The voice.
That voice again.
Its words slithered into my ears, each syllable sinking into my bones like frost bite.
My breathing hitched, my skin turned cold.
"If you can't even save yourself... then there's no meaning in giving a second chance."
It repeated itself-lower this time, deeper. The sound wasn't just heard; it was felt.
My body trembled despite my desperate attempts to stay still.
I forced myself to breathe, to swallow the fear clawing up my throat. My lips quivered as I tried to speak.
"W-w-who... are you?"
For a moment, silence.
Then, a long pause long enough to make my pulse pound against my skull.
"... It's not the time yet."
The words dripped with an even colder malice than before. My gut twisted. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. I had questions–too many–but before I could from the next one, the voice came again.
"Do you wish to live?"
It was the exact same tone I'd first heard, as if time had looped back. My chest tightened. My body froze.
But then... I remembered.
The moment I stood on the brink of death.
The regret. The longing. The bitter wish to make things right.
This was it.
A second chance.
A chance to live the life I'd wanted-a life where I could fix my mistakes... maybe even make friends... maybe even be normal.
"Yes."
The word left me without hesitation.
And then–light. My vision sharpened. My ears filled with sound again. My parents' voices, breaking with sobs. The sterile hum of machines. The doctors surrounding me.
"–Miracle!" one of gasped, rushing over to my parents.
My oxygen levels were climbing back to normal. My mother and father clinging to me, their warmth smothering to chill that had gripped me moments ago.
But then... just as I thought it was over–
"Don't disappoint me."
The voice faded, dissolving into the air, leaving a void in its absence.
That was the day my "Second Chance" began.
The days passed, and still, I couldn't make a single friend–until the beginning of middle school.
I was in the cafeteria, scanning the trays of food, when panic struck me.
My money... I'd forgotten it.
The world seemed to shrink until a shadow fell over me.
A boy stepped forward, placing coins on the counter.
"I've got it", he said casually.
I froze. No one had ever approached me like that.
"T-thank you", I stammered. "I'll pay you back."
He smiled.
"I'm Alden Graves. We're in the same class. Nice to meet you!"
Something inside me stirred. This was it-the moment to stop running. The moment to try.
"Will you... be my friend?"
The words tumbled out before I could lose my nerve.
"Sure."
And just like that, my "normal life" began.
Or so I thought.
"W-why are y-you h-h-here?"
–S. Yusuf