“What do you mean, ‘again’?” Stuart asked Ezey, his caseworker. Stuart sat on the edge of a brown leather sofa seat with a clipboard in his hands.
“This is the fifth time I give you the list,” Ezey shrugged. “It takes a few lifetimes to start remembering.” Stuart glanced at the sheets attached to the clipboard. It was a several-pages-long text list with point values and descriptions assigned to each entry. He flipped the first sheet up and skimmed it, then he flipped it up to glance at the third page. None of it looked familiar to him.
“How many points do I have?” Stuart asked. The highest amount was listed on the first page. It was written out as: “Mundo: 1 trillion”. He was glad he didn’t have to count a string of zeroes.
“Do you want a real answer or just an approximation?”
“Both,” Stuart said. Ezey reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black notepad. He flipped it open, looked at it, then looked at Stuart.
“Real answer: 239. Approximation: not enough to spend. You can’t afford the first perk yet.”
“239!?’ Stuart asked. He flipped through the sheets until he saw the last entry. It said: “Longevity: 2 thousand.” “That’s it!? I’ve died five times and I only have 239 points?” Ezey shook his head and smiled.
“This life must’ve been rough on you. This is the fifth time I showed you the list,” he sighed. “But you’re not counting all the times you died before you got to see it the first time. Your tally’s been running since your first life.” The moment Ezey said that Stuart remembered being in that office hundreds of times before. His eyes widened and he looked at Ezey.
“I’ve died more times than I have points?” Ezey nodded.
“Sometimes you lose points. Sometimes you just don’t earn any.”
“How the hell can anyone even get to 1 trillion? What’s the Mundo perk anyway? Is it worth it?”
“Every time we send you back you forget everything. If you’re born a Mundo you have the chance to pick some memories you want to keep. From any of your lives. You’ll have to decide if that’s worth it to you. As for the ‘how’, ” Ezey grabbed the clipboard from Stuart and flipped to the back page. He underlined several entries then handed it back. Stuart looked down at the chosen entries.
There were only two: Longevity and Divine Blessing, but they were listed multiple times on the sheet. Stuart realized they were different ranks of the same perk.
“Think of it as a game. The longer you live the more chances you have for points, right?” Stuart nodded. “Divine Blessing is like a multiplier. Whatever earns you points will earn you even more.”
“Whatever gives me points? Like what?” Stuart smiled at Ezey hoping for a hint but the man shook his head.
“No idea, that’s a different department. So, do you know what you’re saving your points for yet?” Ezey asked. Stuart shook his head.
“Well give it some thought in your next life.” Ezey waved good-bye at Stuart then faded away along with the room. Stuart was surrounded by darkness. Then he was born.
“Ezey?” Harry called out for his caseworker as soon as he recognized the room. He woke up in a small office on a brown leather chaise. He’d been in the room several times before; it reminded him of a therapist’s office. He knew he’d been there but had no idea how many times. Several seconds after he woke up he heard a knock on the door; then, it opened. A lean, clean-shaved man in a dark suit walked in.
“Congratulations, Harry. You reached the first tier,” the man said when he entered. He stopped by the chaise to shake Harry’s hand on the way to the desk. After the handshake, he sat on the edge of his desk to chat with Harry.
“Thanks, Ezey,” Harry nodded. “Uh, can you go over that part again?” Ezey chuckled.
“Of course. I’m supposed to anyway,” he shrugged. “Not everyone’s memory makes it this far. First, tell me what you know.”
“I’m dead,” the first fact came easy enough. Ezey nodded. “You’re my caseworker… I think you said you’re called a Middleman.” Ezey nodded again. Harry continued. “You said I reached the first tier…,” the portly man scratched his beard while he thought. “That means I can be a Unique Soul now… I think?” Ezey nodded again.
“What else?” he asked.
“There’s more of me… what about the rest?” Ezey shrugged.
“That’s up to you, you got here first. If you decide to reincarnate into a Unique you’ll have to wait until your alternates die too so we can get you all together. Or you can keep going,” Ezey smiled at Harry. “Go back to your Earth or pick a different one. Keep trying to learn and earn more points to go up to the next tier. If you pick a Unique you get to choose which alternate Earth you want; but, you can’t pick the same one you just came from.”
