Tell me… have you ever thought about what happens in the split second between life and death?
No? Well, neither did I.
One moment, I was crossing the street, headphones blaring some new track that just dropped, nodding along like the main character in a story no one else was watching. The next—white.
Not light. Not a tunnel.
A truck.
They don't tell you how fast it happens. No slow-motion, no last thoughts, no montage of regrets. Just… impact. Then silence.
And now… this.
I floated in nothingness. Not a vacuum—just nothing. No ground, no sky. No sense of up or down, no gravity, no air, yet somehow I breathed. It was like existing in a blank canvas, untouched by any artist's brush. A pale glow hung in the distance, but distance didn't seem to exist here. It was as though the concept of space had been discarded, like a map you'd thrown away after realizing you didn't need it.
I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. Hell, I didn't even have a body.
That's when I realized—I wasn't just me anymore. Not truly. My soul—or what was left of it—drifted through this vast, formless abyss, its memories, mistakes, regrets, and fleeting thoughts all tangled up in the airless void. A moment of panic seized me. I thought about my mom, the last argument I had with my sister, and that anime I never finished watching. The one where the plot was so convoluted I couldn't even remember what it was about.
A strange realization hit me. Even in death, I'd never finish things.
And that, somehow, was the hardest part.
Then, there was a ripple in the nothing.
I wasn't sure when it started—maybe it had always been there, hidden behind the nothingness, waiting for me to notice. Something shifted in the space around me. An eerie distortion. Like a curtain pulling back, revealing something that wasn't supposed to be seen.
From that shimmering void, something formed. Or maybe it was always there, just waiting for me to look close enough. It wasn't quite a shape. Not like anything I could recognize. It was more of a… presence. The glow that had once been in the distance now grew closer, filling the space with an impossible brilliance. A thousand eyes blinked open—no, more like manifested—in every direction.
It had wings. Not just wings, though. Endless wings, each feather a sliver of reality. A face that shifted constantly, never quite the same, flickering between human, animal, star, shadow, nothing at all. It was a kaleidoscope of every form, every identity that could ever be conceived.
And yet—amid the shifting chaos—it smiled.
I felt it. Deep inside my... soul? Was that what I still had?
"You have died," it said.
The voice wasn't a voice, not in any conventional sense. It was everything. It was the whisper of the wind, the roar of a storm, the silence of a grave, the rush of a truck heading straight for you. It came from everywhere and nowhere, the way a memory echoes in your mind long after the moment has passed.
"Yeah, figured that one out," I muttered, my voice, thin and barely audible, yet somehow it carried through the boundless space. "So, what is this? Heaven? Hell? Limbo? Or did I wake up inside a budget sci-fi movie?"
It laughed—well, laughed might be the wrong word. It rippled. The sound didn't come from one place; it was everywhere at once, an overwhelming wave of emotion that caused my... soul to tremble.
"I am beyond such mortal cages," it answered. "Those names mean nothing here."
Okay, so it wasn't your average afterlife customer service, but I wasn't exactly in a hurry to play along either. "Alright, then. Who the hell—or whatever you are—are you? Some cosmic overlord, fate, god, devil, what?"
"I am the Question and the Answer," it replied cryptically. "The end, and the beginning. The creator of the void and the keeper of all."
I frowned. "So... cosmic HR, then?"
The being let out a sound that was close to something resembling amusement—though it wasn't quite a laugh. "You may call me whatever helps you grasp this." Its shifting form seemed to grow more distinct for a moment, more real. "I am what waits beyond the veil. What was before your gods learned to speak. What will remain after the last star burns out."
"Ah, right. So... you're God, then. Or, you know, one of those celestial beings no one ever gets to meet in person."
It paused. If such a thing was possible in the realm of non-existence.
"God?" It almost sounded confused. "I am not the God you know. I am before that. And I will be after that. But… yes, I suppose you could say I am that. Or, if you prefer, the One Above All."
I blinked, trying to process it. "The One Above All? Seriously? What kind of name is that? Are you auditioning for a superhero movie or something?"
The being didn't answer, but I could feel the ripple of its presence shift again, this time toward amusement. At least I wasn't boring it.
"Alright," I said, shaking my nonexistent head. "So, if this is some sort of after-death meet-and-greet, what's the deal? Are you here to judge me? Recycle me into something gross, like a cockroach? Or—"
"It's not that simple." The voice interrupted, its power reverberating through every fiber of my being. "Your death… was uninspired. Your life… forgettable. A leaf drifting in the wind, unnoticed when it falls."
Okay, now that stung. "Hey, lay off the 'you were a disappointment' speech. I get it."
It ignored me, continuing, "But I see something in you. Potential. Something that could have been, something that flickers, even now, in the darkest corners of your soul."
