So that is how I died on Earth.

I died crossing the street.

At least my boss seemed to care about me. I don't know whether to be sad I won't get that bonus on tomorrow's check, or happy I don’t have to deal with college anymore. So many things flying through my head.

Now what? What happens after death? Now that I am dead I don't know what to expect next. Death is something we learn about in school, in churches, in mythology, etc. But nothing prepares us for actually knowing. I find myself in a white space, A soft light shines down upon me. There isn't any sound. Not even the sound of my heartbeat. It feels weird. Is this what death feels like?

There are no doors or windows. No walls, just a bright white room. This doesn't look like heaven, nor does it look like hell. It looks too much like reality. I lay there on the floor thinking. looking around me. I am still in the same position I was when I got struck by that car. I don't know why I am still laying here. I notice that my breathing is normal. I no longer have any pain or discomfort. And I notice I have no clothes.

Why am I naked?

Then I realized, my clothes were probably back on my corpse on Earth. I cringe when I think of that thought. I am still embarrassed to be in the nude. Unfortunately, there is nothing around me to cover myself with.

"Are you cold?" i feminine voice asks me.

"Not really. just embarrassed to be naked," I remark as I sit up.

"You shouldn't be. We all started that way." The woman says."Did you have clothes on when you were born?"

"No, but still. I was too young to feel modesty," I say, concerned that a woman is talking to me while I am naked in a room. I look around and don't see anyone but I still feel concerned.

"All living things are born in the nude. You should not worry. I understand your discomfort." she says.

"Do you mean you've seen people naked before?" I ask.

She laughs. "More times than your human mind comprehends. When you died you left behind all of the belongings that you had on Earth behind, including your clothes. The only thing that can come here is your soul." she says.

“A human soul comes into the world without cloth, and the human soul leaves the world without cloth.”

"Soul? So I am dead?" I ask. I am not surprised. I felt that car hit me. I knew I couldn't be alive.

She nods her head. "Yes, you are dead. I am sorry. I wish I could tell you otherwise. But you will need to deal with it in time. However, I feel you are probably uncomfortable as you are."

I nod my head. "How long have I been here?"

"Since you passed away. Which was an hour ago." She answers.

That's odd, I haven't been dead for more than an hour.

"I assume you would like some clothing?" she asks

"Uh, yes please!" I answer, realizing I must sound silly.

"Look behind you." the voice says again.

I turn around and see a wardrobe. It is the same color as everything in this room. Everything is white. I opened it to see the clothing inside. not clothing like I am used to. but clothing that seemed very old. Like tunics and stuff. I look through it to see what type of clothing I have to choose from.

"It looks like very old clothing. Is this going to fit me?" I ask.

"Yes, they should fit you perfectly." The voice says.

I dig through the wardrobe for clothing. There is a lot of it. There are hundreds of items. I am not sure how so many items fit in this wardrobe. But I am dead and not many things make sense right now. I see a pile of old-fashioned underwear. I think they are called loincloths. Not too much to the imagination. They don't look comfortable. But I know a loin cloth would be better than being naked. I found a pair of brown stockings. "Stockings? Arent those for women?" I ask the female voice.

"They were worn by both genders. But men wore them mostly," she responds.

I find a pair of light brown stockings and put them on my feet. They feel weird. Stockings are supposed to be like socks, but they are long. Eventually, I get comfortable in the stockings. As I continued looking through the clothing I noticed they all seemed to be various shades of greys, browns, and some red. Seemingly basic clothing in such a limited option of colors.

I eventually found a suitable pair of pants they were also made of a wool-like material. I slipped them on. They seemed to fit comfortably. I noticed at the base of the pant legs there was what looked like a drawstring. I wasn't sure why pants would have a drawstring on each leg. I found a set of nice-looking leather boots and they looked comfortable enough, so I slipped them on.

"Are you feeling more comfortable now?" the female voice said as I pulled on a belt over my pants to keep them snug.

