Sitting at home, you're on another one of your poems.  This one's coming along good, and the others you recently sent off to a publisher were also quite good (at least in your opinion).  Maybe this time you'll get lucky, who knows?

Hearing the phone ring downstairs, you get up to go and get it.  A thought dawns on you: what if it's the publisher?  Maybe you've finally gotten published.  Your pace quickens as you quickly descend down the stairs.

Halfway down, you lose your footing and you feel your foot slip backwards.  You fall forward and then everything goes back.

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Some time later, you wake up.  You hear the sounds of the sea and the ground you're on is soft and warm.  As you open your eyes, you see you're on a beach that stretches for what seems like miles in all direction, with the sea in front of you.  Behind you is what looks like a thick jungle.

I sit up and blink. What the hell was that? Sitting up I gaze into the distance around me, breathing heavily as I realise something's not right. So, I've finally gone through the looking glass. I always wondered what would be on the other side. Oh well, at least there doesn't seem to be any button-eyed monsters I think to myself, making a reference to Coraline.

So... what now? I decide to go exploring along the beach, as the aparent best alternative than sitting staring at the sky, drifting smowly further into insanity.

You continue up the beach a ways, looking for any sign of life as you do so.  After about five minutes, all you've seen so far are a few jellyfish out in the sea swimming about.  As you walk, you feel and a slight rumbling coming from the centre of the island.  Looking that way, you see a large mountain with smoke coming out from the top.

OoC: By the way, please avoid swearing at all.

Well, at least I'll get a view from up there. I haed into the jungle, pushing my way through the dense branches.

You walk into the jungle carefully, branches whipping at your face as soon as you push them away.  You hear some rustling up ahead, but besides that the island is quiet (the volcano has died down).

As you walk, you realize that you don't hear sounds of any animals.  Not birds, fish, or anything else.  Just that rustling up ahead, which you guess to be a hundred metres or so, due to its faintness.

Figuring I must have gone insane, therefore any danger is just in my head, I start running towards the rustling sound, hoping for something, anything that will tell me what is going on.

You start running towards the rustling sound.  As you do, you realize that the sound is moving as you do so.  You continue following it until it suddenly stops.

You guess you're roughly 20 metres from where the sound stopped.  Listing carefully, you can hear some low sounds from some sort of creature, but you can't tell what it is.

I stop, suddenly realising what I was about to do. What if I'm not insane? What if it really can hurt me? I stand still for about thirty seconds, arging with myself mentally, until curiosity takes over and I head slowly towards the "creature", whatever it is, drawing the craft knife which I remember is in my pocket (although I seriously doubt it's going to help much).

You approach the creature slowly, keeping as quiet as possible.  It takes a couple minutes, but you soon come across it: a wild boar.  It seems agitated, and is looking around nervously, but for the most part it's staying still.

As you approach it, you hear some more rustling off to your left (30-40 metres, possibly).  The boar obviously hears this as well, as his head quickly jerks over in that direction.

I don't move, hoping the second creature will move and the first will ignore me. I have now seen the size of its tusks the prospect of insanity seems so very far away.

You don't have to wait long before something happens.

A few seconds after pausing, you hear a gunshot come from where the rustling was towards your left, followed by a second and a third.  The first hits the boar in the side, the second its leg, and the third its head.  The boar roars and then falls down, silent.

The rustling comes again from the left, whoever shot the boar is walking towards his or her kill.

I stand there, stunned. Those bullets were... unexpected to say the least. Well, at least it means a person. I say nothing, waiting for the person to reveal themselves, making sure I have a path to run, ignoring the fact they have a gun... Well, rationality kind of goes out the window with all this strangeness.

As you stand there, a man appears from the bush into the small clearing the boar was in.  He doesn't seem to have noticed you, as he merely bends down to inspect the boar.  He's holding a large gun, one you've seen in those military action movies.  There's also a sword strapped to his back.

Either way, he picks up the boar and begins to drag it back the way he came.

I decide to risk everything and call after him. Hey! Hey you! Wait! Who are you?

The man stops, looking back.  "Why?  If you want to talk to me so badly, you keep up with me," he responds gruflly.  He continues pulling the boar along immediately after, obviously not really caring about you.

I stop a moment, considering this before following the man and repeating my questions. Who are you? In fact, where are we?

"Michael di Vars, verser at large."  He grunts slightly as he says this, giving the boar an extra tug to get over a large hump in the ground.  "Where?  Where doesn't matter much, except that we're here.  To be honest, I haven't been here before."

The volcano gives another shake, reminding you of its presence.  "All I know is that volcano's going to go off in a bit and I'll be off."

I eye the volcano. Where will you go? Surely that thing could engulf the whole island?

Vars pauses, looks at you, and raises his eyebrow for a second before answering: "Of course it will engulf the whole island.  I'm going to be riding right into it to fight for Odin."  He continud tugging the boar along.

I pause, not entirely sure whether or not I should be following this. Right... so, what do you suggest I do? Just stand around and wait for death?

