after-death stories go, he had flashbacks: He saw his wife on their wedding day; he saw the first time he held his daughter in his hands, and the first time he glanced over his cockpit as he flew a plane and saw the spectacular view of Laguna de Bay
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Joaquim remembered so vividly when he flew the pigeon past San Martin de Tours church that he had arrived in Taal, but it had turned into the wrong town. It had lost its luster, compared to the last time he was here. That was just days ago, he believed. But as flew about and raced across the town proper, it looked increasingly evident that weeks, or even months, have passed. Because magic is as magic does. It can do anything. If it had turned him into a dwarf, it could certainly push him forward in time. And so, apparently, Christmas had come and gone and surely, when it did, the Japanese broke the festivities and soured the mood. They never celebrate it anyway. More likely, they took down the decorations and the flowers that festooned the plaza last December. Joaquim only spotted a large Japanese flag draped in front of the town hall. The Tokyo men have posted their sentries in various select areas of the town. It was a way to remind ev
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