The busy city of New York housed many. Walking along the streets were all types of people from many different backgrounds. Some are barely holding on, and some are living it up.
Hando was lucky enough to get the ladder. He grew up with a wealthy family and had a well-paying job. Looking at him on the street you would think he's just an ordinary businessman. Because that's exactly what he is.
" Tsk."
Surrounded by all sorts of people waiting for the crosswalk signal. He clicked his tongue as a little boy bumped into the back of him. He looked only to see no parents in sight.
[" If I could...I would kick this kid."]
But he can't without prosecution. That is what he hates. The inability to truly live life freely without prosecution.
[" Another day of going to this ordinary job surrounded by such boring people. Putting on a smile and acting like I'm happy because if I don't they'll see me as spoiled and talk about my easy upbringing, and say how I should be grateful to have such an easy life."]
The crosswalked finally signaled them to walk. Hando walked with his head down, briefcase in his right hand. He listened to the people around him talk about what to do for summer and where to go for vacation.
[" How do they find that enjoyable? It's all the same every year. Go to a waterpark or beach. Go to a different country or just sit around on their ass. They should all shut up. They don't understand how little freedom they have."]
Everything in his world has a social standard. What vacations to go on during different seasons or holidays. What is acceptable behavior towards superiors or opposite genders.
["I wish to do away with all of it."]
If he could he would do away with all the social standards. Though he knows he can't do that. Even the president has to adhere to social standards so he has no chance of going against them without him ending up in jail or being seen as a psycho.
[" For 28 years all I've wished is to do as I please without ridicule. Live my life with complete freedom."]
He stopped in the middle of the crosswalk. He looked up to the tall building that housed his job. He gritted his teeth thinking about all of it. How he's lived his life up until now. The voices of the people around him got further away as they reached the other side.
["I've lived a life of lies. Everything I've ever said out loud has been a lie because I don't want to be ridiculed. Every kind gesture I've done has been due to pure pressure from social standards.']
The crosswalk switched back signaling cars to go.
[" Some share my same feelings and turn to a life of rebellion, but what's the point? You will just end up in jail and be seen as an outcast...That's not the freedom I'm searching for."]
" SCREECH!!"
" Look out!!"
Hearing the warning. Hando looked to the sound of screeching. It was from a taxi approaching fast, the driver had slammed on the brakes but it was too late. It was going to hit him. Hando started to move but then stopped.
[ " Death...That would be better than my life of lies. A way to break the chains tying me down to this world for good. Not the freedom I wish for but the best I can achieve."]
"CRASH!!"
The taxi slammed into Hando. He felt the impact but no pain came from it. The world went black as he lay in an empty ocean. The coldness of death embraced him as he embraced it.
" You try and cheat to obtain freedom."
Hadons eyes shot open as a deep thunderous voice beckoned him. He looked to find himself surrounded by swirling red and white smoke. He could almost make out a face on the other side of it but it was too hard to see.
" Who are you!"
" Who are You!"
The voice responded quickly not even taking the time to think asking him the same question.
" I-"
"Don't answer. I shall tell you who you are."
Hando began to spin violently as the smoke began to race around him the red and white moving in opposite directions.
" You are someone destined for more than you achieved in your life. You embraced death as a shortcut to your goal as you assumed there was no other way to reach it."
" Uh! So you saying if I would have avoided that car and lived I would have eventually lived completely free...Wait who am I even talking to? Is this what death is like...Or am I crazy."
"You're speaking to a being of otherworldly power. The creator of worlds and destroyer of them."
" So...God?"
" Call me by any name. It doesn't change what I can do...You shall be granted another chance."
Hando's eyes widened as the spinning slowed down. He suddenly felt his body changing, he could feel his skin stretching and parts of his body shrinking and extending. A piece of hair fell and he saw its' color had been changed from black to blonde.
" Wait. You're sending me back. No! I don't want another chance. That place is-"
" I have multiple worlds under my control." The thunderous voice cut him off. The red and white suddenly broke off into the sky where they began quickly changing colors.
" Wait. So you're saying-"
" You have another chance. To earn the freedom you seek."
" ZISH"
.........................................
A white flash blinded Hando. then the darkness returned. He tried to speak but all he heard were the cries of a baby. He felt the cold hands of a woman wrap around his waist.
He opened his eyes to find a woman dressed as a nun lifting him and setting him on a table with a window behind him allowing him to see the outside.
[" Uh. I'm a baby again? So that thing wasn't lying, it restarted my life, but this place is different."]
He looked around to find the building didn't look like the ones from home. A straw roof sat above him and the walls were all made of crude stone. The chairs looked like real wool and the floor was made of old wood.
[ "It looks medieval."]
" BOOM!!"
The house shook as an explosion went off outside the house. Hando quickly turned his head to look.
" Oh dear!"
The nurse darted out of the room quickly appearing outside. she walked up to a boy who looked like he was the culprit. Hando saw a crater in the earth causing him to wonder how a small boy could do such a thing.
" Caldo!!" The nun shouted, " I told you to supress your magic when practicing!"
" Sorry, I lost control for a second."
" Don't let it happen again."
[...Magic!?"]
Hando stared in amazement and excitement. This to him means he hasn't just been given a second chance at life but at his dream.
["I wonder?"]
He held out his hand and felt his arm begin to tingle. The feeling moved upon his arm until it reached his hand. Where some substance began to form in his palm. Then it began to grow bigger and bigger reaching the size of a model globe teachers would keep in their room.
His bright blue eyes reflected the yellow magic in his hand. He could feel the power coursing through his entire body. A wide smile grew on his child face that would be unsettling to anyone even an adult.
[" Earn my freedom."]
A closed his hand and the ball vanished. He felt a pleasure greater than anything he had ever before in his previous life. The feeling of his magic slowly going back into his body was a great feeling.
[" I understand. Why you sent me here."]