Lottie
Comfortable.
That was my first thought as my eyes slowly fluttered open. I was warm, but there was a light breeze. The air smelt like flowers and blueberry pie and I could hear wind in leaves and the songs of birds.
I realized that I was laying down somewhere, and groggily got up on an elbow and a quilted blanket fell to the worn wooden floor.
Where was I?
On a sofa, apparently. Sitting up I saw that there was a set of wide open French doors leading out into a garden where I could see lush grass, various flowers, and what appeared to be several apple trees.
Brow wrinkled in confusion, I turned my attention to the world within the room.
On first glance I would say I was in a grandmothers cottage.
Wooden furniture, china cabinet with a couple tea sets, cute little animal ornaments on the mantle and just about every other flat surface.
A round mirror on the wall between two paintings of kittens playing with yarn, and a small breakfast table already set for tea for two.
"You're awake!" Hummed a pleasant voice, causing me to jump and my head to spin so fast I got a crick in my neck. "Oh, sorry Dear, i didn't mean to frighten you."
From a door behind me, an elderly woman entered. I could smell the scent of blueberry pie heavier now that the door was opened.
The woman, short with grey hair tied in a bun atop her head, stepped aside.
In her hands was a try with a pie and knife.
I watched as she allowed several cats of varying colors to scamper into the room.
Once about six cats had entered, she shut the door and I watched as she shuffled over to the breakfast table, setting down the pie.
She was shorter than me, with a kind face, wide eyes, and round classes, Her hands were small, I noticed, as she used the knife to cut out slices of pie. She woke a long dress that would not have looked out of place in an old historical drama about the prairies.
"Come!" She said with a wide smile and a wave of her hand. "Sit! I am sure you have many questions, and I have much to tell you besides."
Nervously, I slipped off the couch and awkwardly made my way over to the table. The lady pulled out a chair for me before slipping into the other, placing a napkin over her lap. She smiled and told me to sit with her eyes.
"I don't understand..." I said weakly, confused.
I tried to wrack my brain for how I got here.
What had I even been doing before sleeping on this little old lady's couch.
And where the heck was I? I lived downtown!
There was no way anyone had such a large backyard there.
Not to mention, it had been mid spring, hadn't it? Why did it feel like summer?
"Try not to think too hard, Love. you will give yourself a head ache." Said the lady, taking the lid off a sugar dish that I saw was filled with sugar cubes. When was the last time I had even seen sugar cubes? "You can call me Lottie, by the way. And you are Maxine, yes?"
"Max, yes." I said, rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans.
Lottie nodded. "How many?" She asked, tiny tongs hovering over the dish in her wrinkled yet very steady hands.
"Oh, um, two, thank you." I said, manners too ingrained in me not to use them, even in this bazar situation.
I watched as two cubes were dropped into a little white tea cup, followed by the brown colored tea from a matching pot. "Milk?" As Lottie, holding up the milk dish. I nodded and she poured in a little.
That done, Lottie took her own sugar cubes and set about stirring her tea, no milk. "Now," She said, taking her cup and placing it to her lips before taking a sip. "First things first. I am sorry Max, but you are dead."
I didn't say anything at first, confused. It was a very odd joke to come from someone's great grandma. "What?"
Lottie nodded, her eyes sad. "Yes, I am sorry Dear, but you are dead."
I probably should have denied it. Told her she was crazy and demand to be told the truth. Maybe I should have stormed through the house, hunting for hidden cameras, sure that this was the next god awful TikTok prank.
But I didn't do any of that. For some reason, I just accepted it all. Sure, of course I was dead, right?
"How?" I asked, staring down at my milky tea as a cat wound its way around my ankles.
"A brain aneurism, I think." Sighed Lottie. "I am not exactly privy to all the information."
Memory flooded into me then: Coffee with my sister, a head ache and feeling dizzy, then nothing.
I could literally feel the blood rush from my face, my eyes jumping back to the face of Lottie. "M-my sister!" I said, panicked. "What happened to her?"
Me dyeing was one thing. I didn't exactly have a lot to live for.
Its not like I was depressed or suicidal, but I was practical.
I was a failed novelist with no husband or kids.
Really, my sister was my only connection to the rest of the world.
Other than her, I would not be missed and the world would keep turning.
"Not to worry, Max. Here, look." Lottie set her tea cup down and reached under the table.
I watched as she pulled out what looked to be a rather thick binder.