“How many of me are there?”
“Right now there’s about 500 of you out there.”
“Right now?” Harry asked.
“Yeah. It’s how the process works. When a new soul is born it’s divided out into tens of thousands of dimensions. As they learn about life and pass through here they start getting consolidated until you can become a Unique,” Ezey explained. Harry was sure he’d heard the explanation before and was glad Ezey did not seem to mind repeating himself. He assumed patience was a job requirement. “By the time you reach the Celestial tier for Uniques, there’s usually only a handful of alternates. But you…,” Ezey pointed at Harry. “…have the most points so you get to decide for all of you. Even if you go around again, you’re still in charge when you come back.”
“Is Celestial the highest tier? What tier am I on?” Ezey nodded.
“You’re in the first tier now: plants. Then it’s Animals, Humans, Conquerors, and Celestials on the top. You’re looking at about 20-30 lifetimes per tier; in case you’re wondering.”
“Is it worth it?” Harry asked. “I mean, in your opinion, is it worth waiting?” Ezey shrugged.
“Well, I’ll tell you. It’s up to you and how you want to live your last life. I can say there’s a Sol, a Celestial Unique, out there that we’re afraid of up here. So,” he shrugged. “There’s a lot to be said for the opportunity to get that powerful I guess.”
“Is this an option?” Harry asked. He quickly decided that he did not want to be somewhere that he chanced running into someone even Middlemen feared.
“What?”
“This,” Harry spread his arms wide to gesture at the office around them. “Up here. Can I be a Middleman?”
“I’ll ask. Go around again while we figure it out,” Ezey said.
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go again,” Harry said. Ezey and the room disappeared leaving Harry in darkness. Then he was born.
“83 years, not bad, but it isn’t the record,” the young Ellis said. The elderly man nodded and grinned.
“Better’n you by the looks of things. What were you? 20? 21?” Old Ellis glanced around the larger than usual room. It resembled a cafeteria. Both men, young and old, sat one of the dozens of round tables. Normally he woke up in a small office while he waited for his case worker. “Where’s Ezey?”
“20,” the young man replied. “I dunno. He told me to wait here.” The old man nodded.
“So, then who’s got the record right now?”
“One of us hit 103 and is still down there,” the young one replied. Before he said anything else the sound of footsteps drew their attention. A lean, clean shaved man in a black suit walked in and smiled at both of them.
“Hey Ezey, what’s going on?” Old Ellis asked. The well-dressed man smiled when he reached the table, but he did not sit with them.
“Congratulations guys. You’ve made it to the final round. The highest score, neither of you guys…,” Ezey smiled at the pair. “…gets the final say. But you can start thinking about what Unique you want to be.” Elderly Ellis nodded at Ezey.
“How many points do we have?” The wrinkled man asked.
“Enough for the Celestial tier,” Ezey replied. “I just wanted to give you a heads up, I’ve gotta get back to work. Keep hanging out here until the rest of you show up.” The lean man waved, then walked out of the room.
“How’d you die so young?” the old man asked once Ezey was gone.
“Stupid stunt,” Young Ellis chuckled. “Trying to impress a girl.” The old man burst into heavy, wheezing laughter.
“Was it the Ferris Wheel proposal?” he asked with glee in his eyes. Young Ellis nodded and the old man laughed harder. “Cheer up kid. If you lived through it, it would’ve worked out great.”
“Did you…?” Young Ellis began to ask, and the old man nodded.
“I died in a hospital bed,” he smiled. “With my first and only wife by my side.”
“Awesome,” the young Ellis grinned. He felt glad knowing it worked out like he wanted for someone. “So what Unique would you prefer?” The old man shrugged.
“I just assumed we’d go for #46.” Young Ellis nodded.
“Yeah, same.”
“Where’s Ezey?” a new voice said. Neither of the two men saw the third man appear. It was as if he silently popped into existence in the chair next to them. One second the chair was empty, the next second a bearded man asked about their caseworker. The number ‘103’ hovered above the man’s bald head in gold numbers for a moment before it disappeared.
“Hey, 103!” Young Ellis smiled. Despite being over 20 years older, 103 somehow looked younger than 83-year-old Elderly Ellis. He had silver eyebrows, but his face held fewer wrinkles and his eyes appeared less tired. “He’ll be back later, but we’re done.”
