-Hello... hello... hello... Can you hear me? React... Hello!
What? Where am I? The emptiness enveloped me like an endless abyss. It was neither darkness nor light; it was absence itself, a place where even thoughts seemed to drown before they were born.
The world I knew had vanished in an instant, leaving me in an absolute void. I could not feel my body; there was no warmth, no pain, no life. It was as if reality had been erased, and I, with it. What is this place... it looks like limbo, but worse. An undefined space stretching into infinity. But something was here with me. I feel its presence, like an invisible tide surrounding me, cold and warm at the same time. Is it talking to me? What a nuisance...
-At last you react! Hello child
Her voice is like a strange echo resonating more inside my mind than around me. As if my own consciousness had created it, but knowing, at the same time, that I had not. I couldn't escape it.
Shit. A god? This all sounds like a cosmic joke. I was always a skeptic, a man of facts and logic, but now... what's the logic in this? what logic is in this? How did I end up in this place where there are no rules?
-Hahaha! How funny you are. I've been calling you for quite a while now, and finally you could hear me... Although, you're partly right, and partly wrong. I am a god, but from another dimension. And just to confuse you even more, I won't tell you if I exist in your world or not.
-Wait, can you read my thoughts? Well, what difference does it make. I'm not alive anymore. Can you explain to me how I got here? And, more importantly, what the hell is this place?
-Read your thoughts? Oh, child, reading would be so mundane. Your thoughts are like echoes in a vast ocean. I can hear them, but I can also ignore them. And what you call 'life'... is but a fleeting whisper in the chaos.
-This is a plane that transcends your understanding, your reality. How did you get here? It's simple: because of your wandering soul. I don't know the exact cause, but for some reason, you didn't get eternal rest. You were wandering in nothingness, beyond time and space. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be trapped in this void until the universe itself shut down.
-Well... I guess thank you. But, come to think of it... isn't this kidnapping?
-What you see as abduction... is only a human perception. The universe has its own plans, and my task is not to save you, but to offer you a new perspective. The paths of existence do not always reveal themselves as you expect. Now, listen to me well: you have two paths, but not both will lead you to the same destination. Only you can decide, but each choice will have its price.
-Let me explain. You are not the first to find yourself in this... peculiar situation. Although rare, I have witnessed it several times. But not everyone takes it as calmly as you do.
-You can wander for eternity in what you call "limbo". It's not a place, it's absence. You will be an endless echo of what you were, and you will never be again.
With a snap of my fingers, the Milky Way spread out before me, bright and majestic, like a distant horizon, It was so impressive I could almost feel the weight of the stars on my shoulders.
-Or you can be reborn... Ah, that's different. It's starting over.
He finished his sentence, and in that instant we stood over a family. It was a common scene, but so disconcerting. The family was walking, oblivious to our presence. What's going on? It was as if we were shadows, invisible, watching from the edge of reality. And as quickly as it came, the vision faded, and we returned to the void.
-Wow... What was that? That's... scary. Really scary. I can't even process it.
-You've seen it with your own eyes... although, in reality, you haven't. -It's hard to explain to a mere human. It's hard to explain to a mere human. Well? What do you think?
-Wandering forever sounds... unbearable. But to be reborn in a strange world... that's scary. How can I survive there?
-Don't worry, I'll ensure you a roof over your head. But there's one condition: your memories will be sealed. Little by little, they might come back. It may take years. They may never come back completely.
My memories... They are everything I am. Everything I've been, everything I've done. Without them, what's left of me? Who will I be if I can no longer remember my name, my face, the voices of the people I loved? It's as if I'm being ripped from my own history. What's the point of being reborn if the echo of what I was fades into nothingness? Will I even be human without them?
-That sounds... pretty good. I have nothing to lose and much to gain. It's sad to lose my memories, it hurts... but... it's not like you can bring me back to my world, right?
-Regrets? I don't understand them. And no. I can't bring you back to your world. But you've accepted your fate well.
-I have no regrets, but... there are things I wish I'd done differently. -You know what I mean?
-Not really... no. But I can try to reason what you're trying to express. Now enough talk. Will you take me up on my offer?
I feel empty, lost... despair consumes me. The thought of wandering for eternity... of being a wandering soul... I cannot. But to accept another life, another chance, a strange world? will it be worse than this eternal emptiness? I don't know. To accept... Is it the right thing to do? How could I know? All I have is uncertainty.... But maybe, just maybe, this is a way to find something I no longer had: a reason to go on.
But the emptiness... that damned emptiness... That infinite space of total darkness that devours me like an unstoppable shadow. I feel so small, so insignificant, like a grain of dust floating in an indifferent universe. It suffocates me. It makes me feel like I never existed in the first place, like my life was just a fleeting flicker that left no trace.
And then, there's the other option. To be reborn. To start all over again. It's like dying again, a death without the physical pain, a death in which what I was, perhaps all that I could have been, is erased. But in this rebirth, perhaps there is something more. Maybe, in another body, in another world, there is a chance to find something better. Something that will make me forget, if only for an instant, this emptiness that has left me banished from everything I knew.
-I will. Damn it, though. It scares me, a deep fear, the kind of fear that paralyzes you when you realize you're no longer who you thought you were. But... what else do I have left? The emptiness is worse than anything I can imagine. I really hope you're not pulling my leg.
-I promised you, didn't I? -Is there anything else you want to say before I give you a new life?
-Yes... I'd like to be a prodigy.
-Hahaha! An unusual request. I like it. All right, kid. I expect great things from you, child. But remember: even prodigies are insignificant before the flow of time and eternity. We will see each other, yes... but only when the universe dictates it. Good luck to you.
-Thank you. I will do my best.
The world faded away, like a dream that is forgotten upon awakening. There was no light or shadow, only the echo of a promise... and then, the first heartbeat of something new.