A New World

Mateus woke up gasping, clutching his chest and shaking in confusion. He was dead. He knew it. Five gun shots to the chest, blood everywhere - no way could have survived it. He looked around, and blinked in flustered confusion.

The walls were plain white, and covered in cracks. Flakes of paint hung listlessly in place, grey with time. The door was old, full of holes, and sagged open on broken hinges. The bed was just as dilapidated as the rest, grey and dirty, emitting the stench of time.

Mateus was alive, but this place didn't look anything like a hospital. Touching his chest again, he finally noticed how thin and small he had become - just like a child. No wounds, no blood, and a gut aching from hunger.

Mateus had always been more interested in sports than reading, but he had heard about transmigration and rebirth before. Still, that didn't change the fact he had no clue where he was, or how to get some food.

A voice, young and raspy, speaking a strange language called from outside the door, and it was pushed open carefully. A face, just as thin and dirty as Mateus' must be, looked in at him inquisitively. Seeing him awake, a bright smile appeared, and a thin child dressed in rags threw itself at him.

On reflex, Mateus caught him, but was so weak they both fell back on the bed. The child kept laughing and calling him in those unfamiliar words, and Mateus was at a loss. A large feathered head peeked in through the doorway, and trilled a sweet call at him.

Instantly the child dragged Mateus up and pulled him out of the room, following the singing creature out of the building, that was obviously condemned, and into the street outside.

Mateus stared around himself in a daze, unable to reconcile the world he was seeing. There were no cars, but creatures and humans were everywhere. They carried things, pulled things, sang odd songs and bellowed weird cries.

Nothing was familiar - not the language, or clothes, or the colours, or the creatures.

In this moment, Mateus finally accepted that he had died. In his heart he rejoiced at this new world, and hoped to start a good life.