“We made it to the final round?!” 103 asked. Both the other men nodded their heads. “Awesome! Do you know what we’re gonna be yet?”
“#46,” both men answered. They knew 103 would have the final say, but he himself did not know. They hoped he’d repeat the answer when asked.
“Nice,” 103 replied.
“How do you look so young?” Old Ellis asked 103. “I’m only 83, but you look like you’re in our 50s.” 103 nodded.
“My Earth had magic. I got pretty good at it, and I used it to keep me young. I would’ve lived longer but some rampaging Unique conquered my Earth. Even with all my magic, I couldn’t do a thing to her.”
“A single Unique conquered your Earth? I didn’t know they could get that strong,” the young Ellis said.
“That means we can get that strong,” elder Ellis said with a smile. 103 shook his head.
“I don’t know. I’ve fought Uniques before, but she was on another level entirely.” 103 shook his head and looked at the other two versions of himself. “She used Void magic as easily as I breathe.”
“That would be Ballisea,” Ezey’s voice came from the entrance to the room. He was approaching the table. “Around here we recommend that everyone stay out of her way.”
“Is she that powerful?” Young Ellis asked. Ezey nodded.
“You guys are gonna forget anyway, I can tell you about her.” Ezey sat at the table with the three men. “She escaped,” he grinned.
“Escaped? From where?” Young Ellis asked.
“From here, the afterlife. We do things a certain way when we birth a new Unique into the multiverse, and sometimes that process involves creating a brand new universe. Without giving away too much about what goes on behind the curtain,” Ezey grinned. “Ballisea escaped in such a way that she was able to pick which universe she wanted to be born in.”
“Whooaa,” Young Ellis said. “I guess she picked one with lots of powerful Uniques then, right? That’s how she got so strong!” Ezey shook his head.
“I wasn’t here when it happened so even I don’t know the details,” Ezey said. “The easiest way to create a universe is an explosion of energy. If we’re going to put a new Unique into a brand new universe, we like to let it cool down for a few millennia first. Ballisea, somehow, got born into a universe instead of a Big Bang.”
“You mean the Big Bang happened when she was already in the universe? That’s.. wow…” Young Ellis asked. Ezey shook his head.
“I said ‘instead’ of it. All the energy that we put into a big bang… that’s Ballisea.” All three Ellis’ eyes went wide.
“No wonder she wiped the floor with me,” 103 said. Again, Ezey shook his head.
“That’s only half of it. Because there was no Big Bang she was born into the Void between universes. Her Unique ability manifested the only way it could: Void magic.”
“Why aren’t you guys doing anything? She’s wreaking havoc down there!” 103 growled the question at Ezey. The clean-shaven man shrugged.
“As far as we’re concerned she’s a force of nature like hurricanes and earthquakes. It’s a bit busier around here because of her, but it’s not too bad.” Then he looked at all three men and sighed. “And we’re no match for her anyway.”
Alice woke up in a small, familiar office. She lay on a brown leather lounge and took a moment to look around. Then she sighed.
“Damnit.” She mumbled to herself then relaxed. She rested her head against the chair and closed her eyes. She heard the door open but did not bother to open her eyes. “Hey Ezey, how am I doin?” she asked.
“You’re done!” Ezey, a clean-shaven tan man in a black suit, said. He shook Alice by the shoulders to stir her up. “Congratulations!” Alice sat up and open her eyes.
“Really???” She asked. Ezey nodded. “But what about the rest of me?” she asked. Ezey nodded and smiled.
“We’ve been holding on to them as they finish. You’re the last one in.”
“That’s great!” Alice hopped out of the chair to face Ezey. “What’s next?” she asked with a big grin.
“Well there’s a few different options when you finish, but you’ve decided to spend all your points now. C’mon,” Ezey motioned for her to follow him, then headed toward the door. Alice stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Wait. What are the options?” she gave him a confused look. “I didn’t choose anything yet.” Ezey’s brown eyes softened.
“You know how this works, Alice,” he placed a hand on her shoulder. and squeezed. “This you didn’t, but one of you did.”
“What are the options? What did I pick and what did I turn down?” Ezey lowered his hand. He glanced at the door, then back to Alice.
