Read Online Determination by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo - Free Book Online

doorframe. As she shifted her weight to wrench off the door, her hands passed right through it and she yanked only air. Her stomach dropped. Her dad sat leaning against the door, unconscious or dead. She reached inside the broken window and her hand passed through him as well. She let her arms hang at her armored sides and took a step back. “Why can’t I touch him or the car?”
    “You’re not dead,” Sekiro said, sounding like the answer should be obvious. “Even if you could, what would you do? This is just a memory. You can’t change it.”
    “I don’t know,” she said. “I just... I just want to be with him.” She thought a moment. “Does this mean he can’t see or hear me? I can’t talk to him?”
    “Let me check.” Sekiro circled around Roxie and stood before the dented door. “Right now it’s just residual memories replaying themselves. Such things serve to help lost or stuck souls analyze what happened to them, why they’re stuck, and what they need to do to grow as an individual and move on. Your dad’s soul might be stuck on this memory.” She put a hand on Dad’s bloodied forehead, and left it there for the space of a few heartbeats, then let go and looked to the sky. “Roxie, you have two hard choices,” she said without looking at Roxie. “The first is to just leave this residual memory and go see your mom.”
    “No, I want to see him, too,” Roxie said firmly. “I’m not backing out now.”
    Sekiro turned in place and slapped her with a pain-filled gaze. “Or,” she said, her voice wavering a little, “you can see your dad, but run the risk of causing him to lose what progress he’s made on his journey. What you want and what he needs are two very different things. Do you understand?”
    Roxie’s determination to see her father faltered. She didn’t want to be the reason his soul lost progress and wasn’t able to move on. But... this was the one opportunity she had to talk with him. Assuming all went well and she was able to find happiness after losing Aerigo and handling Nexus, how would she feel if she passed up the one opportunity to exchange words with Dad?
    All the cars, both harmed and unharmed began to dissolve into nothing. So did Dad’s. Roxie closed the gap to the dented driver’s side door and stuck her face through the broken window. “Dad!” It felt so strange saying that and actually looking at her father’s face, which was fading with the rest of the traffic. “Dad, no! Don’t go! I want to talk to you!” Unable to help herself, she tried to grasp the fading car. Her hands found only air. She straightened up and took in the empty highway.
    “Roxie,” Sekiro said calmly. “That wasn’t your actual father. It was just a memory.”
    “Then where is he?”
    She looked to the sky. “On his way.”
    Roxie looked to the sky as well, but saw only puffy clouds and the colors of daybreak. But he was somewhere out there, and on his way. That got her heart racing anew. They were going to talk to each other for the first time in their lives. Would it go well or poorly?
    “Look just above the horizon.” Sekiro pointed down the highway.
    Roxie followed her outstretched finger. At first she saw nothing, but then she saw what looked like a transparent white ball of light with a gyrating comet tail. Next to the ball of light flew or floated a distant black figure. It looked a walking humanoid, but it was hard to tell. The watery mirage effect blurred out too much. Roxie started to approach the two objects but Sekiro grabbed her arm.
    “Don’t force yourself into his journey,” she said gently. There wasn’t any terseness in her voice. She spoke with sorrow and compassion. “Let him invite you in his life. Things work better that way.”
    Roxie nodded and stood beside the Numina. When she looked back down the highway, she flinched. The white ball and figure were maybe twenty yards away. They’d looked miles off seconds ago, yet approached at a casual