I hurried to help her move aside the tea pot and the little plates with the pie slices.
Once a space had been cleared, Lottie set the book down.
I realized then that it was an old photo album.
"What's this?" I asked, mind still on my sister who must be absolutely frantic over my dead body.
"First of all, let me tell you that, on Earth, you died nearly fifteen years ago."
"What?!" I exclaimed. What was that supposed to mean?
"It takes some time for a soul to rematerialize enough to hold a conversation, after all. Think of it like you just had a very long nap."
A nap? Fifteen years was much more like a coma than a dang nap!
"You sister was quite sad and depressed, as one would expect, over your sudden death." Lottie stated, patting my hand. "But I would like to put your mind at ease..."
Lottie opened the book and I saw photos of Anna there.
but Lottie flipped a few pages in, faster than I could see the pictures.
"See, look here." She said, the page flipping coming to a stop at a page that held photos of my sister, looking a little older than I remembered, and dresses in what was, unmistakably, a wedding dress.
"After your death, your sister had a hard go of it.
But she is a pretty determined girl, and made out alright.
Once the first couple of years passed, Anna found the box with your old books in it.
She decided that she was going to take the very advice that she had been giving you, and move on with her life. "
I smiled at the shots of her standing at the alter with a rather handsome young man.
He was in no way a jock, however, which was how my sister usually liked her men.
He was taller than her by nearly half a foot, but he had lanky dirty blond curls, a thin face, and wore rather large glasses.
If I had to give him a label, it would have been a book worm.
He may have been dressed in a rather smart looking tux in this photo, but I could easily picture him in a sweater vest too.
"This is Allen. He owns a small book store in the suburbs of the city you both lived in. Anna met him when she was looking for ideas for what to do with your stories."
"My stories?" I asked, brow furrowed but not taking my eyes off the pictures.
"Oh yes. Anna thought that she should see about getting at least one published.
She wasn't much of a bookie her self, but she read enough of a book or two of yours to think they had potential.
She wanted to see if, in your memory, she could at least get some of them in print, weather they did well or not. "
I smiled, tears welling up in my eyes. "that sounds like something she would do." I said, smoothing my hand down a shot of she and Allen cutting a cake, all smiles.
"She came across Allen then, who had a few children's books out, and offered to get her in touch with people. He was just kind like that."
I felt myself grin. Good, Anna deserved a kind person in her life. Even if she could be a pain at times. I hoped Allen was good at handling that side of my sister.
"They ended up getting one of your stories published, and to their surprise it did pretty well." Said Lottie, causing a jolt of surprise.
Lottie grinned widely. "Oh yes. I would not say you were world famous or anything.
.. but it made enough that Anna was able to get a house for her and Allen.
It was just after that that Allen purposed.
A year later, they were married." Lottie turned the page and I gasped.
Lottie laughed. "Twins!" She chuckled as I gazed down at two adorable nephews cradled in swaddling blanket's, held firmly by an exhausted but beaming Allen.
Another photo showed Anna holding one of the boys, waving brightly at the camera.
Figures Anna would look absolutely fine after hours of labor and a painful delivery. Nothing shook that woman.
Lottie began to slowly flip though the pages, showing be the course of my family's life. I saw the twins get older as Lottie described their likes and dislikes and how often they would ask about their 'famous' author of an aunt.
"And then, about four years ago, they welcomed little Jessica.
" Lottie turned a page and I saw a small little girl seated in a highchair, two little seven year old boys shaking rattles at her, trying to draw the rosy cheeked baby's attention their way.
"About this time, Allen and Anna thought that they would see about putting more of your books out there.
They hadn't done it before, fearing that it was a little wrong to profit off of your hard work.
But, in the end, they agreed that, so long as they put any money towards the kids, you would be fine with it. "
I smiled and nodded. heck, if they just wanted to spend it all on vacations, that would be fine for me. Gosh, I wish I could have met them...
"Some of the books were flops... But a couple did quite well!
Well enough, in fact, that your sister and brother in-law were able to put money aside for your nephews and niece.
In fact, they even started a fund for struggling authors, so that other people, like you, could get their works out there. "
I was amazed and so very proud. Not for me, but for Anna. She had such an amazing family, making all her dreams come true, and even the dreams of her pretty lack luster sister too.
Lottie flipped to the last page and I saw a photo of two young boys dressed in what appeared to be school uniforms, holding the hands of a little girl with bouncy dirty blond curls dressed in a cute pink dress.