I snorted. "Potential? Buddy, I worked a soul-crushing 9-to-5 and spent my free time arguing on the internet. What potential could I have?"
The being's form flickered—again, like it was studying me more closely. "Even the dimmest star burns."
Then, almost like a decision had been made, it spoke again. "I offer you a choice."
I raised… something. My hand? My will? Who knew. "Okay, hit me with it. What's the deal?"
The presence loomed closer, its infinite wings casting a shadow I couldn't escape. "You will be reborn. Reborn into a new existence. A world that mirrors your old one, but with enough difference to make it... interesting. You will take the place of Adam, the first man."
I blinked in confusion. "Wait, what? Adam? As in, the Adam? The guy who, you know, ate the fruit?"
The being's form rippled again. "Yes. But you will not simply be Adam; you will be reborn as him. With the knowledge of your past, but none of the baggage. You will carve your own path in this world."
I paused, trying to wrap my head around it. "So... you're telling me I'm going to wake up as the original guy who screwed everything up for the rest of humanity?"
The being's laughter echoed, almost too loudly. "Oh, no, no. You misunderstand. You will not be burdened by his failures. You will have a chance to rewrite your story, to forge your own destiny."
I sighed. "Alright, then. This sounds like a bad idea already, but I guess I don't have a choice, huh?"
"Of course not." The being's presence was now more amused than ever.
"Alright, so I guess I get, like, a wish or a request, right? You know, the typical 'pick your superpowers' deal? That's how these things work, right?" I asked, my mind spinning faster than a hamster on a wheel. I wasn't about to die and go to nothingness just to be sent back to some random world without some cool perks. Seriously, no one ever gets a deal like that.
The being let out a soft, melodic laugh that filled the void in a way that didn't quite sit well with me. It was the kind of laugh you hear right before someone tells you you're about to walk into a trap. "Oh, you mortals and your wishes. Always the same. Power. Weapons. Immortality. A way to look cooler than you actually are." It chuckled again, like it had just been let in on the universe's best-kept secret. "I know what you want, but it's not what you need. You don't need to worry about such trivial things."
I blinked, trying to wrap my head around it. "Wait, what? You're saying I don't get a request? No 'make me invincible,' no 'give me a badass sword,' or 'turn me into the world's most terrifying being'? None of that? Are you seriously telling me no one gets that stuff?"
The being's form rippled in amusement. "No. You don't. I've already taken care of it. In fact, you mortals always ask for the same things."
I squinted, trying to think it through. "You mean like, 'make me a god,' or 'let me have a sweet mech suit,' or 'give me the ability to control time, or maybe summon pizza at will, or at least make the pizza better than the last one I had, because that crust was terrible—'"
The being didn't even let me finish, practically howling in a way that sent a tremor through the void. "Yes, yes! Exactly like that! Always the same!" It almost sounded offended. "How many times have I heard those exact same requests? Mortals always want to be gods or heroes with flashy powers, but never stop to think about what that really means!"
I paused. "Alright, alright. I get it. So, no flashy wishes. But you did take care of it, huh? What does that mean? You giving me a magical cheat sheet or something? A little head-start, maybe?"
"Oh, yes," the being replied, voice dripping with an eerie satisfaction. "I've already prepared everything for you. All your desires, all your needs… they're already set in motion."
I stared blankly into the infinite space. "Wait a second, you mean to tell me you've already given me everything I could possibly want? Without asking? Well, that's great and all, but what the hell does that even mean? Am I getting a cape, or do I get to ride a dragon? Come on, at least tell me I'm getting something with a sword!"
The being gave a dramatic pause, its presence looming even closer. "Trust me, you'll see. You won't have to ask for anything ever again."
And then it happened.
I didn't know what to expect—maybe I'd be sent off with a cool glowing portal or a majestic gust of wind. Instead, the void around me imploded in a rush of color and light. The entire world flipped upside down—no, sideways—like someone just hit the fast-forward button on a VHS tape. My nonexistent senses reeled as the space twisted, bent, and then snapped in a way that felt like being tossed into a giant washing machine, but with zero gravity and a thousand neon lights flashing in your face.
One moment, I was suspended in that endless abyss, trying to figure out what was going on. The next, I was plummeting through the void, faster than a rock thrown off a cliff.
"Good luck, mortal," the being's voice boomed, fading into the distance. "Don't screw it up."
The void cracked, like glass shattering, and I was launched through it—at something, toward something—only to feel the ground beneath me vanish and the air ripple around me. I shot through the darkness like a bullet from a gun, and in a blink, I was falling into a whole new world, everything real once again, and exhilaratingly terrifying.
This was it.
I had no idea what was coming next. No clue what powers I'd have, or what kind of trouble I was about to get into. All I knew? This was way cooler than anything I could've asked for.
And maybe, just maybe, it was time for me to make a little history of my own.