Binding To The Monkey God

Time: 9:03 pm

Rain poured down and splashed against the ground, mirroring the dark and gruesome scene unfolding. Cars had stopped, people were screaming and panicking, and a body lay on the road in a pool of blood, the rain creating ripples in the red liquid. The young man had been involved in a car accident. The driver stood in front of him, his face frozen in shock. People gathered around, horrified and in disbelief.

"Wait...Is he dead?!"

"I-I didn't mean...I didn't mean to do it!!"

"Someone call an ambulance!" 

Everyone scrambled in chaos, while the body remained motionless on the ground. The boy was Ethan Smith, a 21-year-old with shoulder-length black hair and lifeless dark brown eyes.

Ethan was your average guy. He never really stood out in any group, mostly blending in, which was fine with him since he wasn't an especially social person. He lived alone and worked from home as a small-time web designer. He was always known as a creative person as a kid. The job felt more like a side gig, nothing too exciting, but it paid the bills. 

That night, he was coming back from a social gathering with his old classmates—something he wouldn't normally do. But, out of sheer boredom, he decided to go along. It turned out to be as dull as he expected—just a bunch of talking. He didn't know what he expected in the first place. Not to mention, he barely interacted with anyone, despite being invited. He mainly stayed in the corner, listening to his music. He did give a small greeting to the few people who recognized him, but that was it.

He left early, walking home while listening to music. Ethan was crossing the street when one driver didn't see him. The blinding headlights lit him up, and the blaring car horn screamed at him, but he couldn't hear it because of his music. By the time Ethan noticed, it was too late. In a desperate act, he tried to dash to the other side, but the front bumper slammed into him. His body flew into the air before crashing down onto the car's hood. He rolled off the roof as the car still moved, landing in a puddle on the road, blood spilling from his now lifeless form. The driver screeched to a stop, the front lights broken and flickering. He quickly got out to check on Ethan.

"Oh shit! Are you okay?!"

As he leaned in to check for a pulse, more bystanders rushed over. The man pressed his fingers against Ethan's neck, hoping to feel the slightest hint of life.

"Wait...Is he dead?!"

Someone asked as the driver's eyes widened, realizing the cold truth that there was no pulse, there was almost no chance that he was alive. The man staggered backward, panic settling in, "I-I didn't mean...I didn't mean to do it!!" he stammered.

He was panicking, the guilt already weighing heavy on his mind. Someone quickly reached for their phone, "I'll call the ambulance!" They shouted, dialing the number.

But the world faded out as rain continued pouring, and colorful lights blurred in Ethan's vision. As he lay there motionless, his thoughts dimmed. This is it, huh...?

He wondered if he had any regrets, and yeah, a few came to mind. He wished he could see his parents one last time, but all he had now were memories of them. He wished he could've told them everything he'd been going through. Most of all, he wished he could've told them he loved them. That thought overshadowed everything else. Knowing he'd never see them again—except in memory—made his heartache.

But another regret he had, was not putting in the effort to make his life more interesting. For the longest, he lived in his average life by himself, nothing interesting happened. Of course, he only had himself to blame. It was the same every day, wake up, eat, work, eat again, shower, sleep, and repeat. Can you really call that living? He was young, he had his whole life ahead of him, but he never put the effort to chase those things. If he could restart his life, he'd make it exciting, filled with events and adventure.

But it was nothing but a wish, the darkness began to cloud his vision and take over his body, forcing him to succumb to the cold hands of death. Its grip latched onto his throat and over his eyes. It began to pull him, and he had no choice but to let it do its thing.

Ethan was left alone as death claimed him. He wondered where he'd end up. He didn't think he'd lived a terrible life, but it wasn't a particularly good one either. It was a gamble. But as the icy grip of death dragged him down, he started hearing muffled voices. At first, he thought it was the people around him when he was hit, but why was he hearing them now? He tried to ignore it, but curiosity gnawed at him—especially when he heard a woman scream in terrible pain. Unable to see through the surrounding darkness, he couldn't determine the origin of the scream. Then another voice, faint and distorted, called out to him: "P... sh! ... al o... re! I c n... ee t e h... d!"

