“Wake up! Wake up!”
I heard someone trying to wake me up. God, my head hurts like hell.
“Hal, call the ambulance! His head is bleeding! Get the others to safety!”
I… am bleeding? Why can’t I move?
“He’s opening his eyes! Great! Have you called the ambulance, Hal?”
“They’re on their way here. Just wait, Alde.”
Ambulance? Oh. I think I remember. There was an explosion, I think. Man, my head still hurts like hell. I tried moving my hand, but God it’s heavy. I’m drained…
Then somehow…
“Holy— God, kid, don’t spring up like that. Wait, how are you—”
Somehow the pain is gone. I could freely move my body now. I stood up, and what I saw was debris all over the place.
“I remember now…” I said as I scan my surroundings.
“Really? Wait, your head was bleeding, how is it—”
My injury worried these two strangers so much…
“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m fine now. I’ll explain.”
[…]
“So let me get this straight. You were going to walk back to your friend’s apartment, then the minimarket that you passed by exploded, you were caught in the explosion, and debris struck your head?”
“That’s pretty much it,” I assured them that what I told was true.
“Then… was it a gas explosion?”
“Don’t ask me, duh. I don’t know. Anyhow, I’ll just walk back to my home.”
I left those two behind. Hal and Alde. Their names don’t sound familiar. Come to think of it, I now remember that I had multiple vivid dreams. How did I experience such dreams when I had a head injury?
The dreams were… surreal. I felt like I was in those dreams. It’s like, it has… happened… before.
Wait a minute, I think the dreams were my past experiences… I recalled a birthday party, some urban legend, that one weird crater, and the exquisitely beautiful pink landscapes of Anterra.
I spoke to myself, “The dreams were associated with different seasons. What significance does the four seasons have? Why were they about recalling the past?”
It’s probably because I had a near-death experience. People said that when people get into such situations, they felt their lives, or past experiences, flash in front of them. Could that be the culprit?
Whatever. I’m safe now. I think my brain is fine, too. A new chapter to my life is waiting for me.
