"Hey, Ernesto—you good, man? You're… glowing."
Those were the last words anyone said to me on Earth.
My name's Ernesto Rivera. Born in California. Raised in Georgia. Spanish-American. I speak English better than anything else—and yeah, I got ADHD. Life hasn't been kind to me, but I never expected it to straight-up vanish me like a scene from a sci-fi movie.
After high school, my family cut ties. Like I never existed. Friends faded. Love? Yeah… I tried. Dated online for years. Less risk. Less rejection. But even there, all I found was heartbreak, cheating, and women who saw me as disposable. I just wanted someone to love me for who I am—messy brain and all.
But I wasn't dumb. I was good with my hands. Tools, wires, software—I could make a dead laptop run like new. I didn't go to college, but I built my own lab in the back of an RV, and I worked hard. My last job? Custodial maintenance at Sam's Club. Floor scrubber driver, machine wrangler, tech whisperer.
That day started like any other. I was riding the big floor cleaner, zoning out to music, doing laps. Then came the light.
"Yo, Ernesto—hey! You okay? You're… seriously glowing!"
I blinked. "What are you talking about?"
Then I saw it. My hand. It was glowing. Bright—almost white-blue, like LED lightning. The glow spread across my arms. I panicked. I looked up to yell something back, but—
Boom.
I vanished.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in the store.
I wasn't even on Earth.
I was floating. Surrounded by stars and golden clouds. And standing before me… was her.
A goddess. Radiant. Serene. Dressed in flowing white with hair like sunlight itself.
"Ernesto Rivera," she said gently.
"I have been watching you. You've been chosen. Not by accident—but by purpose."
The goddess stepped forward, her bare feet gliding across golden mist as if light itself bent to her will. Her eyes shimmered—like galaxies lived behind them. But what caught me most… was the way she looked at me.
Not like I was a burden.
Not like I was broken.
But like I mattered.
"I am Aurelia, Goddess of Light and Creation," she said softly.
"And I've seen you, Ernesto Rivera."
"Seen me?" I blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I've felt your loneliness. Your heartbreak. I've watched you suffer in silence. Abandoned, mistreated, doubted… and yet, you kept going. Even when no one saw you—I did."
A lump hit my throat. I looked down. My hands were still glowing faintly, but I didn't feel strong. I just felt… exposed.
"There is a world," she continued, "called Emeralda. A world of promise, yet stricken with hardship. It struggles to build, to grow, to rise. A world of desperado—lost, desperate souls in need of hope."
She paused, the clouds around us pulsing gently with her words.
"They need someone like you. Someone with the heart to fix what others throw away. I will give you the power to bring forth any technology—tools, machines, even those beyond your world. Not just to build them… but to will them into being."
I stared at her. "…You're kidding."
"No," she smiled. "You will have the power to imagine, create, and command technology as if it were second nature."
"Why me?" I asked, my voice cracking. "I'm just a regular guy… I mean, yeah I'm handy with tools and tech, but I've got ADHD, I can't sit still for five minutes unless I'm fixing something, and I—"
I stopped myself.
"I'm just… nobody special."
"You are wrong," Aurelia said, stepping closer. "You are exactly the kind of man I was looking for. Not because of your strength. Not because of some destiny. But because you're searching. You're a man who wants more than survival—you want purpose."
I swallowed hard.
"Everyone left me," I muttered. "I come home to nothing. No one. I don't even know what I'm doing anymore…"
"And that," she said, gently cupping her hand beneath my chin, "is why you'll find everything you've ever needed in Emeralda."
She smiled then—not a goddess' smile, but something warm. Human. Like a mother, or a friend.
"Love. Belonging. Meaning. It will be there."
I looked at her long and hard… then nodded.
"Alright," I said quietly. "Let's do this."
In a flash—blinding, pure, overwhelming light—her hand touched my chest. I felt the energy rush through me like lightning and sunlight at once.
"Go now, Ernesto Rivera… become the change that world so desperately needs."
The light faded.
I blinked.
Birds chirped.
Trees swayed.
The scent of pine, moss, and wildflowers filled my lungs.
I was no longer in a glowing cloud of divinity. I was standing on a dirt path surrounded by towering green trees. Strange runes shimmered faintly on tree trunks, and the wind… it felt almost alive.
Everything looked enchanted.
Like a dream.
"…Well," I muttered, cracking my knuckles. "This ain't Sam's Club anymore."
The goddess stepped forward, her bare feet gliding across golden mist as if light itself bent to her will. Her eyes shimmered—like galaxies lived behind them. But what caught me most… was the way she looked at me.
Not like I was a burden.
Not like I was broken.
But like I mattered.
"I am Aurelia, Goddess of Light and Creation," she said softly.
"And I've seen you, Ernesto Rivera."
"Seen me?" I blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I've felt your loneliness. Your heartbreak. I've watched you suffer in silence. Abandoned, mistreated, doubted… and yet, you kept going. Even when no one saw you—I did."
A lump hit my throat. I looked down. My hands were still glowing faintly, but I didn't feel strong. I just felt… exposed.
"There is a world," she continued, "called Emeralda. A world of promise, yet stricken with hardship. It struggles to build, to grow, to rise. A world of desperado—lost, desperate souls in need of hope."
She paused, the clouds around us pulsing gently with her words.
"They need someone like you. Someone with the heart to fix what others throw away. I will give you the power to bring forth any technology—tools, machines, even those beyond your world. Not just to build them… but to will them into being."
I stared at her. "…You're kidding."
"No," she smiled. "You will have the power to imagine, create, and command technology as if it were second nature."
"Why me?" I asked, my voice cracking. "I'm just a regular guy… I mean, yeah I'm handy with tools and tech, but I've got ADHD, I can't sit still for five minutes unless I'm fixing something, and I—"
I stopped myself.
"I'm just… nobody special."
"You are wrong," Aurelia said, stepping closer. "You are exactly the kind of man I was looking for. Not because of your strength. Not because of some destiny. But because you're searching. You're a man who wants more than survival—you want purpose."
I swallowed hard.
"Everyone left me," I muttered. "I come home to nothing. No one. I don't even know what I'm doing anymore…"
"And that," she said, gently cupping her hand beneath my chin, "is why you'll find everything you've ever needed in Emeralda."
She smiled then—not a goddess' smile, but something warm. Human. Like a mother, or a friend.
"Love. Belonging. Meaning. It will be there."
I looked at her long and hard… then nodded.
"Alright," I said quietly. "Let's do this."
In a flash—blinding, pure, overwhelming light—her hand touched my chest. I felt the energy rush through me like lightning and sunlight at once.
"Go now, Ernesto Rivera… become the change that world so desperately needs."
The light faded.
I blinked.
Birds chirped.
Trees swayed.
The scent of pine, moss, and wildflowers filled my lungs.
I was no longer in a glowing cloud of divinity. I was standing on a dirt path surrounded by towering green trees. Strange runes shimmered faintly on tree trunks, and the wind… it felt almost alive.
Everything looked enchanted.
Like a dream.
"…Well," I muttered, cracking my knuckles. "This ain't Sam's Club anymore."