1 I Couldn't Breathe.

I couldn't breathe. And then I could. The ground was hard, but at the same time, soft, almost like a pillow. I rolled over. The slipshod noose I had constructed must've slipped off. Life still felt so far away though. Why was I living? I should be dead by now.

A soft glow emanated throughout the room. Particles seemed to spin around the center, before they slowly converged into a new form: a human. Or at least, it sure looked like a human. The only out of place thing seemed to be the wings on its...

Wait, hold on a second. Wings!? I scurried away from the figure, unsure of its intentions. It glanced around before turning its gaze towards me.

"Are you …" He pulls a slip of paper out of his pocket. "Excuse me if I butcher it, Osada?"

I gulped and hesitated. I didn't know this guy's intentions. Who was he? My body took over and I nodded slowly.

"Good." He put the slip of paper back into his pocket. He pulled a chair over and sat down, crossing his arms. His wings seemed to almost glint in the light, as if they had some sort of wax job done on them.

"So, wanna tell me what you've been up to over the course of the past…." He checked his watch. "Oh, I don't know, half an hour?" The way he said it made it seem like he already knew the answer.

It seemed like I couldn't make anything come out of my mouth, so I decided to examine this fellow. He didn't seem much taller than me, and in all honesty, the only thing that was different was the fact he had a pair of wings and I didn't.

He motioned to something above me, most likely the noose.

"Did you try to kill yourself?" I nodded slowly. "Why?" It wasn't condescending or anything; it seemed sincere and curious, almost like he was my therapist or something.

I suddenly found the courage to speak. "Well, sir--"

"Please, call me Ish," he said matter-of-factly.

"Well, Ish, I've been sick of life. I just want it to end."

"Why do you want it to end?"

"I'm sick of all the torment, of all the shit I've got to deal with."

He thought for a second. "Have you thought about what others--"

"Look buddy, nobody fucking cares about me. I'm nothing but a miserable excuse for a human being." I felt something dig into my skin and I jumped. It almost felt like a paper cut or something. I looked down and nothing was there. I looked back up at the man.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"Look, Osada, you've done a lot more good than you realize." I wasn't buying anything he said at this point.

"You know, if you're oh-so-mighty and powerful, why don't you show me what would happen if I didn't exist, huh?" He seemed to smirk at that remark.

"Alright, fine. We'll see how you really like knowing the truth."

The room slowly faded away, as we seemed to, quite literally, sit in space-time.

"Where are we? Or, when are we?" I said, looking around in slight amazement.

"Everywhere and nowhere, everytime and at the same time, no time at all. This place is without bounds. We can go anywhere, or nowhere, any time, or none at all. Speaking of which…"

He snapped his fingers and suddenly, we were back in my house. Except it wasn't like before. It was clean, and everything was gone from my room. I could just faintly make out yelling from upstairs. My parents.

"Your parents were really close to breaking off their engagement, and in this timeline, they broke it off," he said.

"You're lying," I replied. Slam.

"Try me." I heard a car start up and speed away before our surroundings faded away and we sat in space-time again. We sat there for a few moments before we faded into another scene. It looked like my boyfriend's house.

"Your boyfriend was going through mental health problems of his own, and had you two not met, he would've committed suicide." I heard a gun go off as we faded back into space-time.

"You're sick!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, reality has a way of being sick sometimes."

"Why would you want me to hear my own boyfriend, my own love, committing suicide, huh, Ish!?" A feeling of pure anger began to boil inside me. "You know what, that's what you are! Ish! Rubbish! Trash! Pure trash, the scum of the earth! Do you stay in heaven because you, too, fear what your leader has created?"

The spacetime surrounding us faded away again, as we faded into what looked like my old school.

"You know that kid you befriended that everyone thought was weird?" he asked.

I looked at him before the realization of what he was insinuating washed over me. "No, no no no, he didn't!"

He remained silent. I turned around. Two students were running towards me.

BANG. Blood splattered all over the floor as the scene faded away again.

"You're a fucking monster!" I yelled, charging towards him. He reached out with his hand, holding me back.

"You just don't get it, do you?" he said. "I made you see all this horrid stuff because that's the reason you're here."

"So I'm the messiah or something!? Is that what you're trying to say? Well, let me tell you this Ish. I don't care. This world has gone to shit anyway, and you're not gonna stop me. Who cares if I never existed!?"

"You could've been just like them. You could've killed innocent people, or you could've killed yourself, but you haven't, and the world has become a slightly better place because of it. Just because you're not famous or anything doesn't mean you impact people. Just keep that in mind. You can choose your course. That's not my decision. I just hope I see you in heaven 80 years from now instead of 8 minutes from now." And with that, I was back in my room, and he had vanished.