New Life+: If Life Were A Game, How Would You Replay It?

You’re lying on your deathbed. Family members of the closest kind test the capacity limit of the hospital room, and finish off what was left of the tissue boxes. The nurse’s shoes squeak on the tile floor from the many fallen teardrops. She checks your monitors one last time. A warm hand clasps yours; you squeeze back.

“How are you doing?” whispers a familiar voice, perhaps a son or daughter.

You ponder this question between irregular breaths. Well, you’re not great-any imbecile could see that. But now isn’t the time for smartass remarks. You think about the question once more. It’s been an interesting life, hasn’t it? You’d love to harbor not a single regret, but you’d only be fooling yourself. There were different paths you wish you would have taken; people you wish you hadn’t hurt. There were moments you’d like to forget and others you’d do anything to relive.

But none of it matters now, you think. All in all, it was quite the adventure.

You close your eyes for the last time. After a few moments of blackness, you open your eyes and find yourself back in a hospital room, gazing up at your mother’s smiling face.

Congratulations! You’ve unlocked your life’s Second Playthrough.