Some people die once. Others, like us, die again and again—until fate decides we've suffered enough to start over.
AUTHOR'S POV
"She died alone... no family, no one to claim her."
The whisper drifted through the sterile white hallway of the hospital, carried between two nurses on their late-night shift. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting ghostly glows on their tired faces.
"Just like that man and woman from the upper floor," one murmured, adjusting the files in her hand.
The other nurse sighed, nodding. "Yeah... all three of them. Died on the same day."
Later that evening, beneath the faded gray skies and the faint scent of petrichor from an earlier rain, the hospital arranged a quiet burial. No mourners. No prayers. Just three nameless headstones at the local cemetery near the hospital gates.
The headstones read:
Abigail
Damian
Violet
A woman of thirty.
A man of twenty-eight.
A woman of twenty-six.
They had nothing in common—except for one thing. They died alone. No families. No final goodbyes. And now, they were buried side by side, the hospital's last attempt to offer them some semblance of companionship, even in death.
ABIGAIL'S POV
Pain. A dull, throbbing headache bloomed in my skull.
Seriously? Headaches in heaven? That's a cruel joke.
Groaning, I rubbed my temples, trying to blink the blur from my eyes. My heart stuttered when I recognized the room—the peeling wallpaper, the old bookshelf stacked with dusty novels, the floral bedsheets my mom loved but I hated.
No. No, no, no...
This was my family room. The one I hadn't seen in seven years. My hands trembled as I sat up and scanned the space around me.
I pinched myself—hard.
"What the actual fuck..."
I snatched my phone from the side table, my fingers fumbling with the lock screen.
The date blinked back at me.
April 15, 2013
My breath hitched.
I felt my entire world tilt.
Ten years ago. I was back. Ten. Years. Back.
Why?
Why would Heaven send me here?
Unless...
It made a mistake.
Yeah, that must be it. Maybe if I just went back to sleep, I'd wake up where I belong.
But no matter how tightly I shut my eyes or how still I lay, sleep never came.
Because this was real. The bedsheets were scratchy. The cold breeze from the slightly cracked window kissed my skin. Everything was too real.
A choked sob lodged in my throat.
Why the hell was I back in this nightmare?
To relive my miserable college days?
To fall for Steven all over again—the man who would marry me, cheat on me, and leave me to rot in a hospital bed with cancer?
To return to a family that looked at me like I was nothing but a burden?
I didn't want this life again.
Tears slipped down my cheeks. I wiped them away harshly, angry at their betrayal.
I needed an escape. Something. Anything.
My fingers moved on instinct, opening an old WhatsApp group chat named "Novel World"—a small group of three online friends I'd bonded with at a book event years ago: Damian, Violet, and me. We'd never met in person, but somehow, they'd become more real to me than most people in my life.
I typed furiously:
"Just experienced the most fucked-up situation. Wish I could die again "
A second later, my screen blinked with two new messages.
Damian: "Just experienced the same thing "
Violet: "No way. You too?? What the hell is going on??"
I stared at the screen, heart pounding.
So it wasn't just me.
Maybe I wasn't alone in this madness.
Maybe... we all came back.
I stared at the screen, heart pounding.
So it wasn't just me.
Maybe I wasn't alone in this madness.
Maybe... we all came back.
But no... this can't be.
Maybe I'm just overthinking it...
Yeah, how could Heaven—of all places—make such a colossal mistake and rebirth three people at the same time?
That's insane.
Yeah... they're probably just messing with me.
They have to be joking.
Right?