So I don't actually think I ever introduced myself to you. Rather rude of me, you can call me Izzie. It's short for Isabelle, but it's too long so nobody calls me that. Now let me tell you, I was having the worst day of my life. My friends would probably say that I am being dramatic, but honestly it's just them that has no sense of scale.

Of course you would be on their side, wouldn't you? Well let me tell you, it all started when the professor was handing back the math assignment. Now this already has the potential to be bad enough, but it got even worse when he didn't give me mine back.

Why, you ask? That's an excellent question! I asked the same of him. His response? I never received your assignment. Now of course I knew this to be an outright lie, I absolutely made that stupid math assignment and handed it in. To prove it, I took my laptop out, went into the assignment and saw that I hadn't submitted it. Now I did upload it. But apparently, after uploading the assignment, you had to press a separate button to submit it. Seriously, who makes a system where you have to hit a different button after uploading your assignment? I mean for reals, If I uploaded it, I probably wanted to hand it in, right?

Anyway, you would think this is fine, right? I mean, there was a timestamp, so Mr. Mathewson could see that I indeed had uploaded it at the right time. But apparently this wasn't enough for Mr. Mathewson. No, no, no, of course not. with a slightly disapproving look in his eyes. He said something along the lines of, "It is your responsibility to make sure that you hand in the right way at the right time. I do not have time to accommodate all students and their excuses. You will simply have to work harder during the exam to make up for the lost assignment." No understanding whatsoever. Fucking ass. It was an important assignment as well. It counted for around 12% of the total grade. And I spent a lot of time on that stupid math assignment. I wanted to get the fucking result of the assignment. I was proud of it, you know? Anyways, fuming, I went to lunch, grabbed something from the canteen, and what do you know? It has fucking nuts in it. No, it's not that I don't like nuts. It's more that I'm deadly allergic to them. Of course my stupid ass didn't notice, so what do you know, I suffocated to death.

At that last part, Izzie stopped talking for a moment. The memory of her throat constraining her unable to get any air and eventually passing out returning. Taking a deep breath she just sat there for a moment. Eventually Swallowing, she returned to stare at her shoelaces and continued. I normally have an Epipen on me, but I forgot my bag in class. So, yep, I guess that's how I went. Little poor Izzie died by asphyxiation. Poor me. Didn't get to heroically sacrifice myself. Didn't get to die in a hospital bed surrounded by family. Nope, died in an ugly ass canteen. I mean it's not all bad there's apparently an afterlife. Speaking of which, I should probably check that out, shouldn't I?

Slowly uncurling herself, she checked, "Yep, got both legs, still got the sneakers, still got my jeans and my t-shirt Still have my lovely coat. Good, good." Earrings check, both ears. All in all it seems like I am fine. Now let's check the surroundings. Let's see. Yep, that's a tree. And over there is that a tree? Okay, okay. And that, that's definitely a tree. This right here is definitely a forest. A rather pretty forest admittedly. Lots of big old looking trees. No idea what kind. I'm not a tree person. But it definitely looked pretty with the big trees and the occasional ray of sunshine falling through the canopy above. Although pretty as it was, it was rather less cloudy than I was hoping for, but at least none of the trees are on fire, so that's a good sign.

Now with that out of the way, I did what all people in their 20s would do while suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a forest. I checked my phone. Now this being the afterlife and all I didn't actually expect it to work but to my surprise the screen turned on without any problems. And to absolutely no one's surprise, there was no service. Damn! What now? Okay, deep breath, no reason to panic. Let's see. In a survival situation, I think the first thing you should do is get water and food and shelter. Not sure if it was in that order, but I think that's the priority. But is this even a survival situation? I mean, I died right? I doubt an ambulance drove me out in the middle of nowhere at any rate. So do I even need to eat, drink or sleep? I don't feel hungry, tired or thirsty. But I usually don't, not until I'm really hungry or really thirsty. So maybe, maybe not. I don't know. At any rate, what I do know is that there's fuck all to see right here. Picking a direction at random, I begin walking.

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You know, I really hate walking. You know what the main problem with walking is? "Of course you do. You're me after all." Not really feeling perturbed by that mere fact. "The main problem is that I have nothing to do but to think." I mean it's not like there's anything to look at. Same tree, same tree, same tree and oh that tree it looks identical to the rest of them. Yay. So might as well think a bit about what happened. I'm pretty sure I'm dead. Like, so sure that it's actually kind of weird. There's not a lot of explanation for what happens, but there's certainly more than just "I died", yet I am 100% sure that that is what happened. Weird, but I guess if you know you know.

Next thing, shouldn't I be freaking more out? I mean, I'm certainly freaking out, I'm speaking to myself and all, but all in all I feel pretty composed. On the other hand, how are you supposed to react when you die and suddenly find yourself in a forest? I honestly don't know, so maybe I'm reacting normally? I'm not a psychiatrist and I have no idea how people react in situations like this. Do people even find themselves in situations like this? Fuck! I don't really know how to react or even what I'm supposed to do. I mean, come on! What the fuck am I going to do about all of this? I very calmly and rationally decide that the most natural thing to do in this situation is to scream as loud and as much as I possibly can. Not really having noticed that I stopped moving, I begin feeling tears well up in my eyes. I have absolutely no idea what the fuck is going on.

