《Live So That You May Live》 Prologue - The Best in the World The end is very near, Isaac. Finish the letter leave no unsettled business. Beethoven¡¯s ninth symphony, first movement, filled the room. What a masterpiece! My Mother was reading in the sofa next to me, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room. I could still feel the embrace my father gave me before he left for work, and felt my spirit lifted by the beauty of all this. I moved my cheek as the cursor passes the letter ¡®y¡¯ to select it. A grey semi translucent box with predicted words appeared at the right side of the screen. Constriction seized me as the cursor automatically scanned through the list. It crushed my chest, deprived me of air. A high pitch alarm rang. I used my remaining strength and suppressed my instinct to twitch until the right word had been highlighted. You did your best; they will surely read the letter. It is time to rest. ¡°Isaac! Please breathe, Isaac! Isaac!¡± Cried my mother. I tried to look at her, but strength had abandoned me, I couldn¡¯t even smile goodbye at her. This will be your last regret. I no longer felt my mother¡¯s grasp, the constriction in my chest, cold in my body, or any other physical connection. I was mistaken about being ready to die, fear rapidly crept upon me. Anger pushed it away, sudden, explosive, anger of the life I was dealt. Life was devastatingly cruel. ¡°¡­ always remember you Isaac, I love¡­¡± said my mother. Comforting warmth wrapped me after I heard her. I remembered my mother and father for one final time. Joy was the only feeling inside me. It was followed by peace. Life was incredibly beautiful. From the last letter of Isaac Adamson February 17th, 2021 Beloved Mother and Father, Please don¡¯t be sad, we all knew this would happen sooner rather than later, and you made sure that I was able to live my life to the fullest considering my limitations. I am truly grateful for the time we spent together, and considering I managed to be in the rare ten percent of people with ALS who manage to live for more than ten years I feel extremely lucky. Of course it wasn¡¯t always easy, you know it as well as I do. Many times I couldn¡¯t avoid being resentful of my condition. How could I not be? Gradually losing movement in practically all my body while seeing my friends playing joyfully. Later on reading the news and seeing people squandering and not appreciating their life¡­ and still your loving, patient, and understanding nature always brought me back from my despair. Thinking how the easiest option would be to abandon me¡­you both are truly amazing! A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Mother, you quit your job at the hospital just to be my side. You didn¡¯t even have second thoughts about putting aside all the years of study and dedication, and you always answered all of my questions no matter how much I pestered you. Father, you gave up your dream job of teaching at the university to work at a corporation in order to pay for my medical care. Even more so, after you arrived tired from work you still talked with me for at least two hours every day. I should apologize to you both, but I won¡¯t. I loved being with both of you, if I knew it were possible to steal more of your time I probably would have done it! That is because there is nothing better than being with both of you. These last two years where especially incredible. I was beyond belief when Father arrived with the three virtual reality capsules. Its funny remembering how I laid crying for about an hour after being able to move, even if it was only in VR. It felt so real! Best of all I could finally hug you guys! And travel with you! It was so awesome replicating those stories I constantly read about. But most importantly, the time difference between virtual and real worlds gave me more time with you guys, for that I¡¯m eternally grateful. I could go on and on about how great it was having you as parents. That is truly the purpose of this letter. To let you know that without a doubt no son has ever felt more loved than I have, and therefore state that my parents are definitely the best in the world! I love you ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Chapter Main Menu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 - The Vow to Live Hi! First time writer so please let me know any mistakes, comments or suggestions you may have in comment section. Thank you for reading! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brightness and loud noises! Nauseating brightness and noises all around! I opened my eyes and could only see white. I struggled to focus my eyes, but again only white. I then remembered how life was cruel, and fear set in as I guessed the last seizure left me somewhat blind. What a joke! Seems like you lived, but now you can¡¯t really see or hear¡­ I would¡¯ve rather died. I closed my eyes and fell into absolute despair. My transformation into a useless, lonely, and empty shell was now complete. I wailed! I screamed my hate towards this cruel world! I heard gibberish respond to my cries, but now my parents¡¯ sweet words couldn¡¯t comfort me. So, I cried and sobbed myself to sleep. Incomprehensible noises woke me up. Again, I could only see a blinding white. As the reality of my situation once again grasped me I sobbed. As if reacting to my cries, a blurred shadow approached me. A blurred silhouette resembling a person stood before my eyes. Maybe you did die! Could this be some sort of purgatory? I saw the shadow reach out for me. An unexpected sense of kindness caressed my body, and even more surprisingly I felt my body being lifted. Gibberish resounded but this time it had a caring tone. My cheek felt a familiar warmth as it was pressed into what appeared