Soul Between Lives

"Hey, wake up!"

Alex only slightly stirred from the deep oblivion of sleep.

"Oye! Wake up!"

Being forced from a peaceful slumber, Alex couldn't help but resent the noisy people outside his window as he stubbornly did his best to keep dreaming.

"I've had it! Such a damn stubborn soul. Honestly, how can you even be asleep?"

Alex jolted awake from being shocked by a strong surge of electricity.

"Mwathafwuckwer! Wh-what the hell just happened?"

When he Looked around in a state of shock and while still partly asleep Alex noticed that he was no longer in his bed. Even his room was nowhere to be seen. In fact, there was nothing familiar around him and only an old man with a malicious grin could be seen within the field of blank white nothingness.

As he Looked at this creepy man Alex couldn't help but wonder if he'd gone insane or if he was having one of those strange realistic dreams again.

"Hoho, finally got a reaction out of you huh?" the old man then grumbled "It's about time"

Alex's eyes widened as the old man seemingly conjured an orb of light out of thin air and held it in his right hand.

"Now that I have your attention, let's get down to business"

Speechless and with mouth hanging open Alex had yet to actually begin to pay attention.

"You're here because you died not long ago and out of all the souls of the departed you have won the chance to be reborn into a new world"

Finally reacting as panic rapidly encroached upon his heart, Alex spoke.

"What the heck is going on here?" He looked around then focused back on the old man holding the glassy orb "What are you talking about? How can I be dead? I don't remember dying."

The old man frowned and lowered the orb in his hand a little bit as he took a few steps closer to Alex.

"Alright, we'll start from there then." The old man took a deep breath and continued. "You have in fact died. That is no longer your body." The old man pointed at Alex. "At least not your physical body. By the look you're giving me I can tell you think I'm speaking a bunch of nonsense. Shall I zap you with more lightning until you come to believe that this is real?"

The old man held his other hand that was suddenly emitting a threatening amount of electric discharge out toward Alex. But Alex hardly reacted other than staring at the nifty effect.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." The old man said right before he electrocuted Alex again.

"Yaaarrg! Ah! Alright! Ok! Ok! Damn it that hurts! I know I'm not dreaming so lay off! Please!" As the old man let off his attack Alex was left groaning on what counted as the floor of the strange place.

"Good, I'll continue then. Unless you have any other questions or concerns relating to your fate?" The old man asked with one eyebrow raised and the hand with the lightning poised between the two of them.

Alex recovered his dignity a little and sat up again while warily eyeing the old man's hand with an expression of resignation.

"If I'm truly dead, How did I die?"

The old man stood up straight and waved away the lightning while a scroll unfurled from the same hand.

While Consulting the scroll the old man told Alex, "It seems you died when a blood clot traveled from one of your hemorrhoids and entered your brain while you were sleeping. Not the weirdest way to die but its up there." He finished as he stroked his chin with the now empty hand that was holding the strange sphere.

Alex's expression kept changing between disgust and incredulity while he was momentarily speechless again.

As he Rubbed his forehead Alex asked, "If that's how I died... not the strangest huh?" He looked at the old man as if wanting him to tell him what actually counts as the strangest death.

"Yeah, the strangest death I've seen was when a young lady got brained by a cosmonaut toilet seat falling from low orbit." The old man said with a smile and mostly closed eyes. "Someone even made a television series about it."

The old man continued, "Anyway we've already wasted too much time." The orb appeared once more in the old man's hand. "Like I was saying. You have been chosen to reincarnate into a new world and it's about time I send you there."

"Wait! Is that all the explanation you're going to give me?" Alex retorted with less panic in his voice than what he felt.

"Like I said, time is running short, so off you go!" the old man declared as he threw the orb at Alex hitting him in the chest.

Alex only had a moment to regret not trying to dodge the orb as the space around him swirled and sped away before he lost consciousness and entered the black oblivion devoid of thought.