I Can Be Whoever I Want? - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 5)
I've become a young man and now a blue monster on an orange planet. Wife's orders!
The transformation
If you missed the previous “Afterlife” episode, please read that first. If you’re new, start at the beginning of the story in chapter one.
What appeared to be the following day on the orange planet, I woke up happier than I remember being in a long, long time. I felt the bed beside me and realized my wife wasn’t there anymore. That startled me briefly, but then I smelled the coffee and walked to the terrace. There, I found my wife smiling and so incredibly beautiful. Even with all the powers of creation, I’m not sure I could have created a being more perfect and radiant than her.
She greeted me with, “Now that’s the husband I married all those years ago. How did you sleep, darling?”
“Like a baby,” I replied and kissed her. “Hm, no morning breath?”
“None of those here, no. That an Earth thing.”
“Ah, Earth thing. Still can’t get used to that.”
“You will. Now finish your coffee, and let’s go down to meet the locals. Maybe that will jog your memory.”
“Or, we could just go back into the bedroom, and you can try to fuck me out of my delusions!” I suggested.
She bursted out laughing and spilled coffee all over me. “I’m sorry, let me get that,” she replied and wiped the warm, but not hot, coffee from my lap. “As fun as that sounds, my love, I’m afraid that if we keep playing husband and wife, you’re never waking up.”
“Playing?” It hurt, a metaphorical dagger into my heart. “I forgot this is all just a game for you. An illusion.”
She held my hands and stared me straight in the eyes, “It’s not just a game for me. I do care for you. I, too, remember spending decades with you on Earth. Loving you. Hating you. It was fun. It was nice. I loved it. I love you.”
“But it’s just not real. Right?”
“It is real. It’s just not the whole reality. There’s more, not less,” she explained.
“If you say so.”
“Now get dressed, and let’s swing down to the market. If you forgot the locals, you’re in for a treat!”
I got dressed and met her on the terrace.
“So, how do we get down from here?” I asked. The view was spectacular this morning. I don’t know how high we were, but I could see the edges of this floating island. I remember a trip to an island in the middle of the ocean. I climbed the peak of the volcano, around which the island was formed. It was epic. I could see everything in all directions. I was on top of the world.
She looked at me, stepped closer, and kissed me on my lips. That’s more like it, I thought to myself. She touched my chest as if she was going to make a nest with her fingers and then pushed me from the terrace into the space below! I lost my footing and fell into the chasm. As I was screaming, panicked out of my mind, hitting what was this realm's terminal velocity, she flew next to me and said, oh so calmly, “You do remember you can fly here, right?”
I did remember! I simply thought of flying and falling turned into control flight. Terror became exhilaration. I love this place!
“You could have warned me, you know,” I said, biting my tongue.
“I could have, but where’s the fun in that? Besides, we need to jog your memory somehow, don’t we?”
“No more throwing me down balconies, you hear?!”
“Alright. I promise,” she replied, but I didn’t believe her. “There, that red square. That’s the market. I’ll meet you there. You might want to change into something more local.”
“What’s wrong with these clothes? You gave them to me,” I asked.
“I’m not talking about the clothes, darling.”
“What then? Oh! You mean? I can do that?”
“You can do anything you want.”
“But how? How do I change my appearance?”
“You’re not changing your appearance. You are changing your body in this realm.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I can do that. I don’t know how. Besides, I like this young body of mine! And yours, for that matter. I don’t want to change a thing!” I protested.
“We can always change back when we’re alone. The indigenous population of this planet might not react nicely to humans appearing in their homes. To them, here, we’re the aliens.”
I found it hard to account for all the new realities, rules, and games being played. I felt human. I was human. Only human. That was real to me. The rest was just a dream.
“Fuck 'em! I want to see their reactions,” I finally said.
“Suit yourself. Just so you know. Being orange on an orange planet, you look like food.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not orange then.”
“Oh, but you are, to them, at least. They only see two colors. Blue and orange. If you’re not blue, guess what? You’re orange!”
“Food, ey?” I paused, “That doesn’t sound too good.”
“Depends on your perspective. To some, being hunted and eaten alive is somewhat of a thrill. Fancy a hunt?”
“No, thank you. Alright, alright. I get it. How do I turn blue? What do these people look like?” I asked. We flew closer to the ground, but it was still too far for me to see the creatures on the floor. I haven’t met any of them. Just her. My beautiful wife, who I could stare at all day long.
“It’s best I show you,” she replied. “Close your eyes for me.”
I did.
“Now open them!” she sounded excited. I almost didn’t dare. This version of my wife was a cheeky one. I wasn’t wrong. I opened my eyes, and she was right in my face! But it wasn’t my gorgeous wife. It was a hairy blue monster, grinning with oversized teeth at me! She could have easily bit my head off with that mouth.
“What the fuck!” I screamed in shock and pushed her away. Furry or not, that was the stuff of nightmares.
“You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless,” she said while laughing her blue hairy ass off.
“Not funny! Not funny at all!”
“Debatable. You really should loosen up, honey.”
“I think I might have pissed my pants, woman! What the hell?!”
“Your turn,” she replied. “Unless you want to get eaten by these blue creatures. I mean, it’s your choice.”
“What happens if I die here, on this orange fucking planet?” I asked a question that has been on my mind for a while now.
“The same that happened the last time you died. This body dies, and you wake up in the real world again. We can try it if you want.”
“No, thank you. I mean it! No more surprises.”
“Well, one more, actually. But first, let’s get you blue, baby.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that. Let me guess, I close my eyes and envision being a blue furry creature?”
“Are you starting to remember things?”
“Nah. Just a guess. It’s how things seem to work around here. In the world of the flying fucking fairies.”
“Flying fairies?”
“Never mind.”
“Try it. You know what? I’ll leave you to it and meet you down there,” she said.
“Wait, what? No! Don’t leave me alone. I can’t,” but she was already gone before I could finish my sentence—just a blip in the distance.
I didn’t like this version of my wife, that wasn’t my wife, who looked like a blue hairy monster but was a flying fucking fairy! My mind was just scrambled eggs by now. Nothing made sense, yet on some level, it felt true. It was like waking up from a long dream, a nightmare. You’re confused but happy you woke up, if that makes sense.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I remembered I first needed to clear my mind, and my mind was anything but clear. I couldn’t focus for the life of me. Not to mention, I was still flying just beneath the clouds, which took almost no effort but was still weird. After a few minutes of clearing my inner world, focusing and refocusing on the emptiness within, I began visualizing myself as a hairy blue monster.
In my mind’s eye, I looked down at my body and saw blue furry arms with claws at the end of my fingers. I imagined looking lower and seeing my giant blue feet. I wiggled my toes and made it feel real. I then imagined a mirror where I saw my large blue face, with teeth made for shredding flesh, shining back at me. I looked into my eyes and saw a monster. I felt the strength I possess and the beastly urges I imagined these beings must feel.
After a while, the visualization felt like it reached a point of completion. I felt like a man trapped in a blue monster's body. In my mind, it felt real, and somehow I knew I was done. I opened my eyes, and sure enough, I had large, hairy blue arms and feet, and I could feel the sharp teeth with my tongue. I was no longer a man. I was a monster. I had become death, the destroyer of all things orange.
To be continued…
The whole series thus far:
Flying on the Orange Planet - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 3)
Reunion in the Sky City - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 4)
I Can Be Whoever I Want? - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 5)
The Shock and the Happy Ending, or Was It? - My Afterlife Experience (Chapters 6&7)
I Made a Grave Mistake! - My Afterlife Experience (Bonus Chapter)
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