Death is not the end

It's been five full years since I've died...

By now i'd have lost my sanity if i had any left to lose.

Most people would've cracked and become lost souls as I once did

But what keeps me going?

Well... This journal I've been keeping since I found it, It keeps me from losing my memories of this place.

Whoever finds this journal, don't give up hope.

Now, let me ask the reader one certain question:

What lies beyond death?

Is it and endless void?

Rainbows and happiness?

Or... is it a gateway?

I hope that these pages show whoever is reading this that death is definitely not the end.

I had woken up with a very large headache, clutching my head as it pounded like a bass drum.

After the pain had subsided, I opened my eyes I found myself in what seemed like the ruins of an old city, with busted windows, broken down automobiles and the like.

Heh... looks like I've kicked the bucket... I thought to myself.

Deciding that i'd better not hang around here, I started exploring around where I came to.

After a few minutes of exploring, I stumbled upon what looked like a robed person slumped over. Upon approaching the being I saw that it had what looked like a scythe with him.

Against my better judgement I decided to see if I could make contact with the creature and determine where I was, little did i know that the creature was hostile.

As a few minutes of vigorously poking the figure, I decided to give up when the creature opened its eyes and let out a bloodcurdling shriek that forced me to cover my ears, which in retrospect made absolutely no sense seeing as I was already dead and lacking a proper body.

The creature looked at me the same way a predator looks at it's prey and decided that I was to be it's next hunt.

Pulling my hands away from my ears I saw that the creature was raising it's scythe-like appendage in preparation to strike me, not caring whether or not i had a body i ran as fast as my legs could carry me, with the creature close behind.

After a good few minutes of running through the ruins of this old city, I finally managed to lose the creature, this made me overjoyed as I had narrowly escaped becoming that creature's lunch. While I was congratulating myself I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and tripped over a piece of concrete.

Clutching my face, I looked up to see another robed figure, Not another one... I thought to myself.

Slowly backing away from the figure, I was surprised to hear the figure speak to me.

"Peace lost one, I mean you no harm." The figure spoke in a raspy, ethereal sounding voice.

"Who are you?" I asked, shaking off my fear of the figure.

"I go by many names, Father Time, The Grim Reaper, but here, I am known just as Death." He responded.

"You... are Death?" I asked, surprised that I was, literally, staring Death in the face.

"It would seem you have escaped the clutches of one of my eviscerators... You are an interesting one indeed..."

"Why are you here? I have already died..." I questioned, curious of the entity's intentions.

"I am here to hand down your judgement." He states

Death pulls out an object vaguely resembling an hourglass from his cloak and examines it.

"You have had a troubling life, losing your family to disease, your friends to war, and your loved one to another man..."

I cringed at his words.

"...Your sanity betraying you, causing you to try to commit suicide after suicide, and all the while... your own soul was trapped inside your body, desperately fighting to regain control..."

Visually twitching, I'm made uncomfortable being made to remember my past life and all the mistakes and shortcomings that I had made.

"...And when it did, it couldn't bear the state your body and mind was in, and you decided to finally end it all... Which is how you ended up here, as a lost soul, doomed to wander this perpetual wasteland of limbo."

"..." I am left utterly speechless, being forced to recall all the horrible things my life has brought me. Has he come simply to make me relive my life?

"...I have made my decision." Death says with an ominous voice. "I have decided to give you a second chance at life, one that will end your suffering and misery."

I suddenly look up at him and my hopes begin to rise.

"But, make no mistake, due to how you have died, you are prohibited from returning to your own world."

My hopes are slightly lowered, but not completely dashed.

"Wait... If I can't return to my own world... Where am I to go?" I ask, puzzled at what he means.

With a slight chuckle, Death responds, "I have selected a world that will end your misery."

I'm still curious, but I don't feel like starting an argument with the guy who is giving me a second chance at life.

"I will warn you however, this world will not come without it's own problems, you will have many obstacles you will need to overcome if you are to be fully given this new chance." He warns. "Knowing this... would you still go?" He asks me.

I mull the question over, and moments later, I have my answer, "Yes, my world has nothing left for me, even if i was allowed to get back there, it would all end the same, leaving me here in limbo."

Death chuckles at my response "Good answer."

Walking towards a small concrete square, a question still burns in my mind.

"There's still the matter of me not having a body." I state bluntly.

"You're original body shall be given to you, in pristine condition, upon your arrival to the world." Death replies. "Now, one more issue..."

"And that would be...?" I ask.

"This world you're going to, has no human inhabitants." Death says with a devious smile as he sends me to this new world.

I hear only one thing before I leave the ruined place known as limbo.

Good Luck, you're going to need it...