***
When the man opened his eyes, everything was already over.
He found himself floating, not in an endless void or among heavenly angels. Instead, he was in a dilapidated office building.
The windows were gone, the furniture was scattered, and the lights were off. It was dark, yet the man could still see everything clearly. All around him were shadows of various shapes, some more intensely dark than others, drifting aimlessly.
The man absentmindedly looked down at himself and found that he also appeared to be a floating shadow, albeit on the more transparent side.
The man wondered if he should be concerned; after all, he was sure he had been a Human the last time he checked.
In the end, the shadow didn't feel much about the change. The office building, however, gave him a bad feeling, and he became more uncomfortable the longer he stayed there.
- - -
Time passed, though the shadow didn't have a good sense of it. The sky was dark, and there were no stars. The sun never seemed to rise in this world, and eventually, he forgot there was once such a thing.
The Earth was covered in structures and machines, abandoned and hollow. The shadow had tried interacting with the devices before, but to no avail; it was all just set dressing for aimless wandering.
He vaguely recalled that there were once plants, animals, and other various forms of life, but now the world was barren. The only sign of life was the numerous shadows, which seemed a hollow replacement.
As he drifted around the planet, he sometimes watched the other shadows. Many seemed to grow frustrated over time, and some became resentful. Though there were those like him who seemed content to drift aimlessly around, the angry ones lashed out and learned they could consume the other shadows.
The shadow was lucky; he was so transparent that few noticed him. He watched the eating process many times as a disinterested observer.
Often, the shadow watched the black void above for any signs of change but found none. He felt more detached with every circuit around the globe.
- - -
More time passed. Eventually, some shadows consumed hundreds of thousands of others. They became bloated, dark as the void above, and sank to the ground. Now trapped in place, their gaping maws waited for any drifting shadows to get close enough. He wondered if they found purpose in doing that.
He had seen every inch of the planet multiple times at this point. But he couldn't leave the Earth, despite trying. All of them were trapped there.
- - -
The shadow could no longer say that time was passing and sometimes wondered if time was even a concept anymore. He had returned to the office building where he first opened his eyes. He no longer felt uncomfortable there, and it felt familiar to him in a way the other places didn't. Thus, he no longer drifted around the planet but just within the confines of this building.
Nothing changed, but the shadow wondered if anything had ever actually changed before. It felt like it hadn't.
Then, as if in direct response to his wandering thoughts, something did change. As the shadow wandered the office halls, he passed by a door. His vision was suddenly filled with something new; it blinded him. He staggered away from the door, and the fog in his mind lifted partially. Looking cautiously around the corner, he saw something coming out the door. His vague memories flashed before him, and he knew it was a beam of light. Looking around, he saw no shadows in the hallway with him and tentatively floated towards the door.
The shadow remembered that light had once been used to dispel the darkness and considered if it would kill him. He wondered what death even meant in this state. He had not purposefully avoided the great maws but had never willingly entered one either.
Was he afraid of death? He didn't know the answer to that.
The shadow finally reached the door frame. He moved a part of himself into the light to see if anything happened. To his surprise, it only made him harder to see. He finally peeked around the edge. The conference room that was supposed to be through that door was gone, and many concepts he once knew came to the forefront of his mind as he tried to take in the sight before him.
A lively green grassy field stretched out before him. The sky was a crisp, clear blue, and a few white puffy clouds gently floated across. Trees dotted the landscape, and pure light shone down over everything.
The shadow was baffled. He had memories of sights like this but had never seen anything like them all this time. His form trembled. He looked around again, finding that he was still alone. The shadow hesitated. He felt like going through this door was something irreversible. He had a sense of vague contentment in this office. It was his home. Though an eternity of nothing was likely awaiting him here, he didn't mind.
Memories of a man flashed before him. They were filled with desperation and hopelessness. Bitterness and resentment growing with every year.
The shadow felt agitated at this reminder of life. This door wasn't good, and the light wasn't good. He needed to leave.
Yet, as he tried to drift away, the shadow realized he couldn't.
Very slowly, but with a sense of inevitability, he was pulled towards the door. His apathy shattered entirely and turned into desperation.
He didn't want to go there, he couldn't go there. The shadow tried to extend his form and push himself away from the door, but he couldn't apply any force to the door frame; the shadow was reminded that he couldn't interact with this world at all.
Extreme fear filled him for the first time. Though the options were limited, he had always had agency in where to go and what to do. This was the first time he had felt that agency ripped from him.
His form trembled as he was dragged unwillingly through the door. In the final moment, he retreated into his mind, unwilling to directly face the horror in front of him.
The light blinked out in the hallway. Now, only a dead and abandoned conference room remained.
***
When the boy opened his eyes, the memories of his life and afterlife were gone; only fragments of knowledge remained.
Deep inside, he knew something was wrong. He felt detached from the world around him, experiencing it in a dream-like state. Yet, he could not gather up the will to question it.