What does it mean to die?
What happens after death? Have you ever asked yourself that question?
Imagine working your whole life with the hope of being happy someday… or sometimes not even that. Sometimes you do it out of pure obligation—maybe for your family, or for someone you care about. You go to school for eight years because your parents told you it was the right thing to do, but you never chose it yourself. It doesn't make you happy. And on top of that, you have to get good grades just so your parents won't say anything to you. It's annoying, but you still do it because your mind has gotten used to believing that's how the world works.
But then that thought arrives…
What happens after death? Do all those years of living and struggling simply end the moment I close my eyes forever?
After that thought, depending on the person, different feelings come. Some think it's for the best—to rest forever in peace. Others believe that after death there's something more, the happiness we spend our lives searching for. That moment where everything is joy and there's nothing to worry about. And many other theories people come up with so they never lose hope of a peace without worries…
But me… I felt absolutely nothing.
I went to sleep that night as I always did, and when I woke up, I noticed something strange. I was no longer in my bed. Instead of seeing the ceiling of my house, I saw a vast blue sky, with trees whose leaves swayed gently around me.
What the hell is this? I felt like I was lying on something that seemed to be an altar, like the ones you see in movies. I looked at myself and saw I was completely naked. But something else caught my attention…
My body had changed. I was no longer skinny—now I had a defined abdomen.
Well… putting that aside… What the hell am I doing here?
This place seemed completely abandoned. There was only this altar, covered in vines and mold, and beyond that, just brush and thick vegetation. I stood up and looked around. Honestly, there was absolutely nothing—just this.
Where am I? And how did I get here?
I kept scanning in every direction, searching for anything that could tell me where to go. I felt lost. And then I saw the tomb. It had a lid—like those on the pyramids that hold a mummy inside.
I tried to open it. At first glance, it looked heavy, but I lifted it as if it were nothing. Inside, there was a note that read:
"To the next soul fated to return to life by a twist of destiny, I grant you my body, and with it, my strength, my senses, and the functions that work in the subconscious and are intuitive—such as languages, the names of objects, and other things that operate in the subconscious of your mind. Only this can be left when a soul is changed, as it is something that does not require direct consciousness to function. Do with my body as you wish."
What does it mean by "a twist of destiny"? And why me? And how can you change bodies? None of that exists… how is this possible?
I was still very confused, but I had to get out of here. I was afraid night would fall and I'd be trapped in the middle of this unknown forest.
Two hours passed. I took the first direction my intuition told me was right, but I still couldn't find a way out. I only saw more and more trees… nothing else.
Just then, I felt a strange sensation, hard to explain. Have you ever felt like you're being watched? Well, I felt the same—but with the certainty that something was stalking me from the shadows.
"Hey! Whoever's out there, come out now!" I shouted, trying to find out what was there.
But nothing came out. So I decided to move closer, slowly. But before I could take a step, something leapt straight at me.
It was a giant wolf. Not monstrous, but compared to the others I had seen, this one was considerably larger. I panicked and jumped back. But the wolf moved slowly… and so did I. I could see it in slow motion. The wind howled and whistled, but the wolf seemed to hang in the air, as if the wind itself was pushing it back.
With no weapons and scared out of my mind, I tried to punch it. In my head, I would move just as slowly as the wolf, so I threw the punch as hard as I could, hoping to hit it before it hit me.
But, unlike what I expected… I moved extremely fast.
My fist broke the sound barrier, and it even felt like the sound itself was moving slower than my senses. The wolf was right in front of me, suspended in the air. So I aimed for the most obvious and logical spot—the chest.
But because I didn't hold back… I went straight through it.
My arm was completely inside its body. I could even feel its organs beating.
"Bleeegh!" Of course I was going to vomit. It was disgusting—feeling the animal's organs… and seeing them.
"Bleeegh!"
There it was, lying on the ground. But honestly… I didn't feel like looking at it.
What a way to start.