What a way to go

On a day like any other, I was making my way home from middle school after making the mistake of going to school today.

It was a commonly repeated mistake on my part that I sadly repeated every day since school began. I feel like if I had just stayed home, I wouldn't have made such a big embarrassment of myself as I did today. It all started when I went to gym class and heard that we were supposed to do a two-mile run outside on the track. It may seem easy to most people, and some might think that even if they can't run the whole thing, they could just walk some of it. However, I have the unfortunate luck of having a gym teacher, your typical macho guy/football coach, who screams and blows his whistle at anyone who even thinks of slowing down. Sadly, today, I was unfortunate enough to slow down multiple times before finishing last. This led the coach to scream his head off with his attention directly on me the whole time. This was not only embarrassing, but because gym was my last class and I had to walk home, that meant I could barely walk with the energy I had left. So here I am trudging home with little energy left in my body, hoping I can make it home in time to watch Xena Warrior Princess again. It was a show that I started watching with my mother as she liked it when she was a teen because it had badass female characters who kicked guys' butts as if it was nothing, as well as a really good plot. At first, I didn't want to watch it because it sounded girly, but once the first season was over and done with, I was hooked. We had finished watching the show, but we still liked to watch it over and over again as it was a bonding experience for us. This was not the only show that we watched together as I introduced her to all my favorite anime and TV shows I like to watch like Naruto, One Piece, Black Clover, Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, Doctor Who, Supernatural, and so on. We took turns every two weeks choosing a new show to watch. I don't think without her I could have discovered Charmed, Secret Circle, 90210, and so much more if not for her.

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

Well, I was busy stuck in my own thoughts, I was too late to notice that the road I crossed every single day after school had a truck heading my way.

Luckily, I was able to step out of the way at the last second, narrowly missing my certain death.

*Crash*

*Screeeeeeech*

Sadly, I was hit by a car driven by an old lady in the other lane. As I lay with darkening vision on the pavement and the adrenaline worked its butt off to block the pain, I could hear the voice of an elderly person say,

"Oh dear, I hit someone again."

Then everything went black, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a boat floating on a river in a white space, drifting along.

When I faced the front of the boat, I saw a man with long black hair that sparkled with what looked like stars and black skin with a white mist-like aura. He had sharp white eyes that glowed like stars and a calm smile that invited you in. His face was that of a warrior, but also a scholar, strong but soft. He wore a white cloak that looked like fresh snow over a white tunic and white pants. His feet were clean as if they had never touched the Earth in all their life.

"Your journey has ended too soon for one so young," he said after a while.

I simply frowned, having come to realize that my life before had come to an end, but that didn't make the confirmation any less hard to swallow.

I sighed and said, "The only thing I regret is not getting to say goodbye to my mother." I could feel tears falling down my face and a sob caught in my throat as I realized I had no idea if I would see her again.

"A mother having to bury their child is a terrible thing, and sadly, these things happen in life. The only thing that you can do now is move on and know that she will grieve, but eventually she will move on and continue her life until it naturally comes to its end."

I wiped my face of all tears before facing the mystery man again, this time asking him a question to satisfy my curiosity.

"Who are you, and where are we?" I questioned.

He smiled as he answered me, "I am the guide to the next step for souls after they pass. When a soul passes, they arrive here where they meet a guardian who measures the life they lived and decides if they can live again or be sent to the void.If you are judged to be able to live again, the benefits that you receive in your next life are decided based on how well your previous life was. Those who passed away at a young age usually get a minimum of three wishes, plus whatever amount of wishes they gained from how they lived their life up until their passing. The number of wishes a person receives is based on the number of good deeds or acts of goodwill they did during their life. I will prick your finger and have you put a drop of blood on this book." He pulls out a book from nowhere and places it on the table between us, which appeared halfway through our conversation. He also places a sharp pin on the table and opens the book to a new blank page, before gesturing for my finger.

"There we are."

*drip*

A number in white appears: 5,672, while a red 1 also appears below it.

"What does it mean?" I asked after a second of silence.

"Interesting. It seems that all the time you spent with your mother watching those shows gave you goodwill points for each episode you watched together. The red number represents the one thing that you did to earn a bad point, which is making your mother cry because of your death, which sadly could not be avoided and barely counts," he said with a look of contemplation.

I was surprised to know that all the time I had spent just being with my mother amounted to so much goodwill. I had known for a very long time that I had gotten lucky. Not everyone can have a great mother who could be left by the father of their child and still raise their child. I know for a fact that it would have been a difficult choice if my grandfather had not passed away and left my mother with a good amount of money so that she could raise me and use the money to pay for all the bills, especially when she was kicked out by her parents when she was 17 after becoming pregnant. My mother had just set me down and told me about all this and the struggle that she had to go through as I was about to go to high school. She did not want me, if I ever got into my father's shoes, to make the same choice as he did. My mother had always raised me to be respectful to women, but at the same time, not let them walk all over me. She did not expect me to be perfect, but she did expect me to have healthy relationships in the future. She wanted me to make my own choices, but also understand the woman's perspective so that when the time came, I could make better choices. I will definitely use the skills in my next life in honor of my mother.

"With this amount of points, I can give you a maximum of seven wishes to take with you on your journey to your next life. However, there are three restrictions I will place on these wishes. One, you cannot make any wish that would make you the most powerful person in your next world from the beginning. That means none of the three O's. Two, you cannot wish for more wishes. Three, your wishes have to match my moral compass. With that being said, what will your seven wishes be?" he said seriously before ending with a smile.