“Well you’re supposed to know anyway,” he shrugged. “I can take a minute to tell you.” He sat down on the edge of the desk and nodded at the lounge chair. Alice was quick to sit down. “So by now you know we score each life you live,” he said.
“Yeah but I don’t remember what metrics you keep track of,” Alice interrupted. Ezey shook his head.
“Nice try, but you don’t get to know that. Anyway, when you get enough points you can spend them or hold on to them to keep earning more.”
“Spend them on what?”
“You get to design and live your last life.”
“Wait a minute. My last life? Don’t I get to keep going around again like I’ve been doing?” Ezey shook his head.
“All souls are borrowed energy. You have to return it when you’re done; this is part of that process.”
“What? How does that work?” Ezey grinned.
“It’s actually very cool. When a new soul is born we shatter it then send all the shards out to different universes to practice living. That’s what you are now: a shard. When you’re ready for the ‘real thing’ we take all the different splinters of your soul and put them back together into one unique soul. The number of points you have can be spent on making your soul stronger in different ways. Right now you’ve only got enough points to be a Plant Soul.”
“I don’t want to be a plant!” Alice said. Her sudden temper caused her to stand up when she yelled, but Ezey remained unfazed. She sat back down when he shrugged.
“You won’t be a plant exactly. The you that decided received all the information, but I’ll give you the short version. When you’re on your last life you get a chance to become one of 54 Unique Souls. You’ll have a human body, but most Uniques have access to different abilities. The more points you spend the stronger souls you can choose.”
“What about the part where I have to return my energy?” Ezey nodded.
“Right. Uniques, for the most part, can only be killed by other Uniques. There are some, Plants for example, that can die of old age. When one Unique kills another, they get to absorb that soul and become stronger. Eventually, all that power will be concentrated into fewer and fewer bodies until there’s only one left. But there’re so many souls to go through that it won’t happen for a long time yet.”
“And then what?” Alice asked. Her eyes sparkled with interest.
“What do you mean?” Ezey tilted his head at her.
“Well, what happens when there’s only one left?” Ezey chuckled.
“For having as many lives as you’ve had, you’re still not getting it.” He bent over to face her with his face only inches away and smiled. “It starts again.”
“That’ll be 12 dollars,” the cashier said. She smiled politely. Luther looked around the cafeteria-style cafe. He saw people in dark business suits sitting and talking, drinking coffee and eating like a normal business day. He patted his pockets for show, then looked at the cashier. He knew something was wrong.
“Can you help me?” Luther knew he would sound crazy, but maybe he was crazy. The last thing he remembered was sleeping in his mansion. Then, he felt a floating sensation as if he were leaving his body behind and all his worldly concerns with it. “I.. This might sound strange, but I’m positive I died last night. I don’t know where I am,” he glanced around the cafe again. “I followed the smell of food to get here.” The cashier sighed heavily, obviously annoyed. Despite that Luther noticed her light pink eyes soften. She looked past him to the other patrons.
“Hey, Ezey! ONE OF YOUR GUYS MESSED UP AGAIN,” she shouted and blatantly tilted her head at Luther.
“Thanks for keeping it quiet, Lily,” a man behind Luther replied sarcastically. Luther turned around and discovered a clean-cut man wearing a dark pinstripe suit. Ezey pulled $12 from his pocket and placed it on the counter. Then he nodded at Luther. “Let’s have a seat and sort you out.” He patted Luther on the shoulder. Luther nodded and sat at a small red and white booth with Ezey.
Once they were seated, Ezey’s hand dipped under the edge of the table and returned with a manila folder. He opened it and glanced at the single sheet of paper inside.
“Luther Johnson,” Ezey mumbled to himself as he read the document over. “Wow, pretty impressive for a first timer. You worked hard, made a fortune, and spent it all to leave the world a better place than you found it,” the man nodded in approval.
“First time with what? I don’t know where I am,” Luther said.
“Oh that’s easy, you’re dead,” Lily replied from the edge of the table. She placed a steaming pepperoni pizza in the center of the table and gave Luther a plate.
“C’mon, Lily. Where’s the finesse?” Ezey complained at her. She shrugged and smiled.
“He already knew that much, I just saved you some time. You can thank me later,” she said, then returned to her seat behind the cash register.
