A Birthday Gift to Remember

The farms spread as far as the eye could see, and so did the peasants who worked them. But not for one of those farms, today the field would go unworked.

Today was the eighteenth birthday for an orphaned boy, Kyle Wheatsman. As an orphan with no name, he’d been given one to honor the crops most of the peasants grew. Because of his lack of family and the work he’d done helping others get ready for harvest, he’d been given a satchel filled with coin and told to go into the nearby town of Trunsit as a treat.

Kyle understood this was a one-in-a-lifetime experience and hoped to enjoy it. But even what stories he’d been told paled to what he saw when he arrived.

The houses were so tightly packed together! The roads busy with men on horses and filled with stalls where merchants sold their wares! And their clothes had such color, unlike the brown tunic the same color as his hair, eyes, and trousers. It was tempting to spend some of his money on it –

And that’s when he saw it. Out the corner of his eye was a small glob of water dancing in the air, two humongous blue eyes staring at him. It had two more drops of water atop what looked like its head, forming what resembled ears.

Kyle was frozen in place. Did no one else see this thing? No one else was reacting to it. Was this ‘mag-ik’ that the village elder had warned him about?

The water blinked at him before floating towards a nearby building and filtering through a crack on the door.

He’d never seen anything like it before. ‘Mag-ik’ was supposed to be dangerous, but that thing had been more like a puppy than anything else. Kyle knocked on the door and let his curiosity get the better of him.

The door swung open on its own, revealing a dimly lit room with two chairs and a table holding up a clear crystal ball. The walls were lined with shelves of things that must have been ‘books’ inscribed with words Kyle could not read.

The water drop spirit bounded up and down on the table, not breaking eye contact with Kyle.

“Come on in, take a seat.” A woman’s voice called out from behind a wooden door in the back. “Just a moment.” There was the sound of much rustling and things being moved about. When the door opened, a black-haired woman wearing a pointed hat came out holding one of those ‘book’ things in hand. Her leather attire left little to the imagination. She looked up through two clear circles held together by wire in surprise. “You aren’t who I expected,” she said.

“Sorry,” Kyle apologized. “I saw that thing and followed it.”

The water drop spirit’s eyes moved up and down, almost like it was nodding.

“First time seeing Blooby?” The behatted woman asked. “He’s a water spirit. Was a gift from my mother.” She took a seat at the table, gesturing for Kyle to take the other. “Payment is due upfront for my services. And sorry, but I’m saving the good stuff for the client I was expecting later. We’ll have to do a different ritual for you.”

Kyle felt the satchel of coin separate itself from his hand, emptying into hers. She weighed the coins in her hand before it vanished in a puff of smoke. “What am I paying for, Miss…?”

“Abagail. Abagail Wentworth. And for that much coin, your standard blessing from the gods,” she explained. Cracking her fingers, she placed her hands on the crystal ball that now began to glow. “We’ll use a bit of old magic as an offering to them and hope the novelty gets one of them to take pity on you.”

“And… if they don’t take pity?”

Abagail shrugged. “No refunds.”

Kyle was about to ask what that was before Abagail’s eyes went wide. The crystal ball was now bright enough to hurt to look at.

With a great wooshing sound, the ball flew towards Kyle’s head and slammed into it. After a few brief moments, he fell backwards onto the ground.

-----

Kyle’s vision was blurry. Maybe he’d stared into that light for too long. But he was in a much different town than before. The roads were hard and black, with strange yellow lines on them.

Streets.

The streets, yes.

He was stepping towards the other side of the street, in a section of it painted white. There was a green man in lights flashing in front of him.

The crosswalk. It’s safe to walk.

He stepped into the crosswalk, briefcase in hand. He didn’t want to be late for work; he’d already woken up late after getting home late from trivia night. He’d won for the first time, too. Shame the prize was an IOU.

A screeching sound echoed from down the street as something red barreled towards him. There was a person inside, looking at something small.

The person driving that car’s looking at their phone.

The car never stopped.

-----

The next thing Kyle knew, he was in a white void. Strange words were still ringing in his head, like ‘car’, ‘phone’, and ‘salary’. Words that he’d never heard before in his life but he had known them all the same.

“Welcome back.”

A woman with red hair stood before Kyle, wearing an outfit of two coats and twice as many belts. She had in her hands a small ball of fudge, which she would occasionally take a bite out of.

Kyle was utterly confused as memories new and old began intermingling in his main. “What’s going on here?”

“Your prize for trivia night. Don’t you remember?”

Kyle looked down at himself – he wasn’t wearing the brown clothes he remembered wearing. Instead he was in a suit and tie. He reached into a pocket in his suit jacket, pulling out a small business card with embroidered writing on it and around the edges.

This card entitles the wearer to one (1) conditional rebirth, to be redeemed in the event of wearer’s untimely demise. Original memories, traumas, and preferences will be restored upon reaching the rebirth’s eighteenth birthday.

Kyle read and reread the text of the card in stunned silence. So many questions rumbled through his mind.

Metis watched as Kyle began poking his finger into the air. “Um, what are you doing?”

“Trying to access a status screen. I want to see my stats!”