Vars shrugged his shoulders.  "Honestly, I don't care what you do.  I know what I'm going to do, and that's enough for me.  You shouldn't be worried about death, though, didn't you have to die to get here in the first place?"

By now, he had pulled the boar a great deal.  One more tug, and he brought it into a clearing.  There was a small camp here, as well as a large hummer with a rather impressive looking gun on the back of it.

So you're not going to explain things then. And what do you mean I had to die to get here?

"Ah, so you're new to versing," he says calmly as he lays the boar down next to a pile of wood and then goes to starting a fire.  "Some of us, for some reason or another, don't just die when we die... we go to another world.  You, I, and others, are known as versers.  I really don't know how else to put it, except that you're now immortal... in essence."

After a couple dead matches, he manages to light the fire and then starts on getting the boar ready to cook.

So... this volcano thing won't hurt me? What? So, I'm dead. The last part was said to myself as I sit heavily on a rock and start flicking through my peotry book, very glad I at least have that.

Sorry for taking a couple days to respond.  Been busy, and missed this when I checked yesterday briefly.  :P

"Oh, it'll hurt you," Vars laughs.  "It hurts to die, you know."  The boar was now spitted and starting to cook.  "Ah, doubt it'll be done in time," Vars laments to himself, looking from the boar to the volcano.  "All that happens is you'll move on to another world when you die... again."

He looks over to you, grinning slightly.  "Welcome to godhood, my friend."

Oh. That's pleasant. Well, everyone ies, sooner or later. May as well do it in a mass of fire and heat. Even I am suprised at how easily I am taking this. I sit and start writing poetry about my current situation, when a thought strikes me. Wait, will my book burn up, or does it come with me? Do I turn up in the next world in as much of a mess as I left this one, or do I get healed or something?

"It'll come with you, don't you worry about that.  As long as you die at a reasonably close time.  If it's destroyed and you die even a minute or so after, it's gone.  And how did you die before?  Is your body in the same shape now as it was when you died?"  He looked at you as if you should have already worked that out.

"It's not just teleporting, lad, it's total and utter death and ressurection."  He shrugs.  "Or, if you prefer to think of it other ways: reincarnation, moving on, changing to a different plane, whatever you want."

Oh. So, what now? I just sit here and wait for death while you go and fight some Norse God?

"Fight some Norse god?"  Vars laughed.  "Heck no.  In fact, I'm going to be fighting for Odin against the volcano when it erupts.  You can do whatever you want when it does, but know this: you will die here.  Unless you feel like swimming, of course, but I've spotted sharks in those waters."  He grinned as he said this.

I take out the craft knife from my pocket, wondering if I could kill myself with it, as  really didn't want to burn to death. How long do we have before it errupts?

The ground shook again and thick black smoke began pouring out of the volcano.  "Ohh..." Vars started.  "I'd say anywhere from ten minutes to two hours.  You can't really predict these things perfectly, but I'd say sooner rather than later.  I would be surprised if we lasted more than another half hour."

He looks you holding the knife and laughs quietly.  "If you really wish to die I can lend you my sword, it would be much quicker than doing it yourself."

Ah. Well, I'm not sure. Now that the prospect of death was actually here I wasn't sure I wnted to go through with it. It didn't matter that I was apparently already dead - fear of death was still there. But then again, I was dead, so what did it matter? I remembered something a fellow poet had once told me - that everyone has a "love of death", or a curiosity for what would happen if you pushed the big red button that said "Do Not Press". I realised now this was true, and that I had already held my hand out for the sword. Now that I was dead it didn't matter. I was a little scared that I had taken this for a fact so easily, but right now I was simply filled with a desire to fulfil all the temptations from the real life - temptations like stepping out in front of cars and jumping off tall buildings just to see what it felt like. The first time would be hard, I knew, and it would hurt but I was no stranger to pain. In fact it could be rather exhilerating.

Ok. But I want to do it. I dropped my book on the ground. I knew all the peoms off by heart, and besides, it was time to start a new life.

Vars looked at you strangely for a second and then shook his head slowly.  "You're a strange one, all right."  Standing up, he pulled a decently-sized knife from his belt and handed it to you.  "It would still be less painful if I did it, but have fun.  See ya around, kid."

Right. What now? I hardly know how to use one of these, do I? Damn. I should have asked him where to stab. The throat? Or the heart, but I've heard that's easy to miss. How about do like the samurais and pull out the intestines? Hmm... maybe not. Guess it's going to have to be the throat. Man, I wish I had a gun. Well, I can hardly back out now. I just have to think about how much worse it would be to let the volcano get me. I put the knife to my throat, my hands shaking as I forget all logic and sanity and push the blade into my throat, screaming as my neck is consumed by heat and burning blood, thinking of nothing put the pain as I wrench it out, my body thinking for itself and clutch my throat as my hands turn red.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:43, Fri 07 July 2006.

The world slowly fades away in blackness as your brain loses vital blood.  It's only a matter of seconds before the end comes.