“Well, she’s right. You died,” Ezey nodded. Luther looked at the pizza, and at the other patrons. Initially, he saw several suits and assumed that most of the patrons were dressed like Ezey. On closer inspection, he realized all the other patrons dressed like Ezey.
“Is this Heaven?” Luther asked. He focused his attention back on Ezey and found him with a string of cheese extending from his mouth to a slice of pizza in his hand. Ezey used his other hand to break the cheesy strand and chewed quickly. After he swallowed he looked at Luther.
“Does it look like Heaven?” he asked Luther shook his head.
“Then where am I? Why’s everyone dressed in business suits?” he asked. Ezey dropped the bitten slice of pizza and glanced at his black wristwatch.
“Well, thanks to Lily I guess. We have some time, I’ll answer one question, then we gotta get you going again. By the way, don’t waste your question on, ‘going again for what?’. You’ll get that explanation as part of the process.”
“Are you an angel?” Luther asked. Ezey’s right eyebrow raised slightly.
“Is that your question?”
“Who or what are you?” Luther asked a revised version. He realized a simple “yes/no” question was a waste. If he knew what Ezey was it would help him figure out where he was.
“That’s better, you’re going to progress pretty fast,” Ezey smiled. “Okay. I, and the rest of the of the well-dressed around here we don’t have an official title, but we like the name, ‘Middlemen’. We guide souls through the afterlife. I’m like you, a soul whose body died. Except instead of going around again, they offered me a job here. Speaking of which,” Luther glanced at his watch. “Time’s up. Normally, there’s a whole thing for first timers, but you’re smart. I’ll see you next time,” Ezey smiled while the cafe around Luther grew dark and disappeared. Soon the light and reality around Luther faded until everything, including Luther, disappeared. Then, he went around again.
Doreen opened her eyes in a familiar room. The leather chaise under her felt comfortable and familiar, as if she’d been in the small office several times. Though she did not know where she was. She heard a door open and turned to see a man in a dark suit walk in; he looked familiar too.
“Ezey?” Doreen did not know where the name came from, but she felt sure that was the man’s name. He smiled and nodded as he crossed the room to shake her hand.
“You remembered! That’s great,” Ezey said. He sat down in a high-backed chair next to her. “On to the next level.” The clean shaven man leaned closer to Doreen. “Now that you’re starting to remember, I can give you the short version. You’re dead.” Ezey leaned back and spread his arms to gesture to the whole room. “This is how we process souls for their next life. This was your 14th death,” he shrugged. “We send you back over and over until you start to remember this place. I’m your case worker, Ezekiel Yzaguirre. But, I prefer ‘Ezey.'”
“You said the next level. What’s that and how many are there?” Doreen moved her legs off the edge of the chaise and sat up straighter. She looked at Ezey with interest, but he shook his head.
“Too advanced, and you’ll forget the next time you’re here anyway. For now let’s look at the new options available to you.” Ezey reached into his coat and pulled out a small, transparent, glassy rectangle. He touched and swiped at it until it showed a picture on the display, then he handed it to Doreen. She noted the picture of a dog, then looked up at Ezey, confused.
“On this level, you’re not limited to a human body. There’s more if you swipe to the side.” Ezey nodded at the device in Doreen’s hand. She swiped right. The next picture was a colorful snake, and she kept going through the pictures. A bear, a shark, different birds, finally she stopped at an adorable white and orange housecat. She held the card-sized rectangle up to show Ezey the cat.
“I can be a cat? That’s what I want!” Ezey nodded.
“No problem, but a few things you should know. You won’t be that cat. We have no control over the life you have, so it’s very possible that you’ll end up as an alley cat. But if you’re fine with all that, you’re good to go.” Doreen nodded with a bright smile on her face.
‘Yes!”
“Okay.” Ezey took back the device from Doreen and put it into his pocket. Then he pulled a small wooden clipboard from in his suit and handed it to Doreen. A single sheet and a pen were attached to the clipboard. “Sign here.” She scribbled her signature on the line.
“Done!” The room disappeared leaving Doreen alone in total darkness. After several seconds she saw a bright light, and felt herself being pushed toward it.