to be the shoulder area of the silhouette. I instinctively remembered my mother and recovered my peaceful state of mind. I was placed near the chest area of the shadow and something took over me. I escaped into this heartwarming feeling for several minutes. Ah this isn¡¯t so bad after all. Now that you¡¯ve settled your mind, don¡¯t you feel there is some strange feeling? Something you haven¡¯t felt for years? The haunting pain in my chest was gone, but that was expected since I had died. I failed to pin down what the strange feeling was. The blurred shadow started to separate from me and with it the warmth in me. As anxiety started to come over me, I impulsively reached out for the shadow even though I knew it was impossible to move my arms. The once forgotten feeling of movement in my arms was there once again! I froze while trying to make sense of what just happened. The silhouette was now gone, only white remained. I tried moving my arms again before the feeling of movement was completely gone. A pair of small blurry shadows covered the white. I ordered my arms to move and the white returned. I had successfully covered my useless eyes! Do you keep your body when you die? Does it become healthy? But you can¡¯t really see well, so that is probably not the case¡­ I couldn¡¯t make sense of it. Drowsiness took over and in a few seconds I lost consciousness. I woke up and experimented moving other parts of my body. I¡¯m actually able to move my limbs! Even the fingers! I can¡¯t stand up though¡­ I wonder how much time I¡¯ll have to spend in this strange place? What¡¯s going to happen to me? I had forgotten how to consciously move my own body. I spent every waking moment working on removing the clumsy feeling from controlling my limbs. I only stopped because weariness never seemed to abandon my body. Every now and then I could feel a strange coolness by my buttock, sometimes it would also be raspy. Inevitably, for some reason shame followed it. I was reminded of my time in the chair and would simply start crying in misery, until the shadows came and caressed me. I continued like this for what would probably be several days. Hmm, don¡¯t you think that lately the blur from the different shadows has decreased? May be you only injured your eyesight and its recovering¡­ well you¡¯ve never been lucky so I wouldn¡¯t count on it¡­ This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I realized that it wasn¡¯t only one shadow. There difference in size told me there were three of them. Each passing day also added distinct human features to them. I would suddenly realize they had eyes, then mouth, and so on. However, was it my eyesight that improved, or had the shadows morphed into something I could recognize? That question haunted my mind. However, the white surrounding everything had become less white as it gave way to some kind of background. Also, the blur from my arms disappeared each passing day. I stared at them for a few minutes, small, chubby arms and legs. They looked just like baby arms. Baby arms? Baby arms! WHAT THE HELL?! What is going on? No, wait, just calm yourself. I stopped my mind from racing all over the place and forced it to analyze the situation. It was a fact I had baby limbs. So that meant I¡¯m in a baby body? That explained why I couldn¡¯t stand up, and why each passing day I could better distinguish the shadows. I reasoned my eyesight was still developing. However, I could not find any logic that explained having a baby body. So then, if logic can¡¯t explain it it¡¯s only reasonable something illogical will¡­ Ok, just reference all those fiction books and movies you loved and find any scenario that would explain this. A few hours passed as I sorted through my memories of anything involving fiction. I felt refreshed and lighthearted after remembering many of my favorite stories. As I finished summarizing my findings into four possibilities my tired body forced me into sleep. Lets go over the scenarios once again. This is what afterlife is like. It¡¯s impossible to refute this possibility, after all who knows what the afterlife is like? Is there even an afterlife? No way to answer that, but it seems unlikely. After all, why would the senses evolve? Would you even need senses? Time traveling. Somehow returning eighteen years back in time. Reliving them would be worst than hell. This would definitely be the worst possible scenario. Mental breakdown would surely happen after going through that one more time. Speaking of insanity, mental breakdown can also explain this. Somehow surviving that last seizure but loosing your mind. Being a baby is some sort of mental safe heaven? This isn¡¯t the worst option, with a body on the verge of death surely this will end soon¡­ Reincarnating. Live again in a different time, place, and (hopefully) body. Does everyone who dies reincarnate? What about animals? Without some convenient god explaining everything it¡¯s impossible to refute or answer any of this. I felt relieved after having that calm and focused internal dialogue. It had been a long time since the last one. Stress about dying and everything that followed probably diminished my internal voice. I quickly made up my mind. There was no point worrying about it. If it turned out to be time travel, suiciding would put an end to it. If it happened to be mental breakdown my body would die soon enough, without me being able to do anything about it. Lastly, if this were my new life (reincarnation or afterlife) I would cherish and make the most of it. Live life to the fullest! If this is truly a new opportunity at life, don¡¯t squander it in meaningless enterprises; don¡¯t waste it on worthless emotions such as fear and anger. Pursue your passions fervently! Let no one get in your way! I vowed to live so that I may live. