Life After Life

"I want someone who is caring and kind." I said it knowing that it was true. I felt a warm kind of feeling inside of me.

"Yes, I can see why you would want that," the mothering voice said. "You've needed that for some time now."

"Well," said the youngest voice, "it's all in your perspective."

"This is the path you must take," said the old voice, and a small path appeared in front of me. It reminded me of those deer paths that one could find in the woods, and indeed there were trees everywhere. "When you need us, call us. Good luck."

Call out what, I wondered, hey crazies, I need help? I shook my head and started walking. The path was narrow and difficult to manage, making it hard for me to see where I was going.

That was when I took a step and the ground crumbled out from under me and I started falling. My hands flailed around trying to grasp onto something, anything, and I ended up tearing my palms open on the side of the wall I was falling down. It seemed like forever, but finally I stopped, with some kind of crunching sound. My head hit the ground and I didn't see anything for a long time.

"Hey," I heard from above me, "hey, can you hear me?" The voice was...