Age

Since the day I learned of space, I dreamt of becoming an astronaut.

I always imagined how cool it would be to leave the planet on a spaceship and watch the stars from outer space, how cool it would be to live in zero gravity; I didn't know the problems of drinking/eating and going to the toilet in such a situation back then.

In any case, when I turned 10 on earth, as a human just in case you know, I wished to become an astronaut on my birthday.

And the years passed, life had its up and downs but in the end with enough determination, hard work, and a great degree of luck, I achieved my dream.

I felt the gravity of earth vanishing as the white light of the sun cracked over the blue Horizon of the planet below. Being up there made me feel as if life on earth was a mere dream of sorts.

I was excited beyond description.

Just as I thought of doing all things I had imagined and working with my fellow astronauts, even working in space seemed fun for me, everything began shaking.

My heart almost stopped in fear, we tried to fix the issue, but it was a technical problem with one of the systems that was supposed to activate once we were in orbit. We couldn't fix it... It was a core part and without it functioning, we were good as dead.

Then and there I realized that... I was screwed. My heart sank...

BOOM!

Something exploded and the next thing I knew, a powerful shockwave hit me. I was thrown out violently and my entire body felt numb.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the atmosphere rapidly approaching me or rather, I was approaching it. If I was not wearing a space suit, I would have died already.

My body began spinning around itself as I reentered the atmosphere, feeling extremely disoriented.

A few seconds later I somehow managed to take a few breaths and calm down a little, I quickly used my hands as we were taught to stop spinning by making use of the air.

I saw the ocean growing closer and seeing no trees and such anywhere close by to take advantage of, I knew I was going to die for sure.

I felt extremely nervous, terrified to my core. It was very surprising how one moment I was on cloud nine and the next falling to my death.

Strangely, I began feeling indignation, I had just achieved my dream after years and before I could enjoy it, I was going to die.

I felt anger rising up, I WAS NOT WILLING TO DIE. And yet, life is cruel. I felt helpless and pathetic.

Mix that with the terror, slight disorientation from the explosion, and my body burning and feeling pain all over and that is how I felt like.

I turned to look back at the sky, the stars were slowly appearing, but it wasn't night yet.

I extended my hand toward the stars...

'If only I could fly...' I thought and then, nothing.

Absolute darkness.

'Am I dead?' I wondered in confusion. I had died so fast, I didn't even notice or feel it.

I was one of those people who didn't care much about afterlife and such, yes it was interesting to think about but in the end, no one knew the answer, and it was all just speculation without proof. Not only that, but I was not religious as well and as such, I had no idea or expectation about what was to come after death.

'Maybe I am dreaming?' I consoled myself. For some reason, I began thinking of the past.

My life was a normal one, doing what society thought was okay to do. And working hard for my dream. As a side hobby, I used to watch anime, movies and such and sometimes read stories and novels to fill up my free time. The concept of other worlds and such was fascinating for me, I aspired to travel the space after all.

Thinking of my family made me feel sad, my parents had passed away, and I had no wife or children yet since I was only 27. I only had 2 older siblings that were both married and that is why I felt sad, since they would feel loss.

I began feeling calm after that, when I looked back at everything, I realized that I had nothing to live for anymore. In a way, I had achieved my dream as well. The only regret I felt about my life, was that I never managed to find someone to love. I always wanted to find someone, but I had decided to 1st achieve my dream.

And the fact that I was dead and could never find someone to love, made me feel devastated. In a way, I felt lonely and my life pointless.

I began doubting myself, 'Maybe I should have focused more on finding someone...'

A grand and majestic light descended on me out of nowhere, and before I knew it, I was back to darkness but this time it was different.

Previously I felt nothing, no hands, legs or heartbeat, but now I was feeling those.

This darkness was not absolute nothingness like before, it was as if I was blind or something.

A very long time passed, I struggled to get free sometimes since I felt like I was stuck somewhere warm and wet but most of the time I was tired and fell asleep. I had no grasp of time, so I didn't know how long passed exactly.

Maybe days... or even months...

I was not awake long enough to think about the situation in depth, but I knew I was probably a baby or something due to the similarities I expected a baby would find itself in before birth.

And that, made me realize that after death, came reincarnation. At least in my case.

I was very nervous but after being in that absolute darkness, I was a bit more calm about the situation. 'The worst is that I will return there...' I thought.

After experiencing death once, I was not afraid of it anymore, and thus I became a much calmer person. Since I had already experienced the worst...

One day, I felt the walls of my prison pressuring me and knew it was time for birth.

I won't talk about the details... Let's just say it was not a welcoming and good experiencing.

I fell asleep after I was born because the pressure of being born and my lungs breathing for the 1st time was intense, I was exhausted.

The next time I awakened, I opened my eyes but could only vaguely see things. I was floating in some sort of liquid inside a pod of sorts. Something was attached to my mouth, and thus I was able to breathe.

I focused and realized I could hear things pretty well compared to seeing them. I heard footsteps and a few people came and stood in front of my pod, they were humanoid, that was the only thing I could tell.

They were talking, and I could somehow experience what they were saying, it wasn't English. 'Maybe the absolute darkness or the light after has given me the ability?' I wondered and then listened to what they were saying.

"... And his power level?"

"I am sorry to say, my king, but the new prince's power level can't compare to the old prince; it is only 10."

"Preposterous! I can't accept or acknowledge trash like that. Get him out of my sight!"

"Yes, as you command..."

'Are they talking about me?' I thought.

The term power level made me confused and yet it was familiar, but I didn't think much about it because they seemed to add things to the air I was breathing because I began feeling sleepy soon...

The next time I opened my eyes, I saw two humanoid figures holding me. I felt a little cold and soon, a warm blanket covered my body.

I heard them say...

"The writing on this thing looks like the word 'Age'..."

"Then let's name him Age, dear, how about it?"

One of them seemed to look at the other, "Are you sure about this?"

The conviction in her voice was something else, "A baby boy sent to us from the stars... How can we not?!"

Then they turned silent and suddenly kissed...

And 11 years passed.