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Chapter Previous Chapter Main Menu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 - Read, Read a Lot, Rule the World! Hi! First time writer so please let me know any mistakes, comments or suggestions you may have in comment section. Thank you for reading! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If reincarnation is a common occurrence why are there no memories of any previous life? That question constantly pierced my mind like a stuck thorn. I couldn¡¯t shake off the idea that I, that this conscious, would soon disappear while giving way to a new personality. I breathed and stopped the stream of thoughts before despair could set it. Whatever the case, it¡¯s not something you can control. For the mean time, assume that won¡¯t happen and do whatever you can to make the most out of it. Right then let¡¯s start with the daily routine¡­ The door creaked open. Mother wore her black hair in a simple ponytail. Her deep blue eyes stared full of love and care. I replied to them with a genuine smile. I stretched my arms toward her and was overcome by happiness as she lifted me. Memories of being able to stand up and having adventures in a virtual reality game rushed to me as I hovered about four and half feet above ground while resting on her shoulder. I pointed at the book on top of the table and spat out baby sounds as I attempted to plead her to read it to me. ¡°Again?¡± she questioned. ¡°Yes!¡± I attempted to reply by clapping and smiling. I¡¯ve been born for about three months but I¡¯m still unable to talk. Control over my tongue and knowledge of the language prevented it. I could understand some words, but phrases where still impossible. ¡°Haha okay,¡± mother said followed by some gibberish. I was placed on the floor as she grabbed the book and sat in a wooden handmade chair. While she read I worked on trying to crawl. First I rolled over, and then I started some baby pushups. Learning to walk again¡­ this brings back memories! *** Two years before death So this is inside a game? Everything looks so real! I can¡¯t smell anything though¡­ guess the tech is still limited. Well then let¡¯s try walking! All I could see was dirt. An indicator stated that my health dropped by five points due to falling. How silly of me, the excitement about walking made me forget that I don¡¯t even remember how to control my legs¡­ let alone walk! It¡¯s been fourteen years after all, so this is inevitable. ¡°Dad! Mom! Some help please haha.¡± I said ¡°Are you okay son?¡± My father asked as he carried to a house they previously bought inside the game. ¡°You¡¯ll have to relearn how to move your body Isaac. It won¡¯t be easy, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find it rewarding. Dr. Alcaraz will help with your rehab, together I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll accomplish it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best father. Thank you for helping me out!¡± I said. I was frustrated and excited at the same time. I once again felt my limbs responding to my mind, but not accurately enough. Over two months I relearned how to control my body. I was mentally exhausted from all the failed attempts. Still, nothing else mattered as I gave my first (again) step. I felt reborn. Great first step done! Next up learning to run, after that kicking ass learning some martial art! This is so awesome! I wonder if it¡¯s possible to fly in this game? First things first¡­ second step here I go! *** Four months after rebirth I opened my eyes and the room around me was lit by the first timid rays of the day. I got annoyed at the fragility of this body as hunger took hold of me. I began crying to get my mother¡¯s attention. I desperately longed being self-sufficient, eighteen plus years was no small amount time. I was fed and cleaned up expertly by mom. I was carried out of my parents¡¯ room and into the small hallway that connects it to the living room and kitchen. It was a small but comfortable wooden house. I was placed near the kitchen floor and mother started working on father¡¯s breakfast. I remembered my vow and began working on my daily routine. I made it two months ago but remained as limited as back then. Still practically no knowledge of what or where this places is. Still a baby. Despite that I stayed the course. Do whatever you can to live your life to the fullest. Right then, the method to improve language knowledge is set. Same goes for my moving exercises. From the state of the house, the fields my mom works outside our home, and our clothes it¡¯s clear technology is lacking. So, it¡¯s important to continue reviewing my science knowledge. It will most likely be very handy, worst case scenario you can get a scholarship to a good university in a more civilized place. Also, in the afternoon review your economics and financial knowledge. Improving my parents¡¯ lives is a must! Babies and children are capable of learning stuff fast right? So lets study, study, study! This way it will probably (hopefully) remain engraved in my memory. Mom, dad, Google, Wikipedia¡­ thank you for all the information you provided haha! Too bad I¡¯ll probably forget most of it, its hard remembering everything without access to reference material. Damn it! If only could write! Well¡­ that¡¯s out of my control so all I can do is try to retain as much as possible. A small advantage is still an advantage. *** Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Seven months after rebirth I listened as my mother read the old book for the hundredth time. Her tone was always calm and peaceful. I admired her for not ¡°loosing¡± the book after a few weeks of reading it. She really loved me. So the mischievous