Darkness... an empty void... nothingness...

This wasn't what I had in my mind when I decided my fate. I believed in heaven, despite my doubts that I'd end up there. What if there truly is nothing? But it wasn't this. Is there truly nothing after? Just an empty space where we slowly lose our minds? An eternal drift in the darkness? I didn't want that. I wanted out. Even hell would be better than this. My voice called out to anyone that might hear it: "HELP! ANYONE?!" But no air left my lungs. What I heard wasn't even real. Just an idea of screaming. The real sound didn't exist here.

There's no way I could accurately tell how much time had passed. Minutes? Months? Years? Or was it lifetimes? After all, how fast can time fly in such a dull place? Does it even pass at all? Regret started to fill my mind. I expected to be judged by my sins and then sent off... somewhere. But as I floated around and looked into the darkness so profound that I couldn't even see my own body, I began to question my actions. What exactly did I expect? Another chance? A way to rewind time and undo my books? A way to forget all the terrible criticism and comments I had received? "I shouldn't have done it," were the words I wanted to say, but couldn't. The deal was done. Mistakes were made. I cried and thought: this darkness is what I wanted, so it is what I got.

But the darkness was not eternal after all. A tiny speck of light appeared in the dark and grew at an alarming rate, covering everything around me before I could even begin to theorize what was going on. I was blinded in the face of a white glow, unable to see my own body or to even move my own hands. It was as if I had no physical form at all, yet at the same time, I could still feel myself existing. Then the light faded and what followed was a strange image.

Leaves and trees loomed over me. Birds were singing a cheerful melody, grass tickled my hands as I lay on the ground, and the wind flowed through my hair, making it all messy. I dumbly looked at my arm. I could see it. I could see all of me once again. When that sunk in, I tried to get up so fast that I made myself dizzy and staggered back, forced to sit down. I thought this might all be a bad dream, but you can't feel sick in a dream— not even in the worst ones. I took in my surroundings and just sat there on the grass, dumbfounded. The trees around me seemed more like mushrooms. Their trunks looked like large spikes, and all the branches surged radially from atop each tree, creating leafy roofs for anything underneath them. Sunlight shone through gaps between the canopy, making a few of its rays visible to the naked eye. It was a beautiful sight. The more time I stared, the more I started to realize— I was no longer on Earth. This was unlike any forest I remembered learning about from back home.

I finally managed to get up and decided to go for a walk. If this was hell, it was… a relatively pretty one, so I thought I might as well have a wander before some demon comes and starts torturing me. The further I walked, the more amazed I became. The forest was full of incredible flora. Glowing blue mushrooms, flowers of many shapes and colors, which seemed to dance in the wind, and so much more. There were other types of trees with shimmering purple veins running through their trunks, right beneath the bark. I never thought I'd see something so fantastic and beautiful in person. This bright new world was making me feel that urge to create something once again. To pick up that pencil and sketch these wonders out on a piece of paper. To grab a notebook and write down every detail I could see. But at the same time, I felt… off.

No matter how far I walked or what other natural wonders I saw, I couldn't shake off that uneasy feeling. It all felt wrong. I had just taken my own life. So why give me a paradise that appealed so much to my aesthetic senses? Why would I deserve to arrive here? Maybe…? There’s something poetic in making someone like me want to write again. Maybe my punishment was to give me nothing to write with? I paused. That would be dumb. Unless they did it in a very specific way. So… I likely either have yet to find out my punishment, or I wasn’t in hell. But if I wasn’t in hell, then where was I? There were too many questions. My head felt like it was going to burst into pieces at any moment. Another thought took front and center in my mind. Can I die here? Is this heaven, or a reincarnation? Did I even die? Have I gone into some twisted form of the Hero’s Journey? Does this happen to everyone who dies? I've definitely gone past a threshold with no point of return. Are these just my last moments as my brain is being crushed? I had all these questions, but no answers. Part of me wanted to eat those glowing mushrooms to see if they were poisonous, and to gauge my new reality somehow, but that was a thought I quickly dismissed. The idea of dying again, this time in horrible pain and sickness from poisoning, even if hallucinatory, did not seem tempting at all. I had no idea where I’d go next either, and no way to know if my situation would be worse, or if I would be stuck in the void again. Not to mention that upon closer inspection, I noticed that the mushrooms were all slimy. Disgusting! I gently nudged one of them with my foot. It made a really nasty burping sound. My face scrunched up in pure disgust. Then the smell hit me. I guess it must've been some kind of a defense mechanism, but dear lord, the stench was indescribably bad. I quickly covered my mouth and summoned all my strength to suppress the urge to vomit. No longer did I wish to remain anywhere near these fungi. I still liked them, but only from a distance.

