Lying down on a comfy and humongous bed, a little boy no older than six years old was practically held against his will by the bed sheets as two grown adults were practically quarreling.
"This is the result of your stubbornness and short-sightedness. I told you time after time that Godfrey is not the same as his siblings!"
"Nonsense! The boy simply had a bit of exhaustion, that's all, you even heard it from the physician himself!"
"And what, pray tell, was the reason he was exhausted, hmm? Perhaps you could remind me, since if my memory told me correctly, you were forcing him to 'stand on the same footing as his siblings' if I recall?"
The man was sitting down, and now that their argument had reached this level of progression, he simply could not stay on the defensive and stood up.
"His brothers and sisters are already leagues beyond him. If he couldn't stand on his own, then he would become a laughing stock for the others just cause he was born to a family of geniuses! His eldest sister held her first sword and was learning the moment she could walk. I'm just trying to find something he's... passionate about, something he can practice and master like his siblings! It doesn't help when you cuddle him with all your pointless worry all the time!"
"There you go again, always picking favorites! Just what if he isn't good at anything? Why can't he be just him? Why does he need to measure up to his own siblings?"
"Because I'm trying to shield him from the shame! I know you won't appreciate it now, but when the time comes, when he's faced with all their judging gaze, he'll falter, and they'll eat him alive!"
"And what of his father's gaze, huh? What do they feel like?... You know far too well what it's like having someone expect something greater than what you have!"
While they argued, the boy, who was simply staring at the wall in front of him, was lost in his own thoughts.
'Let's get this straight. Their voice came in a drive by telling me this kid is my soul's next life and I am simply a memory... I mean, I guess ego is experiences given shape. Or at least that's what I think it is.'
Born again as someone and have the original ego be overpowered by a larger mind. Perhaps Jeffery did think this was a semi-fucked up situation, but... They were practically the same person; HE is just a memory now, and the kid was barely starting to create a consciousness, so technically, he occupied an empty vehicle?
'I mean, it was this or imminent death, I think? Sorry, kid, but thank you, and I'll live my life to thefullest. Still, it is a bit problematic, though. Never thought I'd be back at this stage in life.'
Jeffery sighed and rubbed his face.
The two adults, seeing the child's sudden reaction, ceased their war and came to check up on him.
"Godfrey, sweeting, are you feeling well?"
Jeffery, or so from what he could barely make out from the small snippets of memory, Godfrey didn't know how to handle these two, who were his parents. Biologically, and from what looks like, chronologically. He could take a gander and say his mother was in her early forties and his father was around the late forties. Though he didn't know what to do about having parents again, he could understand what they were saying, so he just gave a simple nod.
"Oh, you poor thing, look at you, bedridden... Are you hungry? I think there are still some pastries left from the batch I made this morning. I can bring it here if you want?"
A simple shake side to side was Godfrey's answer. He was in a confusing situation now, and he needed more time to fully digest and adapt to this new world.
"See? There it is again! You say I show favoritism when you dote on the boy more so than the others!"
This earned him a glare and an ominous premonition.
"Godfrey, sweetie... I'll give you some time to get better. I'm going to have a nice talk with your dad about your tiresome training."
'Uhm... Good luck to you, Dad... I guess?'
With a swift yank at his ear and quick movements out of the room, the man was slowly understanding the gravity of the situation.
"YOU KNOW FULL WELL YOU TOOK THEM AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I COULD EVEN DO ANYTHING!"
And with that, a very angry woman and a man slowly regretting his decision, walked out the door and left Godfrey alone with his thoughts.
'Well, that was fun.'
He took a long, deep breath and held it in for a few seconds. After being satisfied, he exhaled slowly.
'Air, pure fresh AIR... Oh, how I missed you.'
He wallowed a bit on his bed; it was big, it was probably a king-sized bed.
'So soft... so comfortable. Yeah, I'm already feeling much better.'
The migraine had subsided; it was caused by the sudden flood of memories the body had just received. From what THEY said, the memories came directly from the soul, planted within it during the final day, and apparently, a long time had passed since the final day; his soul had to pass on through the fountain of reincarnation, whatever that may mean, to arrive at this life, and when the body was mature enough, the memory would resurface. And now here he was... in the flesh.
'If I have to take a gander here, I'll say that I'll probably need the knowledge of how to write and read. Language doesn't seem too bad, I hear it in perfect English, or is that my brain just translating words to already existing ones with similar meaning? I don't know but... This is going to be a bit of a pain growing up.'
This time, Godfrey used both his hands to rub his face. A habit he made when feeling troubled. And right now, He had a lot of trouble to be made.
'This better be worth the effort.'
For now, Godfrey enjoyed his just reward. To the body and soul, this may have just been a simple day of a similar routine, but to the mind, it was an upgrade from makeshift beds to a fifty-million-star luxury hotel. And he wasn't about to let this moment slide.
Godfrey slept through the entire day, from noon to sunrise. When he awoke, it was still early dawn. Taking the initiative, he wanted to look around. He slowly wiggled out the tight bedcover and hopped down the massive bed. Thankfully, there was a pair of footwear on the bottom he could use; the last time he went barefoot was when he got blisters on his feet from walking across the blazing desert sand.
Surprisingly, the hallway from his room was pretty lit up, the walls had these three-pointed holders having candles in each point. There was one on the wall every... 5 meters give or take, from what Godfrey could guess, and they had a lot of wax melted. They were probably lit up since last night and kept burning until they either got put out or burned out.
As Godfrey wandered across the hall, he soon realized this entire building was the size of a mall. Not one of those smaller ones, but those really big mega malls, given the fact that he was still walking even after 20 minutes? He went in one direction and still couldn't reach the end of it. From what the greenery outside was telling him, this wasn't some illusion.
'Wait...'
He finally found something interesting. A garden? A tourist attraction? Whatever it was, it looked big and marvelous. It was the front of the estate, and it was big and grand, enough to make Godfrey... no, Jeffery feel like he was living in poverty from even before he got into the apocalyptic hellhole.
'You know what, I'm really sorry, Godfrey... But I'm going to make myself at home here.'
For the next four years, Godfrey would live lavishly, eat bountifully, sleep luxuriously, and play incredibly. Silver spoon? Golden spoon? No, he had spoons in diamonds.
This was for all the times he had to eat disgusting meat, sleep with one eye open in a rag-covered concrete bed, limp myself towards safety just to not get mauled to death by rabid mutants. Felt too sweet and too great, was there a catch to all these? At this point, after tasting the sweet taste of luxury, Godfrey didn't much care. He could die happily as he spent his four years in absolute bliss.
....
But all good things must come to an end... Whenever one arrives at the crossroads, what path do they take? Turn right and return back at blissful ignorance or... to turn left into the world's fire? No matter what choices we make, they are always based on previous experiences.