New Life

Chirp-Chirp. Chirp-Chirp. Chirp-Chirp.

It was the chirping of birds that returned his consciousness, unable to open his eyes for the first few moments as they felt incredibly heavy, as if being in slumber for a long while.

Below his body, he could feel leaves crinkle and crunch beneath his weight as he moved around slightly.

"Nngh…" He groaned out.

Finally parting his eyelids, he was greeted by the sight of many trees, carrying lively, verdant leaves as the sounds of forest critters met his ears.

As he raised his arm to block the orange rays of sunlight that seeped through the ceiling of leaves that overlooked the forest, he noticed the abnormally potent sensation of dirt pressed up against his back.

"...Huh?" He let out, confused.

Looking down, he realized he was left completely nude.

What the…? Why am I? He thought.

Just as he questioned what was going on, he remembered what he was told last by the mysterious deity: he would be reincarnated.

"I was…reincarnated?" He muttered, standing himself up as he looked at his hands.

It did seem different; his body seemed more "filled-in" as in, he wasn't just a thin, walking pile of bones, but actually had some muscularity to himself now.

He really couldn't reincarnate me with at least a pair of underwear…? He thought with a furrow of his eyebrows.

At the very least, he was thankful he was in the middle of the forest, where nobody could see his dangly bits that he'd rather keep to himself.

For a minute, he just stood there, taking in the forest in its pure, untampered form as blue-feathered birds sat atop branches, and the foliage was brushed by the passing, gentle breeze.

So…this is a second life? He thought.

He didn't know what to feel. It was confusing enough adjusting to the series of events that led him to this obscure, unknown location as he began to wander the forest, forming a makeshift loincloth out of leaves to cover his personal bits.

As he encountered a small, tucked away pond, he knelt down, checking his reflection in the clear, pure water.

It was the same face he knew the past twenty years of his life, and the same messy, snow-white locks. Though his eyes had seemed to shift from a blue to a peculiar, golden color.

"...I'm still…me?" He muttered quietly, touching his face as he stared into the reflection.

Going off of what he knew, reincarnation was something that usually meant being reborn as a completely different person, but this didn't seem to be the case here.

It was a disappointing revelation as he frowned just slightly.

Even in a second life, I have to look at the face of a failure, he thought.

Picking himself up, he continued to wander aimlessly through the forest without much of a clue on where to go, or what to do.

Finding himself standing at the edge of a cliff within the vast forest, he overlooked a waterfall, freely and bountifully flowing to the clearing below.

Standing at that edge, feeling the updraft brush against his body as his soles stood on the cold, damp moss-covered rock at the precipice, he considered it: leaping. The flow of the waterfall filled his ears, roaring through it flowed out in tranquility.

Staring off below, watching a few birds pass by his view and into the distance, he decided not to do it.

It wasn't because then he chose "life" but he simply did not want to only finish half-way and remain broken and shattered on the ground.

In that forest, he tried to find a reason–a message or hint from God of what he was supposed to do, but nothing came. It was just him and nature, for as far as he could see.

Why? He questioned.

Wandering around that densely-packed forest further, he repeated this question in his mind.

Why was I given a second life, of all people? I don't want it. I don't care about it. There are plenty of others who deserve it more than me. Why can't I just…escape this cycle? He questioned further.

As this question plagued his mind, and his unwillingness to play along further with the beard-twirling god's whims, he came across a sharpened rock sitting in a bed of leaves.

For him, it looked like salvation, solidified and tangible.

He picked up the sharp, jagged rock, running his fingertips along its sharp edge as he confirmed its sharpness.

…This'll do, he thought.

Knelt on the bed of fallen, yellow and brown leaves, he brought the jagged rock close to his neck.

Sitting there with his blood running hot, and his breathing becoming heavy as he slowly pressed the visceral stone to his neck, for some reason he hesitated.

As he looked up towards the ceiling of leaves up above, as the sparse sunlight bled through, something small clicked–so meager, but something.

After a few more seconds of indecisiveness, he tossed the stone away in a huff, wincing as he was perplexed at his own decision.

He sat there on his knees, holding his scraped neck as he caught his breath, huffing as he looked at the jagged, discarded stone in confusion.

Why…? For some reason, a small, minuscule part of me…wants to see what this new life has to offer, he thought.

Picking himself back up, he brushed the crunched bits of leaves from his knees before looking up.

Besides, I doubt I could do it anyway. If what that old man said is true, then I'm stuck here, aren't I? There's no escape, he thought.

For days to come, he wandered the forest in search of something past it, not knowing if he was going in circles, or not.

For weeks, he continued to be caught in the ensnarement of nature. Though he had not eaten a single thing, it didn't seem that he needed to eat–though the cramps of hunger still existed.

He didn't have it in him to hunt the critters occupying the serene forest, only snatching some berries he passed by.

After spending what he could only imagine was a few months within the bounds of the forest, he finally reached its edge, by some miracle.

He was pushed to find civilization after a desire for actual food, an actual bed, and surprisingly–just to know he wasn't alone in this mysterious, foreign world.

"...I did it," he said, indifferently.