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So, while I'm in the middle of a fucking breakdown, I suddenly hear a rather close roar coming from somewhere behind and to the right of me. Closing my mouth and immediately turning around. I can't stop thinking that I really hate being interrupted while having a breakdown and that it is rather rude. However, as I see what made the noise, I don't think that a giant bear really cares about being rude. It's a giant fucking bear standing really really close to me. Black glossy fur and the most beautiful bright blue eyes that I have ever seen anything have. Well, that's not right. I have never seen a bear in the wild. But the ones I've seen in zoos certainly didn't have blue eyes. And certainly not this particular shade of bright blue eyes. As I stare into the bear's eyes, it suddenly hits me. Nice, Izzy! Good job! You're such a nice person noticing the bear's fucking eye colors. I'm sure it will appreciate that when it eats you. With that thought I realize I don't have much time. The bear is around 5 meters away from me and it is standing still right now. But I'm pretty sure that can't last for long. So on pure instinct I turn around and run as fast as I can. I only managed to take a couple of steps before something hits me in the back. The sensation is that of cold water hitting me at high speed. The added force causes me to tumble over, rolling end over end until I eventually land hard on my back getting the air knocked out of me. I lie there frantically trying to get the air back into my lungs when I suddenly see the bear standing right over me. Slowly, almost deliberately, it lifts up one of its claws. While this is happening I finally succeed in drawing in a breath. However, I don't try to escape. I don't try to run away. I simply lie there. My eyes sting as tears well up in them, And I can't stop but wonder, is there an afterlife After this afterlife? Or, is this the end of me? Then incredibly fast it hits me right on the side of my head. I cannot describe how violently my head snaps to the side. So fast and strong is the hit that it actually throws me slightly to the side. However, the expected pain doesn't come, my neck doesn't break, my head isn't ripped from my shoulders. I just lie there slightly to the side. The bear seems as confused as I am by this whole situation. As if to test If the first strike had been merely a fluke, the bear stands up on its back legs and with all of its weight comes down on top of me, trying to cave in my chest. I feel the air leave my lungs. I feel the full weight of the bear on my ribs, making me unable to breathe, and for a frightful moment the bear is simply standing there.

After a moment or two it sniffs me twice and then just steps off of me and walks away. I don't exactly know how long I lie there, but not long after the bear leaves, I begin laughing and crying, and I just can't stop. It just won't stop. Almost detached from myself. I think how stupid I am that I should get up, that I should run, that I should get away, but I just lie there. Unable to move, afraid and just so very alone.

Eventually I have no more tears. I didn't feel scared, annoyed or even afraid. I simply feel numb. Numb and very tired. But as tired as I am, I knew I can’t keep lying on the ground. I can’t sleep here. If all of this had made one thing very clear, it was that I wanted to live. I want to live. I am NOT done.

With my newfound determination I sat up, ready to, if not necessarily face the world, then at least whatever problem would come my way. Which, as it turned out, was rather closer than I had thought. Well, that's weird. My bra came undone. And why can I feel the air on my back? Taking off the coat I immediately saw the problem. Well, fuck! How did this happen? A giant hole from the top of my shoulder blades all the way down to my lower back was in it. And from the way that my t-shirt now hangs off of my back I could gather that I had a similar hole in my t-shirt which at this point really was more of an apron than an actual t-shirt. This also explained why my bra had become undone. The entire back strap was gone. Great! Out in the fucking wilderness and now my clothes are fucking ruined. Just what I needed. But what actually happened here? Well, it had to have been whatever that coal thing on my back was. But I don't actually know what that was. Okay, let's see. Thinking about the situation rationally, the only real thing that was different back then was the fact that the bear was there and chasing me. So it might have been something that it did. But I can't really think of anything that a bear could do to make this kind of tear in my clothing. Not to mention that my jacket looks more melted than ripped as if it was sprayed by acid. Whatever happened seemed to have only affected my clothing. My back feels totally fine. Actually, grabbing my phone I took a picture of my bag and yep totally fine not even a scratch. Weird.

This leads into the next concern. I'm apparently bear-proof, which is neat, I guess? Not really something I expected, but then again, I really didn't expect anything of this whole situation. Okay, deep breaths now. Let's see. I seem totally fine. My clothing on the other hand, not so much. In fact, even ignoring, which is a big thing to ignore, the giant hole in my jacket, t-shirt and the fact that my bra was pretty much useless now, my clothing still has a lot of holes, scrips and scratches from my fall. That's not really important though. Focus, focus. I seem invulnerable. Let's test that. Yeah, that seems to be a good idea. Okay. Let's start small. Let's see. I tried to pinch myself and Yep, absolutely no pain And didn't even leave a mark. It wasn't like I couldn't feel it, it just didn't hurt. Okay, okay, seems promising. Looking around on the ground I found a small rock. Carefully I try to scratch myself with it and get the same result. No pain. Still the sensation of the rock but no pain. I really hope this will work. Gritting my teeth, I took the rock, grabbed it as tight as I could and with all my force hit my ankle with it. I could certainly feel the impact of the rock, but still no pain. Okay, preliminary result. It seems that I don't take any damage from, well, really anything. At least not anything smaller than a giant bear. Of course, I may still be vulnerable to things larger than a bear, but I have no plans of testing this out any time soon. Having done this very important science, I decided in my infinite wisdom that I probably didn't want to give the bear another shot, so I should probably leave. There was just one thing left. Having taken my bra off I didn't really know what to do with it. I mean the entire strap had dissolved. It was more or less completely useless and I didn't really want to carry it around anyways. But on the other hand just leaving it seemed wrong somehow. Looking around at the forest, seemingly untouched by humans, it just felt wrong to be littering. Oh come on, Izzie. You're not going to carry this around. And it's not like there's anyone around. Just leave it. Deciding to do that, and only slightly red in the face, I carried on in the direction I had been walking in before the whole bear attack.