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Chapter 2: Soul in the Stars
Silence.
Then—light.
A soft glow pulsed through nothingness. Warm and cold at the same time. Weightless.
My eyes—did I still have eyes?—fluttered open. I wasn't in a hospital bed anymore.
I floated.
Above me, the sky wasn't a sky at all. It was endless space. Stars, nebulae, flowing rivers of light—all drifting lazily through the void like brushstrokes across a divine canvas.
Beneath me was… wood? I turned—if you could call it turning—and saw that I was lying on a boat. A small one. Ornate carvings lined its sides. Lanterns dangled from its curved edges, glowing with a light that wasn't fire.
A boat. In space.
"Am I dreaming?" I whispered. But my voice didn't echo.
Then I looked down.
No body.
I was transparent. A soft outline of who I used to be. A soul.
I froze. The memories came back—shards of a shattered mirror reforming into a picture too heavy to bear.
I died.
Pain. That final breath. My mom's hand clutching mine. Emma crying into her rabbit. Dad's eyes, holding back an ocean. Grandma's voice, strong even when her heart broke.
"Was that all real?" I murmured. My voice drifted like mist on the still air.
I sat—or tried to. The boat moved with no sails or oars, gliding silently through the stars.
As I floated there, memories began pouring into me, one by one.
---
Flashback #1 – The Hospital Room After His Death
Mom knelt beside the hospital bed, her forehead pressed to my cold hand. "He was so good," she whispered over and over. "He didn't deserve this."
Emma had fallen asleep curled on Dad's lap, the stuffed bunny squished against her chest. Dad gently stroked her hair, silent tears tracing down his cheeks.
Grandma was outside, yelling at the nurse to cancel the discharge papers. Her voice cracked—but her will didn't.
"Let us stay. Just a little longer. He's still here. I can feel him…"
---
Flashback #2 – The Funeral
Rain. Lots of it.
My best friend, Leo, had delivered a shaky speech at the funeral. "Ray was the kind of guy who gave away his lunch if you forgot yours, then made you laugh about it. He once walked a blind stray dog home for three hours. Who does that?"
Even Maria—my quiet crush since ninth grade—was there. She clutched a white rose.
"I never got to tell him," she whispered to the stone. "I liked you. A lot."
The rain mixed with her tears.
---
Flashback #3 – The World I Left Behind
I saw it all again—the dusty streets of my childhood, the rooftop I watched sunsets from, the books I loved to read, the old shelter where I helped once a week. My friends. My teachers. The people I touched without even knowing.
So many lives. So many faces.
Did they remember me?
Was I just a name in a yearbook now?
Or did I leave something behind—something real?
---
Back on the boat, my soul flickered softly in the stillness.
"I guess I wasn't ready," I whispered.
No one answered.
Only the stars heard me.
The boat continued through the void. I noticed markings on the side, glowing faintly—runes, maybe? Symbols of something ancient and vast.
Far ahead, I saw something.
A light—not a star, not a moon. Something different. It pulsed like a heartbeat, and as the boat drifted toward it, I felt the air—or whatever this was—change.
Warmth. Not just physical warmth, but emotional. Deep. Kind.
And then… a voice. Gentle. Powerful.
"You carry no regrets… only questions."
I turned, startled. No figure, just presence.
"You lived kindly. You touched lives. You never asked for more than what was needed."
"Who are you?" I asked.
The presence did not answer, not with words. Only feeling.
Calm. Safety. The kind of peace I'd only felt as a child, curled in my mom's lap during storms.
"Where am I?" I whispered.
The answer came, clear as thought.
"You are on the edge… between endings and beginnings."
I looked back. Earth was gone. Ahead—unknown.
"…What now?" I asked.
A new light blinked to life in the distance. Red. Flickering.
The boat drifted toward it.
And the presence faded.
"…Wait! Where am I going?"
The boat sped up.
Faster. The stars stretched like lines of paint pulled by a brush.
The red light grew closer—hotter—darker.
And I realized something as dread rose in my chest:
This wasn't the path I was meant to take.
Something had changed.
Something… pulled me toward a different fate.
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Chapter 3: A Boat Between Realms
The silence stretched again.
I sat—well, hovered—on the edge of the glowing wooden boat, still drifting through a galaxy of stars. My soul flickered like a candle in a soft breeze. I had stopped trying to control it. I couldn't move the boat. I couldn't fly. I couldn't even itch the nonexistent itch on my phantom nose.