I instinctively tried backing away, not realizing one crucial piece of information— the slime had stuck to the bottom of my shoe. The moment I took a step back, my leg slipped— my good old friend balance completely abandoned me. A sharp pain shot through my foot as I tumbled to the ground. My landing was cushioned by something squishy and soft. There was no need to wonder what it was once the ground beneath me started burping. I don't think I've ever been more terrified of burps in my life. Afraid that the stench would follow me and in stronger concentration even kill me, I scurried away, my right ankle aching with a dull pain. Fortunately, it wasn’t bad enough to stop me from walking, so I limped as far away from the mushrooms as I could.

Once it seemed like I had finally reached an area that would be clear of them, I sat down, my back against the trunk of a large tree. "Please, don't start making noises," I whispered to the plant, hoping that this one would truly be just bark and wood like God intended. As far as I could tell, it seemed that way. I grabbed my injured leg and returned to my previous thoughts. Okay, so I’m definitely mortal, or alive or something. Or in hell and the forces that be just want to torment me with stinky mushrooms. I looked at the birds flying through the beautiful blue sky. No, this wasn't hell. That much I was sure of. Hell wouldn't look this pretty. I had my memories and my body. I wasn’t on Earth. I only had one good explanation.

"God damn it. Have I really been thrown into a different world? That’s like the most overused narrative plot ever. I spent my whole life avoiding clichés, and you’re telling me that death actually works this way? Fucking fantastic," I mumbled to myself about the absurdity of this whole situation.

"Hehe, you took quite the tumble back there," I heard a voice come from somewhere around me. Without a moment to waste, I stood up and leaned against the tree for added stability.

"Who's there?!" I shouted, desperately trying to make my voice sound deep and resolute.

"Shhh! Quiet! You want to disturb all the animals in the forest?" the voice came from one of the bushes in front of me.

"Show yourself!" I replied and picked up the nearest stick to use as a weapon in case this person would be dangerous. Unfortunately, the one I grabbed was way too short to give me any extra reach and so thin that the pressure of an attack would probably snap it in half.

"Stop freaking out! I'm right here." The bush shook and a young man jumped out of it. He looked to be in his early thirties, just a few years younger than me. He was wearing clothing one would only see in a fantasy movie— a plain tunic and pants that just screamed "medieval" the moment I saw them. His shoes looked like two leather bags tied around his shins by a rope. He wore a large backpack and was covered with various leaves and twigs from head to toe. His ebony hair was decorated with flowers. Whether they were strategically placed or not, I wasn't able to tell. His strangest feature was, however, his face, which was covered with mud as if he was playing pretend as a Viking warrior but couldn't afford actual face paint.

"You're lucky I was in the area. Are you injured? You don't really seem to be very stable on your feet."

I took a few steps only to verify that my twisted ankle was still there. Whatever he wanted from me, there was no way I would be able to outrun him should he prove to be a threat.

"I'm fine. It's nothing serious." I said and stood straight and tall.

"Well, if you say so. But we are deep in the woods. Where exactly do you want to go in such a shape?"

"I... I don’t know. But I will manage."

"Doubt that. You won't reach the city by sundown and that could be dangerous. I can tell you're from down there. Your clothes are all... well, I wanna say fancy, but I never really understood the city fashion, so let's just stick with weird."

"Can you point me to the city?" I shifted slightly off my injured foot. Keeping up the tough and healthy appearance wasn't worth the pain.

"You don't know your way back home? Okay, you are just completely lost, it seems. How about you crash at my place for the night? I have enough space for a guest and some food too. As long as you don't mind eating vegan for a day."

"Well..." I wasn't sure what to say. How does one even explain that they just got reincarnated? Would he even believe me? "Fine… I could use a place to stay," I said reluctantly. Friendships were always important in these stories. And this guy - the first person I met in this new world -definitely seemed like someone relevant. The protagonist would always need an ally to show them around. If this guy was going to be my guide, then I needed to befriend him.

Great. Making friends. Just the thing I've always absolutely sucked at. I thought to myself.