kid, Adam, gets kidnapped by a dragon and then rescued by a hero, Larelot was it? Then becomes his squire, learns about honor, saves a princess, and has a happy life? A children¡¯s book to promote good behavior¡­ well I¡¯m just glad I can now understand most of it. I wonder if it¡¯s too soon to show I can talk? I definitely don¡¯t want to standout too much when I know so little about the world around me, better play it safe. I prefer not being burnt on a stake because ¡°a demon lives inside of him¡±. But, I do want to establish my self as someone who is a little ahead of the curve¡­ yeah I need to gain access to more information and paper as soon as possible! If I correctly understood what my father was talking a couple of nights ago¡­ then my small advantage is reality HUGE! But I need to confirm it first, and paper... lots and lots of paper. Okay, phase two starts now; lets just pretend I can barely do it¡­ ¡°Ma¡­ma!¡± ¡°Bl¡­Blaise?¡± ¡°M...mama!¡± ¡°Blaise! Blaise you said Mama! Yes that¡¯s me! Oh Blaise!¡± I laughed as mother wrapped me in her arms. Joy, uncontrollable joy abounded inside me. I broke my father¡¯s heart as mom showed off my new trick in front of him. He recovered a few seconds later and hugged both of us while wearing a huge smile. Sorry dad, it was always going to be a one sided contest... Making those you love feel happy has to be the greatest feeling in the world. Definitely a priority on my to-do list! Ok then, strength training begins once the celebrations are over! It was frustrating knowing how to walk, but not being able to. My body strength wasn¡¯t up to it. So, I camouflaged my squat training by repeatedly dropping and picking up anything I could grab. Abs training was simply sitting up from a laid position. I planned on walking in a month¡¯s time. *** Ten months after rebirth I guess that saying about baby brains being like sponges is true. It¡¯s amazing how much I¡¯ve been able to ¡°record¡±. Well my original mom¡­ hmm this will eventually become tiresome, okay she¡¯ll be momori (mom+original), and my current mom will simply be mom. That works. In any case, momori explained to me that teaching kids early enough could positively affect the ¡°wiring¡± of the brain. The connections you created through learning would then weaken or strengthen depending on repetition. Even if you stopped repetition, relearning it would be easier. So if this is true in children, I guess it is exponentially truer in babies? That¡¯s the only way to explain why lately I can memorize and learn things basically after one or two attempts. More than memorize its like ¡°burn into mind without option to delete¡±. Also, some of the science stuff that I mostly memorized without fully understanding now makes complete sense. It¡¯s as if the different knowledge is speaking with each other. It¡¯s like having a super power! Maybe karma does exist after all¡­ No! Eighteen years of bad luck taught me that is just hearsay. This is the result of my hard work. I chose to work on reviewing my knowledge day in and day out instead of simply sucking tit! Preparation sets up luck! That is the truth I choose to believe, therefore I¡¯ll just keep on grinding to make my power even more SUPER! I maniacally laughed at my realization. I was grasped and suddenly flew of the ground and was held before my father¡¯s face. The huge smile he had added on to my happiness. I sneezed as his hazelnut brown colored hair tickled my nose. His light green eyes reflected my stare. I gave him a kind smile and hugged him. Okay, from what I¡¯ve gathered so far from conversations this is indeed a different world from Earth. I suspected it when my father said something about magic problems. I thought I had misunderstood him, but yeah it seems that there¡¯s some kind of magic thing in this world. Also, there should be no danger from appearing to be a really smart baby. Still won¡¯t risk genius level just yet. The tech level is pretty low and apparently this world is in constant war, I rather not become a tool for someone. I still need to learn so much more! Once I¡¯m able to read, everything will be easier to understand. I¡¯ll build my LFP (Live to the Fullest Plan) when I have a better understanding of how this world works. Phase three starts now! ¡°Dad, book read.¡± I pleaded. Soon enough I was on his lap pointing at words and he would speak them out loud. I began my reading and writing education. Is there anything more over powered than one pass memorization and understanding? Hahaha¡­ hmm wait, what about magic? Yeah, that has potential to be stronger I think. Well, maybe not stronger, I guess it¡¯s a matter of were the battle is fought? Anyway, recap plan¡­ learn to read, read a lot, rule the world! Yeah, that sounds about right. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Chapter Previous Chapter Main Menu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Explaining lack of continuation So, to the few readers who were interested in the start of the story, I want to apologize for not continuing writing. I mistakenly started the story without really visualising where it would lead to and I had a really hard time coming up with interesting chapters. As such I tried coming up with an interesting story but was really uninspired by the setting and corner I pushed myself into. After struggling for about a month to come up with an interesting way to fix it I decided to simply cancel it and start a new story. This time I already have outlined to a proper ending, but it is completely unrelated to this one. I hope to publish the first couple of chapters by the end of the weekend. Again I apologize for ending it like this and I hope you give my new story a second chance. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Regards,