Susan Dawkins woke in a comfortable position. As she opened her eyes to look around her she realized she lay reclined on a soft leather seat that fit her perfectly. She did not know where she was. The room did not look familiar, but it reminded her of the type of psychiatrist’s office she’d seen on T.V. A brown high-back leather chair sat empty near to her seat. Further against the wall she saw a neat desk with everything organized perfectly. A small potted plant in the corner, a filled bookshelf, and soft white walls made up the rest of the office.
A soft knock at the door called her attention, and she turned to see a clean-cut man in a dark suit walk in. He met her eyes and smiled while he made his way to sit in the brown leather seat.
“Hello,” the man said. He glanced down and Susan realized he now held a beige file folder. He opened it and pulled out the only sheet from inside. He lifted it and looked it over front and back, as if he expected more. “Uhh. Susan Dawkins, right?” Susan nodded.
“Yes. Where am I?” The fact that she was not scared bothered her. She felt completely at peace even though she had no idea what was happening.
“Oh. This room doesn’t look familiar to you?” he asked.
“No. Should it?” the stranger put the sheet in the folder and put it away, then he smiled at Susan.
“It will, but I guess this is your first time here. My name is Ezekial Yzaguirre, but you can call me Ezey,” he said. “The short version is you died.”
“What? How?” Susan sat up in surprise, but Ezey lifted a hand to calm her down. When she relaxed he shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter, does it? You’re here.” He spread his hands wide to gesture at the small office, then he brought his hand to his chest. “I am your caseworker, and every time you die we’ll meet in this room to see what the next step for you is.”
“Every time I die? How many times am I going to die?” Again, Ezey shrugged.
“However many you want, I guess?” He reached into the pocket of his dark suit and pulled out a handful of colorful gummybears. He began to chew them idly while he explained. “There’s no limit that I know of, so whatever you want.” Susan looked around the office again, then back at Ezey.
“Elmer put you up to this, didn’t he?” Susan stood from her seat, walked to the door, and swung it open to yell for her best friend. “ELME-” her voice dropped when she realized there was literally nothing outside the door. Like outer space with no visible stars, Susan stared at complete darkness. She turned to Ezey. “You just came in through here. Where are we?” Ezey stood from the chair, walked to Susan, then closed the door.
“It only works for us,” he said. He twisted the knob and opened the door again, though only wide enough to give Susan a peek into the busy hall. Dark suited men and women roamed the halls coming out from and going into any of the hundreds of doors that Susan saw from the small opening Ezey let her peek out of. He closed the door again, and ushered her back to her reclining seat.
“There’s no Heaven? Or Hell? Just… offices?” Susan asked, but Ezey shook his head.
“Oh no, there is. But it’s not exactly what you think.” He pulled more gummybears from his pocket. “But, I can tell you more about that next time. It’s just going to take up time. I’ve got other appointments, and it’s only your first time anyway. Most people don’t get to choose until they’ve gone through a couple dozen times, more or less.”
“We get to choose?” Susan scoffed. “Can I just pick Heaven now?” Ezey laughed.
“Nope, you make your choice when you’re alive. That’s what these little sessions are supposed to be for. After you die, we go over what you did, where it would have landed you, and how you can do better the next time. The first time you die is supposed to be an orientation, but I’m still new myself. I didn’t realize you were a newbie, sorry.”
“So you can’t give me any hints to help me get into Heaven next time?” Susan asked with a hopeful tone in her voice. Ezey nodded.
“Sure, I can tell you exactly what you need to do. But once you’re born you forget everything anyway.” He shrugged, then reached into his pocket and pulled out an open can of soda, took a drink, then put it back into his pocket.
“Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. If I forget everything, why do we even have these sessions?”
“Your soul remembers,” Ezey said. “When you die, we put your soul into a shell that looks like the last body you had, that way you don’t freak out. But of course, when you’re born, your soul goes into a new body. You know that phrase, ‘you’re an old soul’? That’s a real thing, your soul persists from one body to the next. Of course, all the memories you make in life are stored in the body and lost with the body,” Ezey said. Susan nodded, as if she started to accept that she really was in this situation.
“So what now? I just get born again?” Ezey nodded.
“Yeah, but I feel bad for messing up your orientation. Next time you die I’ll be more prepared, but I’ll give you a bonus this time to make up for it.”