'What?' Ethan thought as he continued being dragged. But, he felt something warm grip his arms, he didn't know what it was. But, this warm grip began to pull him from the cold grip of death. The two opposites began to fight over him, pulling him like a game of tug of war. But, the warm entity was stronger and was able to wrestle Ethan free from death's clutches. Relief washed over him as he was pulled toward a bright light in the distance. The comforting warmth made him feel safe. It seemed like an arm out of light was bringing him towards this light, and the voices he heard were a bit clearer. "Come on! Push!" someone urged, like a doctor coaching a woman in labor.

But, why was he hearing this? Was he about to, relive his moment of birth? Was this some twisted way of rubbing salt in the wound of his untimely death? But, the soothing warm grasp of this light, made those thoughts evaporate. He almost didn't want to question anything at this point, the warm feeling so intoxicating. But, that feeling was overcome with an overwhelming sense of confusion. As Ethan got closer to the light, he felt his body slowly shrink, his features returning to how he used to look when he was younger. And soon, his body was dragged into the light, blinding him momentarily.

......

Ethan's eyes fluttered open, scanning the ceiling—a sterile white with bright lights. He tried to sit up but found he couldn't. Something was off. His body felt smaller, his limbs shorter. Panic set in as he tried to comprehend the situation. The loud voices around him only added to his disorientation, hurting his ears.

"Everything went well, your son is a healthy young boy." A man said as Ethan was confused. He felt his body move, but he was clearly being carried as he was handed to someone lying in your typical hospital bed. His eyes roamed the person's face, it was a woman, she had long and braided shining white hair, with a sky-colored eyes. Her lips curled into a smile as she stared down at Ethan. He wondered who this was, it was no one he recognized, and he'd remember someone with white hair. "Hey there..." She whispered, as she lifted her hand and poked his cheek. 

He wanted to speak out, tell her to stop, but he couldn't, all that came out was a low grunt. Why couldn't he speak? The woman giggled, as she turned her head towards a large brown wooden door. "Honey, come in here!" she called out, and Ethan squirmed uncomfortably from the loud noise. She seemed to notice and offered an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry sweetheart." 

Sweetheart? That's an odd thing to call someone you've never met... Soon, the door swung open and a man stepped in. He had a short black beard, short black hair, and gray eyes. His body was large and muscular, 'He must be a bodybuilder.' Ethan thought as the man came in and his eyes landed on Ethan. "Wow..." He said as he looked towards the woman, "Can I hold him?" 

"Of course! He's your son!" The woman replied as this sparked more questions within Ethan. This was not his father, his dad looked nothing like this! The man reached out and grabbed his sides and lifted him up. He smiled, "Look at you!" He said as Ethan wanted to frown, being this close was sorta uncomfortable. But with this, seeing one thing seemed to answer some questions, but wanted to be replaced with even more. Ethan reached out towards him, wanting to escape his grip, but what came into view, was two small arms. Baby arms...And this surprised Ethan. He was so confused, but this answered his questions. He was in a baby's body... "Uh oh...Look at him, he's already a mama's boy." The man said as he returned Ethan to the woman in the bed. As she reached for him, Ethan began to squirm returning to this woman's arms. "Oh! He's a lively one!" She said, making Ethan frown more, despite the situation he was in, I wasn't in the mood to be treated like a child, even though he was one now...

"So, have you thought of a name for him already?" The doctor asked, placing his hands behind his back respectively. The woman nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah we have! We've been thinking of one ever since we found out I was pregnant!" The woman exclaimed excitedly. She looked down at Ethan as his eyes roamed her features. Her pink lips curled into a soft smile, her blue eyes filled with warmth.

"Welcome to the world, Alaric."