"Jessica starts school this year, and her brothers are quite worried and over protective. "
I laughed wetly as Lottie closed the book.
Alright, I was dead. But at least Anna was okay. More than okay!
I snuffled, then used my sleeve to rub my eyes, clearing away happy tears. "Now what? Is this supposed to be heaven or something?"
I wasn't entirely sure I was deserving of heaven, but I certainly didn't think I was destined for the other place.
Well, actually, if I had been asked before now, what I thought awaited us when we died.
.. I would have said 'nothing'. I wasn't religious, and I figured after death you were just gone. Apparently I was incorrect.
"No. At least not what you would consider heaven." Stated Lottie. "I am most assuredly not a god!" she laughed, taking another sip of tea. "I guess, the best description would be that this is sort of a pocket dimension, and I am sort of like your guardian spirit. Of a sort."
"Alright." I said, feeling like I was sort of following along so far. "But what now?"
"Normally, the souls of those who have died on earth are sent back into the flow of spirits, and eventually reintroduced back into the living."
"So, reincarnation?" I asked.
Lottie nodded. "Yes. though, not necessarily as the same being you were before. Each soul is directed to where they are needed. In one life you could be a human, the next a tree. Its all up to fate, and far above my pay grade." Laughed the older lady. "But you are a little bit different."
"Different? How so?" I didn't feel special in any way.
"Well, you see... Earth is not the only world out there.
There are other planets, of course, but there are also other dimensions.
And I am not talking about this little pocket dimension either.
Well, these dimensions I am speaking of, some are like where you are from: based in sciences and the laws of physics and the like. "
"Alright." I said when Lottie paused, probably trying to be sure I was still following along.
"Other dimensions, follow more along the path that you may describe as a 'fantasy' world. Worlds governed more by magic and spirits, rather than cold hard facts and logic. But, these worlds are pretty high maintenance. They are frequently on the verge of collapse or some such."
I laughed nervously, picturing just about every 'demon lord's invasion' scenario I had ever heard of in my head.
"To keep the flow of mana going strong in these dimensions, sometimes we need to open a conduit to the dimensions that are not using their mana at all.
Like your earth! But the Powers-That-Be can't just tear a hole in the universe and suck out the mana into another dimension.
That would result in the destruction of both worlds. A soul conduit must be made."
"So... you are saying that They needed to take a soul from Earth and bring it to one of these other dimensions?" I asked.
"Yes! You are catching on to this better than many, let me tell you.
" She beamed. All I could do was credit my shut in life style that led to me watching far to many animes and reading way too many books.
"The taken soul provides a sort of suture to the rift made when it is brought from one world to the other. "
"And I take it that I am that soul?"
"That's right. But, the Powers-That-Be do not want you simply thrust into the mix of souls that already populate this dimension.
it can be jarring to the soul and lead to poor quality of life.
So the souls are brought to people like me!
It is my job to let your soul rest and recuperate, then I am to set you on your journey in this new world! "
"So..." I said, a little lost for what that really meant for me. "Am I about to be reborn as a tree then?" I asked, awkwardly.
Lottie laughed. "Oh, goodness, no!" She said, almost spilling her tea in her amusement.
"Souls taken from your dimension are far to powerful their first go around for that!
Probably, after three or four life times as other species, you may be set as a lesser life form.
But for now, you are far too charged with mana for that.
If a soul like yours became a tree it would be likely seen as a holy tree, prayed to by many, and may never renter the cycle of souls!
the goal is to have that energy or yours dispersed over the generations!
Not just your mana either, but your spirit and even your genes could provide a huge boost to the make up of this world. "
That sounded like a pretty large burden to carry. "So I will be expected to have kids then?" I asked, not fully comfortable with that. Not that I hated kids, just that I didn't think it should be something I was expected to do.
"Oh, no Dear. No need to worry about that.
You will not be expected to do anything.
Just live your life however you want, really.
Just being part of the life cycle is all that is needed of you.
" Smiled Lottie. "In fact, it is my job to make this first life cycle to get off in as good of a start as I can for you.
Unlike most souls, you will be given a choice as to what you want to be, and you can be, literally, just about anything. "
"Exactly how often does this happen?" I asked, feeling a little like a person being pitched for a new job.
Lottie chuckled, setting the photo album under the table and pulling out another book.
