Imagine A Happy Ending

The forest around me felt suffocating, its shadows alive, whispering words I couldn't understand. My body was heavy, every step a battle, every breath a curse. The oak tree where I collapsed seemed to wrap itself around me, its roots weaving into my flesh. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the darkness.

But the darkness was not an end—it was a beginning.

At first, I thought I was awake. The sun was warm against my skin, and the air carried the scent of blooming flowers. I was walking through a meadow, a place that felt both familiar and alien. Birds sang in the distance, their melodies so pure they made my chest ache.

Then I saw her—my mother. She stood by a stream, her hands cupped to drink the water. Her hair shimmered like silver in the sunlight.

"Mother!" I called, my voice cracking with desperation.

She turned to me, smiling, but her eyes... they weren't hers. They were hollow, endless voids that reflected my own face back at me.

"Kael," she said, her voice layered with whispers. "Why did you let me burn?"

The meadow faded, replaced by the inside of a small hut. I was sitting at a table, carving a piece of wood into the shape of a bird. A child's laughter filled the room.

"Papa, look!" a small girl said, holding up a poorly carved animal.

I smiled at her, my heart full. "You'll get better," I said. "One day, you'll carve better than me."

The door burst open. Men stormed in, swords gleaming, their faces twisted with rage. The girl screamed, and I moved to shield her.

Steel bit into my back, and I fell, blood pooling beneath me. My daughter's screams were the last thing I heard.

I awoke in another body.

A merchant, haggling over spices in a bustling market.

A hunter, tracking prey through a snow-covered forest.

A thief, running through narrow alleys with stolen gold in my hands.

With each life, I died. Stabbed. Shot. Starved. Drowned.

Each death carried a weight, a pain that lingered even as I slipped into another form. The faces of the people I'd loved and lost blurred together until they were indistinguishable from one another.

"What is this?" I whispered into the void. "Why am I here?"

"You are here because you must be," the voice said, echoing from the shadows of my mind.

"Must be? For what?"

"To understand."

"Understand what?" I demanded.

The voice didn't answer. Instead, it pushed me into another life.

This time, I was a king. My throne was cold, my crown heavy. Before me, a line of prisoners knelt, their heads bowed in fear.

"The traitors must be executed," my advisor whispered in my ear.

I nodded, raising my hand to give the command. The prisoners were dragged away, their cries echoing through the halls.

When I stood to leave, I caught my reflection in a mirror. It wasn't my face. It was the face of the raider who had killed my family, the man who had burned my home.

"No!" I shouted, smashing the mirror. The shards rained down around me, cutting into my flesh.

"Do you see now?" the voice asked.

I fell to my knees, the shattered lives of countless others swirling around me like a storm. Each face stared at me, accusing, pleading, hating.

"I'm not them," I whispered, clutching my head. "I'm not them!"

"But you are," the voice replied. "You are all of them. Every choice, every death, every sin—they are yours."

"No," I said, my voice breaking. "This is a dream. None of this is real."

The voice laughed, a sound that sent shivers down my spine. "Does it matter, Kael? Reality and dreams are one and the same. You cannot escape the truth."

I tried to wake up, clawing at the edges of the dream, but the world refused to let me go. The lives continued, each one a thread in an endless web.

A child left to starve.

A mother who betrayed her own.

A warrior who sacrificed his friends for glory.

Each death added weight to my soul until I felt as though I would be crushed beneath it.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I screamed into the void.

"Because you must remember," the voice said.

I found myself back in the forest, the oak tree towering over me. Its roots were twisted into a shape I recognized—a symbol that had haunted my dreams. It glowed faintly, pulsating like a heartbeat.

"What is this?" I asked, reaching out to touch it.

The moment my fingers brushed the bark, fire erupted around me. The forest burned, the flames consuming everything in their path. I screamed, but the fire didn't touch me.

In the distance, I saw her—my mother, standing amidst the flames, her hollow eyes staring into mine.

"You must wake up, Kael," she said. "You must break the cycle."

The fire faded, and I was alone in the darkness once more. I couldn't tell if I was alive or dead, dreaming or awake. The lives I had seen were etched into my soul, their pain and suffering my own.

But one thing was clear: I couldn't escape. Not yet.

The voice returned, softer this time. "Do you see now, Kael? This is your curse. This is your truth."

"I don't want it," I said, my voice trembling.

"Then fight it," the voice whispered.

And so I stood, broken but determined, ready to face whatever came next. The dream was far from over.