"Feeling much better, thank you," I said. "Why all of the really old clothing?"

"We will get to that once you finish dressing," she said.

I grabbed a faded white tunic, feeling it would match the rest of my outfit. Then I saw the cloaks. I pulled out one of them, a light brown leather one, and tried it on. It felt heavy. But it matched the rest of the outfit. I then remembered something about cloaks.

Cloaks are typically worn by people who work outside or go hunting. Cloaks were designed to protect people from the weather and keep them warm. It was strange because it was quite different then jackets on Earth. But the cloak fit well. It was interesting because it felt like I was doing some sort of medieval dress-up. I don't know whether I found it funny or fun. But I finally felt comfortable being fully dressed.

"Okay, can we get onto why there is a white wardrobe full of really old-looking clothing? And why am I here?"

"Sure, but let me introduce myself." the voice said

I woman appeared on the far side of the room.

"My name is Alana."

I nodded. "And who might you be?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"I am the goddess Alana," she replied.

The woman claiming to be a goddess was pale, tall, and beautiful. She had long flowing blonde hair, high cheekbones, and a thin nose. She wore a white gown. The robe seemed to flow around her body. She carried a wooden staff that still had green leaves coming off of it.

I thought back to my time on Earth. I had never heard of a god or goddess by that name. I've read countless books about Norse, greek, and Roman mythology. Even Egyptian and Sumerian mythology. Even in all the modern religions on earth, I had not heard of someone named Alana.

"Who are you? You told me you are a Goddess."

She smiled. "Yes, I am the goddess Alana. And you are Richard Bell."

"How did you know my name?"

"Oh, I just have a lot of information about you."

"Information?"

"You are the first person to come into this realm since I came into being. So naturally, I have a lot of knowledge about you."

"Uh-huh, and what is that knowledge based on?"

"Well, I already know all the things you've done before coming here."

"Well, I didn't do anything heroic or amazing, and I didn't do anything that I could think of that would be considered evil. I guess I lived a pretty boring life."

"That's a good thing," she said. "The whole you not doing an evil thing."

"What do you mean?"

"First off I want to explain myself. I am the Goddess Alana, known as the Goddess of Nature and Life. I was born from the heart of a tree. I have existed forever. I am the guardian of nature and protector of the trees and the forests. Halfway through my Eon of existence humans on Earth began to worship me. My power strengthened the forest and blessed all who shared it. Eventually, their faith and belief in me allowed me to transcend from what I was before into the form of a god, or as you see a goddess."

"Wait, if you were a goddess on Earth, how come I've never heard of you?"

"As I mentioned earlier, I have been existing for a very long time. As such, most people on Earth don't remember much of the past. They have moved on to new ideas and ideals. They also lost their love and respect for nature and its inhabitants. Many peoples of Earth turned to evil deeds…which I truly detest. So eventually I left them."

"But why did you leave us?" I asked.

"I felt lonely. There was no one to talk to. No one to share my feelings with. I lost the presence I once was. I was disheartened by the lack of love the peoples of the earth had for the land they lived on... However other deities saw my plight and allowed me to join them."

"So you are the same goddess that was worshiped on Earth?"

"No, I'm not the same goddess. What happened on Earth is different. I was worshipped for a short period and then abandoned. Now I am worshipped and loved by the inhabitants of a new world."

"But you're so young!" I exclaimed. She didn’t look older than a woman in her 30

"Child, do you have any idea how long an eon is?"

I shook my head.

"It is longer than any species could remember on Earth. For you, the Egyptian pyramids are ancient history. For me, they are seconds old."

She smiled and then continued.

"Enough about my story Richard, my child. That is where it comes to why you are here," she says smiling.

"Why am I here?" I say confused.

"I wish to give you a choice.

You can either die and go to the afterlife, and deal with whatever deities rule the earth,"

"Or…?"

