“Henry, take the garbage on your way out!”

It was my mom. She was always asking me to take out the trash whenever I left for school. It’s not that we used up a lot of trash, it’s just she always insisted on using the smallest garbage can she could find. It makes the house look nicer, she always said. I sighed, picked up the bag and threw it in the larger bin outside.

6:30 in the morning. It was almost time for my bus to get here. The sun was rising and starting to bother my eyes. Never was one to go outside, for this very reason. I’m content with sitting at home and playing video games without a care in the world. Academically, I make a solid C average. I do just enough to pass and that’s about it. My philosophy in life: stand by and enjoy yourself.

I waited a bit longer. 6:45. The bus was running late. Decided to sit down on the sidewalk. Many thoughts ran through my head. I thought about my friends at school, or the lack of them. People had always thought of me as a weird guy, someone to stay away from. I did nothing to change their mind. Never talked with anyone, except the teachers. I was fine with that. People just mean drama. Can’t stand it.

Seven in the morning. Where was the bus? I looked up at the sky and noticed something falling. It was a ball which had sparks flying out of it. Growing bigger. Much bigger. It was now the size of a baseball, except who knows how far away. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and finally noticed an alert.

EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM: GIANT METEOR HEADED FOR LINCOLNTOWN

What? I read it again.

EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM: GIANT METEOR HEADED FOR LINCOLNTOWN

I couldn’t believe it. Was that what I was seeing? A giant meteor? It was falling down to my hometown? Panicking, I ran inside. Absolutely had to tell my mom.

“Mom! There’s a giant meteor outside!” I said.

“Good one, Henry. I haven’t heard anything about it on the news,” my mom said.

“You don’t watch TV!” I shouted.

“Shouldn’t you be at school? Why hasn’t the bus came?” My mom asked.

“Because we’re all about to die!” I shouted.

Couldn’t bear this conversation any longer. Ran outside to check the size of the meteor. It was the size of a basketball now. Other people started coming out of their homes. Wives and husbands were hugging. Neighbors were crying. This was it. I was really going to die.

I lied down on the driveway, waiting for my fate. The meteor grew larger and larger. After what felt like an eternity, the impact hit. There was a loud sound. Suddenly, darkness.

“Wake up, dummy!” I heard.

“Get up!” I heard again.

I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful girl dressed in all black. She had white hair and bright blue irises. She was staring at me.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You died, that’s what happened,” she replied.

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“Where am I?”

“You’re in heaven! Well, not exactly heaven. More like purgatory.”

“Purgatory?”

“Yes. It’s a place for souls like yours who waste their lives. You’re given one more chance to live and hopefully make things right.”

“So I’m not dead? What about my house? What about the meteor?”

“Oh, that’s all destroyed. You’re going somewhere else,” she said with a small laugh.

Tears began to develop in my eyes. I couldn’t believe it. My mom, my house - everything I’d ever known had been taken away from me. What was I going to do? Purgatory? I never believed in any of that religious stuff. But it was real?

“You’re being placed in the far future. Think one thousand years,” She said.

“And who are you?” I asked.

“I’m a goddess, can’t you tell?” She said, brushing her hair back.

I sighed and stood up. Looked around my surroundings. Surprisingly, there was nothing to look at. It was all black. It was just me and this supposed goddess, standing in the void together.

“Welp, time for you to go!” She said.

“Wait -“ I tried to get out a sentence. There was no time. With a snap of her fingers, I fell asleep. There was a familiar feeling of emptiness, similar to the time when I first died.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying atop a bed within a white room. I got up. Was this all a dream? Was I in a hospital? What about the goddess? I had many questions and not enough answers. Walking over to the window, I decided to check out the view. All I saw were stars. I remembered back to what I was told by the goddess. “You’re being sent in the future” or something like that.

Looking down, I noticed I was only wearing underwear. Must have been why I felt so cold. There was a closet next to the door. I opened it. Inside there were multiple one-piece uniforms, all blue. I took one out.

SANITARY WORKER - ERIK

Sanitary worker? Nothing made sense to me anymore. Who was Erik? Knowing I needed to get help, I chose to put one of the uniforms on. Couldn’t walk outside in my underwear. After getting dressed, I walked to the door. It was also white and had no doorknob.

“How do I open this thing?” I said to myself.

I tried pushing it. Didn’t work. Kicking it didn’t work either. Suddenly, I noticed a keypad with what looked like a fingerprint reader. I placed my finger on it. It glowed green and I heard a click. The door opened, heading upwards.

“Finally, time to get some answers,” I said to myself.

Stepped outside. All I saw was a massive white hallway with doors which looked eerily similar to mine. After walking around for a bit, I met a man who appeared to have a friendly face. He was wearing an all black uniform and had some kind of gun strapped to his left hip.

“Erik! Good to see you!” He said as he smiled at me.

I looked behind myself. There was nobody there. Deciding to play along, I thought now was a good time to get some answers.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“You’re in a hallway,” he replied.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“God,” he said. The man started to laugh.

“I’m being serious. I don’t know who or where I am. Can you take me somewhere with answers?” I said.

His face developed a stern look. Did I say something wrong?

“I don’t know what’s going on with you. How about we go to medical and have them check you out?” He said.

“That would be great, thanks.”

I followed him for a while. We went through hallway after hallway, passing by the occasional man in uniform. Eventually, we made it to a place called Medical Bay. I thought it must have been the local hospital for the ship or whatever I was on.

Along the wall inside were several beds which looked recognizable to me. They were exactly like a bed you’d find in a doctors office back home. The man who I followed here went up to the front desk and began speaking to a woman, who promptly walked over to me. She was wearing a yellow uniform and had short blonde hair that barely passed her ears with brown eyes. If I had to guess, she was probably in her forties.

“What is your name?” She asked me.

“I don’t know, I think it’s Erik,” I replied.

“Do you know where you are?” She asked.

“I don’t. I think I’m on a ship of some kind. I just woke up today and felt totally lost,” I said. Decided to leave out the bit about dying, meeting a goddess and being reincarnated. They probably thought I was crazy already.

“Yes, your name is Erik. You’re on the finest battleship that the Earth Space Legion ever built. The Hydra. We’re on a direct course to Mars to fight off a rebellion. The man standing next to you is Dave. He’s no soldier but does policing around here,” she said to me.

“Am I a soldier? Will I be going to war?” I asked.

Dave laughed. “Man, even better. You’re a janitor,” he said.

Wait a second. I was reincarnated as a janitor on a battleship headed to mars?!