At first, it was hard to believe that I was regaining consciousness. Waking up after dying felt strange. I was sure that I had died, of that I had no doubt. The pain had felt too real. My body had splattered everywhere, and the pain had been immense. Luckily though, it hadn’t lasted long. I was alive for a further ten seconds after the impact. At that time, I had felt despair when realizing that I could not move, grief at knowing that it was over, and finally, resignation followed by total darkness. And now, here I was waking up again in a place that lay beyond human comprehension.

My thoughts stirred more and more, and I seemed to be gaining strength. I felt my arms twitch and my toes wriggle. My body yearned to awake from its slumber, but before I could even open my eyes, I heard it.

The fake brooding voice of the person I hated more than anyone in the world, only a lot quieter and squeakier. Please God, please no, I pleaded in my head. It was Dave.

Even in death, or whatever this was, he was haunting me.

''Hey, crap for brains! About time you woke up.''

No, this can't be true, I told myself. Opening my eyes and looking around, I didn't see anything or anyone at first. Just an empty shack. Probably long abandoned judging by the cobwebs, and dust-covered floor.

''Hey, turd breath, I haven't got all day.''

I’ve lost it, I’m either dead or hallucinating in a psych ward, I whispered to myself. If I am alive, it’s just the trauma kicking in. I pushed myself up onto one elbow with a groan, only to see a brown mouse sitting on my chest. A stinky, bushy-haired mouse. One that I could have sworn looked angry at me.

''Snap out of it! We need to talk!'’

Yep, I was dead. This was some kind of test. I tried to laugh to myself because I was sure that I was losing the plot. Before delirium kicked in, I felt a small hand, or paw, maybe a clawed paw, slap me across the face.

''Listen'', demanded the tiny face of the mouse as it stooped over my nose. ''if you're not going to listen, you're as good as useless and I'll just kill you now.''

I didn't know what to do. This situation was way above my understanding, so I decided to hear the mouse out.

''Ok'', I murmured.

''Firstly, It's me…. Dave. I know that I don't look like my usual self, but it's me. I'm still as handsome so that should help you believe me, albeit with whiskers. Secondly, I woke up about a few hours before you, so I've been able to figure out a little of what's happened. I think we died when we fell off the balcony and got reincarnated into a new world.''

''You, what!'' I shouted. This was strange. It was something that only happened in every thirteen-year-old's fantasy.

''Shhh. Let me finish. There's more. We're close to a small town but I'm not sure we should go there. Something seems off. You'll see why a little later when you're ready to get up. And finally, we have some kind of accessible stats window in the corner of our vision''.

''Wait, what? I don't see anything here. My vision is normal. No display, no stats, no nothing.''

''Wait, really? Well, it makes sense that I'd get it, what with me being so awesome and all.''

''Shut it, you little rat,'' I said as I slapped the pest off my face. I sat and tried to stand and immediately regretted it. My body felt heavy like it was unaccustomed to movement. My clothes were worn and tattered rags and as I moved around, I caught a glimpse of myself in a shard of a mirror that lay propped up against the bottom edge of the wall. I looked disheveled and emaciated.

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''We're going to have to fix your attitude if we're going to work together to figure stuff out.''

''Shut it''. I went to kick the little turd breath but lacked coordination and almost fell back to the floor. For now, I gave up and headed for the loosely held door. Although it looked like it would fall off its hinges, it swung open easily enough.

The intensity of the light caught me by surprise, and I covered my eyes with a hand until they adjusted. Dave was right, not far from where we were, there was a small town. A wooden walled perimeter and more than a hundred houses inside. That was good to see. I was close to civilization.

Who did that rat think he was anyway, talking to me like we were friends? I hated his guts, and he knew it. He was the one that killed me for God’s sake. All he had to do was fall off the balcony by himself. Was that so hard to do? No, he couldn’t even do that without dragging me along for the ride. That damned narcissist. I couldn’t tolerate him. Not as a human and not as a mouse. He reeked of the same vain personality. I bet he spent a couple of hours posing in the broken piece of the mirror before I awoke. Probably pulling off all kinds of pro bodybuilder poses. Being reincarnated as a rat probably didn’t even phase him. His brain clearly remained the same size.

Although I didn’t know much about this world back then, I was grateful for one thing. The higher-ups knew a rat when they saw one. Maybe they really thought his soul was that of a rat’s so gave him the body of one to match. I knew he was a mouse but calling him a rat at every chance I got just felt right.

Needing a little time to process what was happening, I walked out of the doorway and found a patch of grass to sit on. The ground felt real, as did the sky and the wind blowing across my face. The sound too; the birds sang, the bees buzzed and what sounded like a nearby stream, rippled with life.

I closed my eyes, lay back and stretched my arms out. I let my mind completely relax and allowed for the thoughts to come and go as they pleased. There was just much to take in.

I had died and for some reason been brought back to life. I was now in this new world. It didn't feel fake or like an illusion, so it must be real, I thought. Yet, I couldn’t make sense of it all. Everything felt way off. Dave was a mouse/rat, and he apparently had some kind of system or screen. Surely that meant I was dreaming. My brain must have projected him as how I saw him, as a rat. Also, if he was the one being punished by the higher-ups, then why didn’t I also have an interface like him?

''I told you, I'm a mouse.'

''What the f......, How did you do that?’’ I demanded as I opened my eyes and sat up to find him looking up at me from the grass.

''I told you; I have a screen with stats and skills. One of them says that we're bonded, and I can read your thoughts.''

‘Yeh, right. Get lost. Go back inside before you become bird food.’

He didn’t move, instead he just looked at me with sad eyes.

I decided to test his little theory.

All the women in the office said you have a tiny penis. It's the one thing that made me feel sorry for you and not punch you earlier than I did. And as of now, I guess it's only gotten smaller.

Dave looked a little abashed. He tried to speak several times, but nothing would come out.

He looked genuinely upset, and as much as I hated to admit it, I felt like I had crossed the line. No man should disrespect another man’s manhood.

As Dave was making his way back to the shack. I pondered whether or not to apologize. I hated him with every part of my being so it should have been a no-brainer……..

''I'm sorry, I didn't mean to''. It just came out like that. The apology didn’t make me feel good. At that very moment, I wanted to pour hot chilly sauce on my tongue, so it never acted without permission ever again.

He turned back a little but then just plonked himself on the floor. I would have walked over to him, but being a mouse, he hadn't moved that far.

‘’Listen, I guess I do believe you now and we are in a new world. So that means we need each other. We need to work together and figure out how we're going to survive here, and if we are as you say connected through your skills, then there must be a greater reason for why we've been brought back to life in this new world.’’

I didn’t really want to forgive him for everything he had done, well not easily anyway. But before making any decisions, I needed to know more about this new world and what I was up against. Dave was my only potential ally and given his size, he could prove to be a useful asset. Why not use the little turd for a while. If he was reading my mind, then I’m sure he was thinking the same about me.

I got to one knee and held out a hand. Dave didn't immediately get up. He glanced over his shoulder looking a little hurt and after a few moments, stretched and climbed on. I put him on my shoulder and headed back for the shack.

'You know what?' Whispered Dave into my ear.

Steph actually said it was pretty big.

''You bastard!!!’’ I shouted as I grabbed Dave from my shoulder and threw him straight through the open door of the Shack.''

I would like to say that no animals were hurt during this tale, but I’d be lying.