"Note to self: Dying comes with some very awkward limitations."
Then I saw it.
Another boat.
Not far away, floating at the same lazy speed, was a second vessel. A larger one. On it stood a man—yes, a man. Not glowing. Not flickering. Alive.
"Hey!" I called out, my voice surprisingly clear.
No response.
"Oi, boat guy! You're the first not-dead thing I've seen in… I don't even know how long!"
Still no answer. He was facing the other way, humming to himself.
I squinted. He wore a bathrobe. A fluffy white one. Holding a mug. The steam said coffee. The sandals said vacation.
"You… camping through death?"
The man finally turned his head, just slightly. "Hmm?"
He stared straight past me.
Like I wasn't there.
"Oh, come on! I finally get someone to talk to and I'm ghosted by a guy in a hotel robe?!"
The man sniffed his coffee and muttered, "Too much milk. She always does this." Then he pulled out a glowing fishing rod from nowhere and dropped it into literal space.
He fished. In space.
"I hate it here."
---
Suddenly, the light shifted.
Ahead of us—far ahead, where the boats all drifted—something massive emerged from the dark. A structure. No… a gate.
A gate so big it could swallow a moon.
And through that gate flowed an endless stream of boats—some carrying souls like mine, some empty, some chaotic, some ablaze. And some… entering from the other side.
"What the hell…"
The moment we got closer, everything changed. The colors. The air. Even gravity made a half-hearted attempt to exist again.
Then I saw it.
Beyond the gate was a world. A world above all worlds.
Skies of gold. Oceans of flame. Floating cities the size of countries. Beasts with eyes the size of lakes. Palaces built on clouds and stars, surrounded by divine light and swirling auras.
And in the middle of it all—
Gods.
Not metaphorical. Not myths. Real ones.
Dozens. Hundreds. Some were humanoid, glowing with divine radiance. Some were elemental giants with thunderous steps. Others… were weird.
Like one god made of noodles. Another was shaped like a vending machine. One floated upside-down, whispering, "I'm totally not evil anymore."
I blinked. "Am I high? Did I die of weed overdose?"
A small boat zipped past me with a squirrel wearing a robe and a glowing crown.
"Follow your nuts, children!" it squeaked, and vanished into the light.
"What is happening?!"
---
[Inside the God Realm Gate – Entry Checkpoint]
A massive angel stood by the gateway, wings stretched across miles. He held a clipboard the size of a truck.
"Next soul," he boomed.
A shy, flickering soul floated up.
"Name?"
"Uh… Jeremy."
"Good works?"
"Um… I recycled?"
"Stamp him," the angel grumbled. A smaller cherub floated over and slammed a red stamp: REINCARNATION – MINOR TREE FROG.
Jeremy sighed. "Figures."
---
My boat inched closer.
"Hey, uh… excuse me?" I called. "Is this where you file death complaints?"
No answer. Everyone was busy.
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed across the realm. Not from the angel. From somewhere deep within.
"A SOUL OUT OF PLACE."
The air trembled.
My boat stopped.
Everyone turned to look.
Including the gods.
And trust me… you don't want gods looking directly at you.
---
A throne rose in the distance. No, it built itself—a floating platform of light, steel, and something that tasted like guilt. Seated on it was a being with eyes made of galaxies and a bored expression.
"Another one?" he said to a smaller, clipboard-wielding god floating beside him.
"He wasn't scheduled, Supreme One."
"Of course not. These Earthlings keep dying in weird ways."
"I slipped on soap, actually!" I yelled helpfully. "A heroic death, I know."
The gods ignored me.
"Process him," the supreme being yawned. "And someone tell Noodle God to stop baptizing mortals with broth."
"Yes, Supreme One."
As the command echoed, a golden light wrapped around my boat, pulling me off the normal track.
---
Unknown Location – Outside the Line of Reincarnation
I found myself drifting… sideways.
Again.
But this time, toward something different.
A calm island. Floating in the void.
And waiting on it…
A small, ancient-looking man with sharp eyes, sipping tea. Dressed in a strange mix of priest robes and gym shorts.
"You're finally here," he said.
"…You were expecting me?"
He smiled. "More like... hoping."
He pointed at my chest. "You're not like the others. Your path wasn't meant to end. You died too soon."
My soul flickered.
"You're offering me a second chance?"
He chuckled. "No. I'm offering you something better."
---
End