Second Chance At Life

Chapter Three

A bit boring, but I need to explain these things! Thanks for reading, haha.

I blinked as I realised I was staring at my own body hunched over the steering wheel with blood pouring out of a head wound. My head wound. I pinched myself, but nothing happened. 

This must be a bad dream, I thought as I walked towards the car, towards myself. I tried to open the car door of my Mercedes, but it was jammed. Hearing the tell-tale siren of an ambulance in the distance, I sighed in relief. I watched as the men forced the door open, and extracted my body from the mess of metal. I followed them, but no-one seemed to notice me. I tried to somehow take possession of my own body by leaning towards it, and hoping I’d wake up in my body. It didn’t work. Biting my bottom lip, I worked up the courage and poked one of the men on the arm. He didn’t flinch, nor look up. I poked harder, but he made no response. I reached up and slapped his face. He didn’t even seem to feel it.

“What are you doing?” an amused voice asked behind me. I whipped around, glad that someone finally can see me. I saw a teenager, about my age, dressed in a black Nirvana T-shirt with khaki jeans and vans. His black hair was spiked in a Mohawk and he had several leather wristbands around his wrist.

“Oh thank god. Will you tell those people to stop touching my body? It’s not like I’m dead or anything,” I said to the boy, pointing frantically at the scene unfolding before us.

“Not really. They can’t see me either,” he replied, with infuriating calm.

“Okay, what the hell is happening? Is this some kind of practical joke?” I grimaced, looking around for hidden cameras.

He chuckled, before walking towards me and slinging an arm around my neck.

“Zoe, you’re dead. Literally. That car crash killed you,” he whispered into my ear.

“You’re lying. How am I here then? And who exactly are you?” I asked, furious that he was still joking around.

He snapped his fingers and suddenly we were not on the road anymore. I glanced around at my surroundings and recognised this as the Marley Hospital near my house. I didn’t even bother asking what he just did as I knew this nightmare couldn’t possibly last much longer.

“Take a seat,” the boy gestured at a bench in front of the hospital. I sat and glared at him, demanding an explanation.

“I’ll answer your second question first. Humans tend to mistakenly call me the ‘reaper’ but I’m actually known as the ‘Scheduler’,” he said, looking at me closely to gauge my reaction.

I returned his gaze seriously to humour him, before I bent over and started hooting with laughter. “You’re funny,” I gasped, somehow finding it hilarious.

He looked annoyed as pointed ahead, “No seriously. Watch. I know for a fact that the bird there will be killed by an ice-cream truck.” 

I focused on the road ahead of us as he counted down from five. I heard the annoying song of the ice-cream truck and when he reached zero, it passed over the bird. I turned to look at him, horrified.

“I’m the reaper. Fate decrees when creatures die and I escort their spirits to the afterlife. Everyone’s death is planned from the minute they are born. I also make sure that there are no disturbances in the course of the death,” he said, once I understood the graveness of the situation.

“Concerning what happened to you,” he paused, trying to find the right words for it, “Well, your death was unplanned. There are people who try to mess with fate, and shorten or lengthen the time before their death. A girl jumped in front of the truck you were driving behind and tried to suicide. She however, got knocked out of the way just as the truck braked. Unfortunately, this already set of a chain reaction of events which ultimately lead to your death. You have two choices now, Zoe. One, you accept your death, and I’ll take you out of this world. Two, you get a chance to resume your life, though you must complete a set of goals. What is your choice?”