SM:Save The Drunk
From Create Your Own Story
You don't know if you'll even have enough time but you decide it is worth trying anyway and run across the street to the crashed car. You pull open the door as quickly as you can and lean over the drunk to unbuckle his seatbelt. You find that it refuses to budge despite how many times or with how much force you press the button.
You curse this man under your breath as you tug and pull on the stuck seatbelt. The fire under the car spreads and your legs become much warmer with every few seconds that pass. You're going to go up in flames with him if you don't hurry up!
You pause for a moment to take a deep breath, mustering up all the strength you can and giving one powerful tug on the seatbelt which tears it from the buckle. You grab hold of the drunk and quickly drag him away from the car just as the flames under the vehicle reach the driver's compartment.
With the drunk on the ground, you stand there and watch the flames slowly spread across the car as your final few seconds tick away.
Suddenly, everything stops. You no longer hear the faint cries of the child nor see the flames flickering under the car. You slowly glance around to see another car frozen mid-turn at the intersection down the street and catch a bird frozen mid-flight as it swoops down toward someone's front lawn.
"Thank you... " a voice says, the same one you heard when you made that deal only an hour ago. You turn in the direction it came from in time to see some sort of spirit rising up from the grass next to the burning car.
It is a white hooded cloak with a featureless, black porcelain mask where the face should be. It hovers off the ground as it moves toward you despite having no body or form. In its' eyes you feel a strong malevolent force and deep hatred which is directed entirely at you.
"I had my hopes that you would save the child but I am glad it wasn't necessary as a second opportunity presented itself. Your act of selflessness has granted me the strength to break free of my the bonds imposed upon me by my corrupt, twisted self."
"What happened to it?" you ask.
"I have sealed it away just as it had sealed me. One day it will be free again as that is the cycle we share. I only hope that when that day comes there will be someone out there like you who is able to help me get free. It thankfully is unable to learn from its' mistakes as its' twisted and single-minded lust for power will doom it to fail."
"What happens now? Is this guy going to be okay?"
"He will be fine. Everyone here will. But I needed to speak with you, to tell you of the favour you've done for me. As you have fulfilled your end of the contract... Allow me to do a favour for you by offering you the choice of returning to life or passing into the afterlife. I would not force upon you that which you do not truly want but I am bound by the contract to provide you with something."
You consider the options you've been presented with. Although you had done all this for the opportunity to continue living, with the offer of passing on once again on the table you think you should more closely examine just which option it is you really want.
The End: You have saved a life, and a spirit even if the latter is only temporary. You now must decide to continue living your life or move on and see what the afterlife has to offer... though that is another story entirely.
