Today is my execution day—my birthday.
This day holds so much about me,yet there will be no one left to remember.
For my last meal, I ordered a cheeseburger, pasta,a strawberry mojito,and chocolate ice cream.If I'm going to be eliminated,I might as well enjoy the small things I still can.
The guard pushes the tray into my cell and mutters,"Here you go. Everything you ordered."
I smile—actually smile—surprising him.
"Yay," I whisper, raising my cup."Happy birthday to me."
I turn toward the cracked wall where the sunlight slips through the cell bars, pretending I'm not alone.I lift my cup again, a tiny toast to my own shadow.
But it isn't my shadow.
A strange, stretched figure spreads across the wall—distorted, shifting.My breath freezes.I quickly set the cup back on the tray and move my hands around, trying to find anything that could cast the shape.
Nothing changes.
The figure doesn't follow me.Doesn't react.It just stays there.
Still.Watching.
I blink hard—once, twice—thinking my eyes are playing tricks on me.But then the shape begins to settle… to form.
It looks like a tree.A twisted, towering, impossible tree.
Then I hear it.
"Alvin… come closer."
My heart jolts.I glance at the guard, checking if he heard the voice too—but he's still scrolling on his phone, oblivious.
I take a hesitant step forward.The shadow glows brighter—pulsing—and the voice deepens, echoing through the cell.
"Alvin… do you know who I am?"
I swallow hard."N—no."
"I am the Tree of the Beast's Rebirth," it says."They call me Mother. Come closer… and I will help you escape this place—into the heavenly world of Beastmen."
The glow intensifies, swallowing the wall.
"You have been chosen," the voice whispers, warm and ancient."If you agree… step forward.Phase one of your rebirth will begin."