“What kind of bonus?” Ezey rubbed his chin in thought while she asked.
“I’ll let you pick where you want to be born. That should be okay, I think.” Ezey said. He still did not know all the rules, but he knew his superiors tended to be pretty lenient. At least, the one he met. Susan sat up with a large smile on her face.
“Really? I get to pick the city I’m born in?!” Her eyes sparkled with excitement, but Ezey shook his head.
“Nah, we’re not that precise,” he replied.
“Country?” Susan asked, but again Ezey shook his head.
“Earth,” he said.
“I don’t get it.”
“Alternate Earths. Pick one you’d like to try living on.”
“What? How am I supposed to do that, I didn’t even know they existed. How many can I choose from?”
“Infinite really. But you can’t pick one off the bat, you have to narrow it down. What kind of Earth do you want to live on? Magical, sci-fi, stone-age?” Susan’s eyes went wide.
“I WANT MAGIC!” she yelled, then clapped her hand over her mouth and followed it with giggles. “Sorry, ” she apologized. “But magic! Any of them, I don’t care.” Ezey nodded.
“I’ll make it a good one for you. Good luck, and I’ll see you next time.” Susan watched Ezey wave at her as the room around them faded into darkness, then Ezey disappeared.
Greg opened his eyes and recognized the small, tastefully decorated office. It reminded him of a psychologist’s office every time he woke up in the room. He took a deep breath and relaxed back against the leather reclining chair he sat in. After several minutes a knock sounded on the door, then the noise was followed by a man in a dark suit entering. The knock seemed more of a warning than asking permission.
“Hey, primo. How’d it go this time? Ready to move on?” The suited gentleman asked. Greg shrugged.
“I don’t know, ‘cuz, I can still do it better. Let me go ’round again,” Greg asked. The suited man reached into his pocket, pulled several french fries and ate them while he considered Greg’s request.
“Man, I should’ve moved you on a long time ago. My job’s gone if anyone finds out I’ve been sending you back with your memories.” The doubts began to creep up on him, as they did every time. Greg knew just what to say.
“Hurry up, Ezey,” Greg used the nickname he gave his cousin, Ezekial Yzaguirre, when they were younger before either of them died. Ezey passed away first, and Greg was surprised to find his cousin employed as a case-worker in the after-life. “My daughter just got pregnant. If you hurry I can be friends with my grandkid! C’mon ‘Cuz. God put you here for a reason, help the family, primo. I’m not gonna say anything to ruin it for either of us.”
“Alright, fine. But this is the last chance. Next time I’m moving you on, whether you’re ready or not,” Ezey said as he munched on another handful of fries. “Deal?” He asked. Greg nodded and offered Ezekial a handshake. He closed his eyes and waited to be born again.
Greg opened his eyes and recognized the small, tastefully decorated office. It reminded him of a psychologist’s office every time he woke up in the room. He took a deep breath and relaxed back against the leather reclining chair he sat in. After several minutes a knock sounded on the door, then the noise was followed by a man in a dark suit entering. The knock seemed more of a warning than asking permission.
“Alright, primo, I got your paperwork here. Just need a signature.” Ezey handed Greg a clipboard and a pen. Greg refused to accept the clipboard.
“What do you mean? Nothing happened! I don’t remember a thing,” he complained. Ezey shrugged.
“Bad luck, primo. Stillbirth.” He pressed the clipboard into Greg’s hands.
“That’s not fair, it doesn’t count!”
“You’ve been around 10 ten times. If you haven’t learned that life isn’t fair yet, that’s deliberately choosing ignorance,” Ezey said. “Sign the paper, ‘cuz. We made a deal.” Greg looked down at the white sheet of paper. It was entirely blank except for a golden ‘X’ and a glittering golden line for his signature.
“What happens if I don’t sign it?”
“You have to go around again,” Ezey began to explain. Greg’s face lit up.
“That’s what I want!” But Ezey shook his head.
“You have to go around again, from the beginning. Clean wipe, start all over. All the memories you’ve kept so far will be gone.
“Oh. Yeah, I don’t want that,” Greg sighed, defeated. He picked up the golden pen and signed his name with golden ink.
“Don’t worry, primo. You’re gonna love the next life,” Ezey reassured his cousin.