"Or you can stay alive and continue your life, in the world I oversee. The world of Mirida."

"I'm not sure I understand…" I say as I try to process the information she just offered.

"Let me show you a little of what is there." She stands up and walks towards a wall. Before I know it, the wall turns into a window. We are now looking out to the world beyond.

We are floating above a planet that looks like Earth. But the continents and oceans are completely different.

"This is Mirida," she says as she points at the world below us.

From our vantage point, we can see green forests, rivers, mountains, clouds, deserts...the whole gamut of terrain.

There are more landmasses on this world than on Earth. They are all shaped differently. Some look like large islands. Others look like continents.

Most of the water is blue, while some parts of it are deep black and covered in ice.

"That is the ocean," she says pointing out the vast expanse of water.

"What's under the surface?" I ask.

"A myriad of mysteries." She smiles.

She then brings her finger to the right side of our view.

"What is different between Mirida and Earth?" I ask

"Not much, except for the fact that we don't have guns or nuclear weapons. And we use magic instead of science."

"Do elves exist in this world?" I ask.

"Of course! Elves, dwarves, beast-men, orcs. Even dragons." she said.

"Will I meet one? Maybe a dragon?" I think of how fascinating the idea of meeting a dragon is. Then I think how suicidal something that would be to do if I were alive.

"Maybe one day," she says

With a swipe of her hand, the window is gone and the room is all white again.

I am startled by the change.

"Now I know it will be hard to forget your past..." she starts

"But if you decide to go on in Mirida. You'll be able to make new memories."

"And what if I choose not to accept your offer?" I ask curiously.

"Then you die," she says coldly.

"Are you willing to let me decide?" I ask.

"No, but it's not my choice to make. It's yours."

I think of all the fantasy books, movies, tv shows, and such that I've enjoyed over my lifetime. I have always fantasized about a fantasy world. An ironic turn of phrasing.

I am excited but not sure why she would offer me this opportunity.

"Why did you do this?" I ask.

"I wanted to give you a choice," she answers.

For the first time since we met, she looks genuinely sad.

"I don't know why you appeared here first, instead of in front of one of the gods of Earth. But you did and I saw your life. I saw you were not satisfied with it, I felt like you wanted to live a better life, but you were trapped." she said. "I am not powerful as some of the other gods or goddesses, But I do have the ability to give you a chance at a second life."

"Is this real? Are you offering me another life?" I ask

"Yes it is," she says.

"You mean there's a possibility that I could die again?" I say.

"Yes, but at least you will have a chance to live a more fruitful life. A chance to start anew," she answers.

"How long does the process take?" I ask.

"So I take you are interested in life on Mirida?" she asks.

"Yes," I answer.

"It doesn't take long. I will let you start your new life in a small Kingdom called Alnathia. It is a relatively peaceful kingdom. But they worship me there, and seem to take my ideals seriously." she said.

"What are these 'ideals'?" I ask.

"They are just ideals, but they believe that all creatures have souls and spirits. That you should treat others with respect and kindness. To respect the forest and all life. Every life is precious. "she answered.

"Sounds great!" I say.

I get nervous thinking that I may continue to live on. I remember my job on Earth at the grocery store where I worked every day. It was bearable, but I didn't enjoy it. College was more of an expected thing for a young adult to do. But it never brought any interesting prospects to me.

"One thing before I send you off," she says

"What are they?" I ask

"I know it may not help much. But when you arrive you will not know anyone. You will be a stranger in this world. You will have endless things to discover. However, If you ever are scared or stressed. Don't hesitate to visit a temple. Even if I am unavailable, the other gods and goddesses of Miridia may be willing to provide wisdom or guidance to help you along."

"Thank you. I appreciate the advice," I say.

"Thank you again," I say.

"Now close your eyes, keep them closed, and count to 15," she says as she steps away.

"One…two…" I say as I slowly count until I reach number 15.