Afterlife Dream

Whether I intended for it or not, when my parents rushed me to the hospital, a few other things happened. Dad did not go to work, Jaden skipped school and came with us to the hospital, and Mom did not go to her interview.

Of all those unwanted consequences, I regretted the last the most. I saw Dad trying to get Mom to leave, but she insisted on staying.

Dr. Thompson, on the other side, checked me up again and again but he found nothing.

"Danny, are you still feeling dizzy?"

He reached after my head and pressed at a few acupuncture points on my head.

"Nope," I answered confidently.

Dr. Thompson hummed softly as he examined me.

"How is it, Doctor?" Mom asked, wrenching her hands in distress.

"I found nothing, but it is better to keep Danny around for at least a day.

"I agree," Mom quickly answered. "This is the second time after Danny was released from the hospital. We should be prepared for a third and I want him to get the best care when it happens."

"Exactly." Dr. Thompson agrees.

"Why don't you stay here for the day, Daniel?" he suggested to me with a kind smile.

I pretended to be sad but understanding. While Mom, Dad, and Dr. Thompson went out to discuss my condition, Jaden and I were left alone in my ward.

"Hey, Jaden," I tapped at Jaden's arm.

"Sorry that you had to skip school because of me, dude."

Jaden laughed.

"It's all cool! Do it again tomorrow!"

"..."

He thought I was faking it. Well, he was not wrong. At least one person who was delighted about my fake relapse. Dad went to the office not long after while Mom and Jaden stayed with me.

I thought that Jaden could accompany me and Mom could go for her interview, but Mom would not leave.

"No, Danny. Now lie down," Mom said full of determination.

Oh, Mom. It was not like I was going to die that day.

I lay back on the bed in exasperation. Mom tucked me in and sat on a chair next to my bed.

God.

It was so boring.

How did I spend years in the hospital without dying of boredom? I turned my head to look at Jaden. He already started playing with his phone. He always liked those sports simulation games. Games that I did not find interesting, but according to Jaden helped him a lot in the actual games.

Ah, it would be great if I could also play some other games.

If only my tablet were here.

Wait.

My tablet!

I sat up on my bed so abruptly that Mom's soul almost jumped out of her body.

"Danny! Why are you sitting up so suddenly???"

"Mom, my tablet," I said. "Mom, where is my tablet?"

Mom frowned at me. She then turned to Jaden, who shrugged at her.

"What tablet, Danny?"

"I used to have a tablet," I tried to explain. "Mom, I used to play games on my tablet when I was in the hospital. Where is my tablet?"

"Danny, you never had any tablet. You never played any games."

"But that is not true!" I shouted.

I had a tablet. I always played my games on the tablet...

"Ouch!"

A stabbing pain shot through my head like a treacherous knife from the darkness.

I curled up into a ball and groaned while holding my head with both hands. It hurt. It hurt so much. It was the same pain again, the one I had back in the house. The one I had when I asked about my tablet.

"Danny! Oh God, Danny!!! Jaden, go get Dr. Thompson!"

Where was my tablet?

I needed to get my tablet!!!

The more I thought about it, the more intense the pain became.

It felt as if someone was hammering a long nail into my skull, just between my eyes. It was so painful that I thought I was going to pass out, but I did not. I could not. I refused to give in. Not this time.

I had a tablet. I used the tablet to play games. What games did I play?

You must remember, I chanted in my head as I rocked my body -- folded into two on the bed -- back and forth.

Remember what it was!

Remember it!

A few scenes of my past appeared before my eyes. It was me on the bed, always on the bed. And then there was Jaden. He tapped on my tablet screen like an annoying little gnome when I was playing one day, pressing random skills and messed up my game.

"Heyyyy!!!" I complained. "Paws off!"

Jaden leaned his upper body on my bed and grinned at me.

"Danny, this game is so silly."

"It is not."

"Of course it is. It is all virtual."

I scoffed.

"So your simulation games are not virtual or what?" I smacked his hand away when he again wanted to touch my tablet.

Jaden sneered at me. "I use them for practice purposes. I do not chat within the games."

I huffed.

"Just because I have online friends to play and chat with, it doesn't mean that it is silly or all virtual."

"Maybe you were chatting with robots all along."

I laughed.

"You watched too much TV."

"Have you not heard? AI development is remarkable these years."

"Whatever it is, I enjoy it."

"You are wasting your timeeeee," my brother drawled, but I did not care.

"It is not real."

Who said it was not real?

Even if it was not real, so what? It was real enough for me to feel better about myself. MMORPG had become my second life, and I did not reject the idea.

That was it.

MMORPG.

I used to play MMORPGs when I stayed at the hospital.

Slowly but surely, the pain started to dissipate, replaced with extreme clarity.

The MMORPG that I used to play. I remembered it.

Afterlife Dream.

The two words opened up a secret door to a whole load of memories. It was too overwhelming. It was like reliving a whole new world that I unknowingly lived in the whole time.

And then because it was all too much for me, everything turned black and I passed out.

Dan...

Danny...

Daniel...

When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by Mom's cheery voice.

"Daniel, rise and shine! Come on, wake up!"

I groaned and hid my head under the blanket.

"Come on, come on."

Mom tugged at my blanket but it only served to make me hold on to it even more tightly as if my life depended on it.

"It is your first day of school! Danny, come on, you don't want to be late for your first day!"

First day?

I peeked from above the blanket's edge and sighed.

Again?

Oh, the day repeated itself again. I must have passed out for the whole day yesterday after remembering about Afterlife Dream. Wow. Speaking about a breakthrough. Still, I was glad I remembered.

I thought that remembering about Afterlife Dream would change something, but apparently, I was wrong. Nevertheless, it was the first step of what I needed to find out. Why would I forget about Afterlife Dream? Where was my tablet? Why did everyone forget about my tablet?

I stabbed at my chicken sausages in resentment during breakfast.

There were a thousand questions and no answers. How infuriating.

In that case, why not go back to school and see what I could do?

Lunch break became the most exciting time of the day because it was literally the only thing that I could change. This time I decided to go for a burger and fries. Tomorrow I might go for pasta with another sauce.

Since I was having a burger for the day, I naturally went past the bowl with grated cheese and black sesame seeds. The beautiful blond girl with hot temper was there with her brother. Funnily, they just stood there and did not take any of the cheese or the black sesame seeds. One would think that they were waiting for someone.

I would never guess that they were waiting for me.

"Hey."

I thought she was calling someone else, so I ignored her and kept walking.

"Hey," she called out again, this time she grabbed my shoulder.

I turned around with my tray and came face-to-face with Lara Baker and her brother.

"Where were you yesterday?" she asked while narrowing her eyes at me.

Where was I?

Ummm...

"Not here? It is my first day here at school."

Lara stared at me.

"That is not what I meant," she slowly said. "I was looking for you yesterday but you were not there. You were there the other days. So why were you not there yesterday?"

Oh.

Oh, Lord.

I almost dropped my tray from shock.

"No way," I whispered, more to myself than to her. My eyes darted wildly between Lara and her brother. "Are you telling me that you are also trapped in this time loop?"