The immortal one floated through his kingdom of nothingness once more, pondering the existence of a mind in the last moments of life. Though he had experienced it countless times, he wondered if others saw it the same as him. The wispy grey clouds started to form a scene before him and he entered, the nothingness filling into all the shapes and colours that lay before him.

It was dark, and he was standing in the midst of a large open field. He noticed a lone figure standing atop a hill with a rifle strapped on his back. He approached slowly, watching the figure silently as he did so. The soldier put out a cigarette that he was smoking and turned towards the moon, looking upwards. The immortal one sat in the shadows and began to ease his way into the warriors mind.

Wispy tendrils of thoughts floated towards the immortal one and he listened without hearing, absorbing the thoughts as if they were his own:

 

Everyday was beginning to look the same as the last. Minutes, fading to hours, and hours to days… The gear was getting irritating now and I’m sure the skin has been rubbed raw on my shoulders. None of us have showered in weeks and the smell of us is enough to drive an entire platoon crazy. I’m just thinking now, looking at the stars with my rifle by my side. The grass is comfortable. I stretched, yawned and stood, slinging my rifle on my shoulder. There was a faint pop in the distance and suddenly a small puff a dirt near me. I stood there perplexed for a second before I suddenly found myself on the ground, staring up at the stars.

It was strange, as I don’t remember feeling anything at all. It just seemed to go right through and then I was just standing there, wondering what had happened. Timed seemed to come to a crawl and everything darkened at the edges, a greyness clouding my scenes. I started to think about my life, start to finished. Memories started playing in my head likes a movie that I never wanted to watch. Past birthdays… Getting my license… Enlisting. These were all things I didn’t want to think about, but here they were, playing out in front of me.

The feeling of calmness that washed over me as my body began to fall through what felt like liquid. The feeling of freedom swelling up inside me. No longer do I have to worry… How wonderful.

The last moments faded away and I  found myself once again starting into the deepness of space, a cold misty grey starting to take over my vision. Letting my last breath free, I let the greyness take over, a shadowy figure appearing over me. Then… I guess I’m gone.

 

The immortal one stared down upon the soldier, thinking for a moment. After a few seconds, he offered his conclusion:

 

I see the same darkness takes us all,

So take the time to stall.

 

Take the time to just be you,

And just do what you do.

 

The meaning of life is truly yours,

So try not please to close those doors.

 

In the end, we are the same

Stuck in place with but one name…

 

So make it yours and only yours

And goodness finds you for sure.

 

And with that, the scene faded back to the the kingdom of nothingness and the immortal one went back to pondering more of life's great thoughts and questions.