The world ended.

It wasn’t nukes. Or Global Warming.

It was way more exciting than that.

We managed to pull the Moon into the Earth.

It didn’t wipe out all of humanity, only most of it.

But I died at the impact along with countless others.

Chapter 1

Jason woke up on a cold floor. It was black everywhere, well, everywhere except in front of him. In front of him was Death.

“Wow.” said Jason

Death looked much liked you expected it. A skeleton in a black robe with a scythe. The robe tattered, and the scythe wicked sharp.

“Hello Jason.” Death said.

His voice was wispy, as if the wind came from somewhere else. While his teeth clacked along with the emphasized vowels.

“Umm… Hi.” Jason replied.

Death stood motionless, not moving, not speaking. It was entirely too unnerving.

“So… What happens now?” Jason asked.

“Now?” Death asked back.

“Yeah, don’t you weigh my soul or something? You know, to determine whether I go to heaven or hell?” said Jason.

“Do I?”

“Uhh… I don’t know.”

“Neither do I.”

“But you’re, you know…”

“Death?”

“Well, yeah”

There was an awkward silence for a minute.

“Listen, Death, sir, will something happen?”

“Do you want something to happen?”

“Yeah.”

“Then something will happen.”

“But what?”

“What you want to happen.”

Jason was frustrated; this isn’t what he expected at all.

“Well I don’t want to be dead!”

“No? Then what do you want to be?”

“I don’t know, alive?”

“Then be alive.”

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“What? How do I do that?”

“By willing it to happen.”

“Okay, I’m now alive.”

Silence.

“See?” Jason frustratedly kicked at the floor.

“You are now alive”

“What? Then why are you still here?”

“Because, you haven’t willed me away.”

“”Okay, go away.”

Death disappeared instantly.

“Oh..”

Jason looked around, he was really alone.

Too alone.

“I’m scared.” said Jason.

“Come back!”

Death reappeared.

“Wah!” Jason fell down onto the stone floor again.

“I am here.” Death reported.

“God I hate that!”

“What?”

“You, how you’re so, empty!”

“Empty?”

“Yeah, I just made you disappear and you don’t even care!”

“Should I?”

“Yes!”

“Well, I was scared for my lack of presence.”

“But not like that, give yourself more personality.”

“Personality?”

“Yeah! You’re Death right? Shouldn’t you be this evil monstrosity that gains joy from reaping the souls of mortals?”

“Am I?”

“Well, yes.”

“And you want me to be this evil monstrosity that gains joy from reaping the souls of mortals?”

“Oh, God no.”

“Then what do you want me to be?”

“Someone who is normal.”

“Okay.”

Death sat down on a chair that appeared under him and took out a pipe and began stuffing full of tobacco.

“Woah, how did you do that?”

“By willing it.”

“Can I do that?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Jason thought about a nice soft chair appearing behind him.

A nice soft chair appeared behind him.

He sat down.

Death meanwhile finished stuffing his pipe and took out a match from his ropes, he gazed at it and a blue flame burst forth from nowhere. He lit his pipe and began puffing away for a while before turning his attention back to Jason.

“Well kid, thanks to you, I feel forty years old, have a nicotine addiction and the understanding of what you finally want.”

Jason blinked.

“You see kid, you gave me a personality, and that is basically a state of mind right, one where I have habits, likes and dislikes and other things.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, even though you gave me a higher state of consciousness I won’t say I’m particularly happy with it.”

“Why not?”

“Well I was like a fish, and fish don’t feel, now you come along and turn me into a man, and now I can feel.”

“And why is that a bad thing?”

“I can feel pain and annoyance, among other things. And in a mortal’s sense, the cons far outweigh the pros.”

“Wait, so I did that?”

“Jeez, what have I been telling you? You do everything! Well I do too now, because you gave me consciousness to use to do it with.”

“Oh…”

“Kid, do you read a lot of books?”

“Yeah why?”

“Like those fantasy ones.”

“Yeah, my favorite book is Lord of the Rings.”

“That’s a trilogy but anyway, you know how in those you have things like magic? How your will directly correlates with the physical world?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s usually after strict training and disciplining the mind for years a mage is able to alter the fabric of reality.”

“Right, well that’s total bullshit.”

“What?”

“You heard me, rubbish, crap, drivel, hogwash.”

“Wha-“

“You can’t alter reality when there is no reality to begin with.”

“What?”

“If you say ‘what’ one more time I’ll brain you, just shut up and listen for now.”

Death took another drag before continuing.

“As I said, how can you alter reality when there is no reality there to begin with? Don’t worry it’s a trick question, the real question is how can you be sure there is a reality at all. The only thing you can be sure about is what’s inside you, and that’s what you have connected to your five senses, which tell you about the outside world which, let’s not forget, you can’t be sure is there at all. “

“Basically when you willed that chair underneath you, you just convinced your eyes and ass that you’re sitting on it. Or when you didn’t like how I was acting you changed what your ears listened to. And really who’s gonna contradict you? Me?  I could be nothing more than a figment of your imagination.”

Jason looked stunned.

“Yeah, mind boggling stuff, really makes your rethink your view on life, assuming there is life to begin with. When you said you’re alive, who was there to say otherwise?”

“Wow.”

“Tell me about it. Anyway, don’t let it depress you, in reality, get it? Reality? There’s no limit outside, only inside, what happens is what you want to happen. And when we’re there the sky is the limit, well not really, there is no limit.”

Death took another drag and looked over to Jason. Who was completely motionless.

“How come I didn’t know this before?”

“Maybe you went insane and wanted to forget, so you started over.”

“What? Why would I do that?”

Death shrugged. “Infinity is a long time kid; everyone needs a start over once in a while.”

“Wow.”

“So, what now, eat yourself silly? Drown yourself in women? Make everyone you ever envied suffer? Or show them how you are better? You could literally paint the most beautiful paintings, compose the best songs. Become Mozart, Galileo and Confucius all at once.”

Jason looked up, his eyes burning.

“First, I’ll become a God.”