“It’s not over…”

“You will have another chance…”

“To start anew…”

Richard came to face down on a cold stone floor.

“Ah… shit. Where am I waking up this time…?”

Not remembering much of last night, he picked himself up and started doing his usual routine he did after waking up in an alley. But then he looked around, he wasn’t in an alley. He was in a room, oddly shaped, made of some blueish stone blocks. The place was completely enclosed, with no way to exit. It was void of any decoration or lighting save for some odd pedestals in the center.

The entire place had some kind of blue ambient glow, then he remembered.

“Oh shit- the car! Fuuuuck…” Dread filled his stomach. He remembered that night, the crowd, the car, the light. He didn’t know where he was, but he certainly didn’t see any pearly gates.

Immediately on guard, he took up a alert fighting stance waiting for some devil to jump out and try to rape him, but he didn’t see anyone. The only things in the whole room were him and the pedestals in the center.

Left with no other option, he approached the stands. On them, He saw 3 different statues. Each statue depicted him at different points in his life.

The statue to the far left was when he was in his early 20’s, studying at university to be a lawyer before he got drafted. The Lawyer had a book under one arm, and a briefcase in the other. He had a youthful smile on, back when he naively thought he could make the world a better place with his limited power. That reminder was unpleasant and Richard wanted to spit on the young man.

The statue in the middle was him as a soldier, pvt, just after he first got drafted. He looked nervous, but still hopeful, eager to kick some Nazi asses. He had training, but experience would learn him that training could never be enough. The soldier was equipped in full combat fatigues and had his trusty M1 garand in his arms. Remarking on how those years still weren’t the worst of his life, Richard turned to the third statue.

The final statue depicted his time as a P.I after the war. The face was noticeably aged, and any youth was long gone from his eyes. However, the man still looked strong and determined, unbroken in his confidence. Weathered and weary from his life, he still had purpose and talent going for him. He sported a healthy stubble, his old light beige trenchcoat and fedora. Around his neck hung the old polaroid camera that got him through thick and thin… well until it didn’t.

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Above the three statues was translucent blue text floating in the air [Choose how you will help this world] it said. He had no idea what was going on, but years of experience and mistakes as a P.I told him that ‘if you don’t know what’s happening at the moment, document it now, and figure it out later.’ So, he decided to pick up the camera from the third statue, and then to use it to try to look around the room.

But as he reached for the camera, as soon as his hand got within a foot of the statue, everything went white.

Then he was falling. The sky was blue, the ground was green, it was day and the room was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to be above some hill and was approaching the ground very fast. He tried to scream, tried to flail, but it was like his body wasn’t responding.

The ground came up fast and he fell right on top of some kid, colliding with him.

With a gasp, he suddenly took a breath. He shot up from his prone position on the grassy ground, and the sun nearly blinded him. He felt everything, a complete sensory overload, made all the worse because for the last while he had been feeling absolutely nothing, so the sudden change was shocking.

He felt the grass between his fingers, the taste of fresh air, and of course, the pain. Oh, he felt the pain, like every nerve in his body had been hammered and blown up by artillery.

In front of him, there was an odd carved stone. A gravestone? No, it was too big for that. He didn’t know what it was. It is the shrine to Thea. Thea? Who the hell is Thea?

“Oh! Oh Gods bless! He has awoken!” A woman’s voice spoke from his right.

With a groan he looked to his right, and saw his mother worriedly holding him, but she had a happy smile on her face that the worry couldn’t completely mask.

His mother? He hasn’t talked to his mother in years. And his mom is a fat elderly woman with grey hair, not this young blonde thing.

“He- he really did! I knew he could do it!”

To his left was his dad. But it wasn’t his dad. He hated his dad.

Next to his mother was Dana, his sister. His sister? His sister’s name is Betty. Then he also saw two of his other siblings, the twins; Doane and Cordell. He didn’t have twin siblings! What the fuck is going on!? Confusion painted his face.

Turning to the MILF, he said in English

“Hey you, lady. Mind tellin’ me what’s going on? A woman hasn’t held me as I woke up in a good couple months. Much less after falling from the stratosphere, damn.”

The woman looked at him surprised, but made no move to respond. It was like she hadn’t heard a middle aged man ever talk before. Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly fell unconscious once more.