I Had a New Start Or So I Thought

I think I’ve had enough.

The long work hours, the lack of social life, the cheap food, the loneliness. I’ve had enough of this life, but I don’t know how to turn it all around. I used to have all these dreams in high school, but that feels like a lifetime ago, even though I’m only 24 years old.

These thoughts aren’t new; I always think about this after I get off work. It was a typical day, with typical thoughts that I’m having as I make my way up to the third floor of my typical apartment complex.

As I near the door of my apartment, I shake down my pockets until I feel the familiar form of my keys. I pull them out, look for the key with the wide head etched with 313, put it in the lock, and open the door.

Typical.

I turn on the lights with the switch to my left, then walk past the half kitchen and turn right to go into my bedroom. Without closing the door, I pull off my slightly too big work shirt and release my belt. I strip down to my undershirt and boxers and throw on some generic, black basketball shorts, the kind with the slick fabric. I return to the living room and take a seat on one of the green couches. It’s an ugly set of furniture, but it was a hand-me-down from my parents, and I wasn’t going to refuse free stuff.

It’s not quite late enough to go to sleep, but too late to go do anything. I tend to just sit and read at times like this. I picked up a book off the small wooden table in front of me. It was a manga about a guy who dies and gets reincarnated in a fantasy world. It’s pretty cliché, but I still like stories like that. Maybe something like that could happen to me…Heh, I guess a part of my teenage self is still holding on. The main characters in these kinds of stories always develop into someone cool and end up getting the girl in the end. Compared to that, I’m just a scrawny guy with messy hair and a dead-end job. Not exactly remarkable. As for getting the girl… Well, I dropped the ball on that too, but I’m not going to dwell on that.

After I finish reading, I put the book back on the table and sit there for a bit. I fiddle with a piece of cotton protruding from the couch cushion as I get lost in thought a bit.

Just another boring day.

I get up, turn off the lights, then go to my room. Time to do this all again tomorrow, I suppose.

~

Suddenly my eyes open and dart around. Was that a sound? Like glass breaking? It came from the direction of the kitchen. Did someone break in through the small window in the kitchen? My mind is racing and I’m jumping to conclusions. I slowly lift myself off my bed. I try not to make a noise, but the spring mattress groans in defiance. I make my way to the door and peek into the living room. I see a figure slowly making his way through the barely furnished room, bathed in the pale blue street light trickling in through the windows.

I constrain my breathing as much as I can. Maybe I should just ignore him? There’s nothing really worth dying for in my apartment. I turn back around and BOOM ...Knock over a pile of stuff like an idiot! I turn around and he’s looking right at me. I try to close the door and lock it, but he busts the door open as soon as I get it closed. Before I can even think, he stabs me in the gut and I collapse to the floor. I hear “Fuck!” and a shuffling of feet as the intruder runs away. Ah, I guess I’m dying here. Heh, maybe it is time for me to go to another world. I suppose I am a bit of a dreamer, even until the bitter end…

…

Except, I’m still here. Shit, this really hurts! I thought a stab to the gut was supposed to kill me near instantly. What is this?! Those damn anime were a lie! Should I try to get up and call the police? Ugh, if I’m really going to get transported to another world, couldn’t it have been through something less, I dunno, painful?! Where’s a truck to elegantly carry me to the next life? Maybe I should try moving. I try to get up, and I start throwing up blood. I fall forward from the pain a—

My eyes open. Everything is blurry. Did I die? Did I survive? Where am I? I wake up to unfamiliar surroundings. Holy shit, did I really get reincarnated in another world? I guess those stories were true after all! Oh man, what do I do first? I definitely gotta get my magic stats up for starters. Who knows what kind of evils I’m going to face. Ooh, maybe I should figure out ho- “Hey there little guy!” A voice calls to me weakly. Ah, that must be my new mom. I look up and— wait, what?

Am I seeing this right? That’s my mom from my previous life! She looks to her right at a person just barely out of view and speaks “Honey, he looks just like you!” The figure comes into view. Short, black hair, glasses, a long sleeved business shirt with a tie. That’s my dad! My dad from my previous life! But they both look younger. “Wow, I can’t believe it,” the man—my dad, I guess—is exasperated, barely holding back tears. My mom looks back at me, sweat dripping from her forehead, “Hey there little Jeremy!” An all too familiar name. What the hell is going on here?! I look around and realize that I’m in a hospital room. A normal hospital. I look down at my hands, they’re the hands of a baby.

I was reincarnated alright.

Reincarnated into the same life.

DAMMIT.

~