This one was large like the album, but clearly a hard cover book.
It looked like one of those old-fashion fairytale books.
"Souls are taken from earth about four times a rear and brought to their dimensions.
Sometimes less, some times more. Your planet needs it as much at the others, given how over populated it is there, after all. "
She set her book down and flipped open to a random page where I saw a long list there.
"In this book are all the deferent races and species that exist on this planet.
Many of them will be weeded out right away, as they are plants or little bugs that would not be able to properly contain your soul.
" She waved her hand and I had to blink as the the words blurred.
When my eyes opened again I saw that the words had changed and that the book was now significantly thinner.
"We can decrease the numbers further with just a few questions. "
"Okay..." I said, deciding that it would be best not to question every odd thing I saw. I mean, Lottie did say that this world had magic. Besides, I was a dead person, having tea with and old lady angle while talking about being reincarnated. Was anything really weird any more at this point?
"Good. Now, how should we narrow this down? I guess we should first ask if you would like to be born as an 'intelligent' being or not?"
"People choose other wise?" I asked, surprised.
"They do. Believe it or now, some people just want to be a wolf or a bird... though it is very rare. And with the levels of mana in Earthlings, I couldn't really call them just wolves or birds..."
"Well, I think I would like to be an intelligent being, yes." I said.
"Alright." Another nauseating blur later and the book was hardly bigger than a children's picture book now.
That sounded small, but it you had cut out all 'unintelligent' beings then you would be just left with humans.
Maybe things like dogs, apes and dolphins if you wanted to broaden that view a little. "Now we have a much smaller list!"
"Um, I don't suppose I can brows through that?" I asked, both curious and a little over whelmed. Exactly how many people were on this planet?
"Yes, help yourself." Lottie smiled, turning the book my way and sliding it forward.
I pulled the little book closer to myself and gazed down at the pages.
Most of the names meant nothing to me. I flipped a page back and realized that it had been listed alphabetically.
I let my eyes shift down the page, just looking for a familiar word.
I saw a lot of 'dark's on there: Dark elf, Dark Reek- what ever the heck that was.
I continued up the 'D' list that I was on while Lottie chattered on.
"-Believe it or not, most actually decide to just stay human! I guess it is just easier to stick with what you know. but some people do go with either elves or dwarves... I think we had one fellow who wanted to be an Orc..."
That's when my eyes landed on a word. It was a crazy word, and I was probably crazy for even considering it. I even tried flipping the page, looking though the 'e' list, but my mind was stuck on that word.
Could I?
Should I?
"What about this?" I asked, fingers set on the word. I felt nervous and excited both.
"Oh?" Said Lottie, leaning over so she could see what I was pointing at. there was a short pause before Lottie looked up at me. "Really?"
"Is it a bad choice?" I asked, deflating slightly.
"No!" Said Lottie, waving her hands. "Not at all. It is a marvelous choice. In fact, the race could really use the boost that your soul would bring. I am just surprised. I don't know if anyone has ever reincarnated as a Dragon voluntarily before!"
Yes, a dragon. Sure, most might not want to be a massive fire breathing lizard.
But they were on the list of intelligent beings, right?
So it wasn't like they were mindless beasts, right?
And if I were a dragon, then nothing would feasibly be able to take me out, except maybe another dragon.
And I would be able to fly! I mean, sure, I would no longer be able to fit through doors and I wouldn't have apposable thumbs, but surly the benefits outweighed the detriments.
"Dragons are a very magical and intelligent race.
they are really the pinnacle of life in many ways, on this planet.
But they have been on the decline these last couple centuries.
Females are a rare sight, that combined with the current trend of bandits and the like stealing their eggs.
Having you as one of them would be a big boost, even if that boost is not seen, tangibly, for a couple of generations. "
I smiled down at the book. I was actually looking forward to this, now that I knew that Anna was well taken care of. I mean, it was a fantasy writer's dream, wasn't it? Why wouldn't I want to be a huge, super smart, fire breathing queen of the sky? That sounded amazing to me.
"So, what do I need to do?" I asked, feeling optimistic. Not everyone got a second chance at life, much less a second chance where you got to call the shots.
"Just a few more details, and then I can send your soul out to be reborn." Smiled Lottie, closing the book. "For instance, would you like to be a male or female? also, would you like to keep your current memories, or perhaps you would like to be reborn with a clean slate?"
"Um, I'd like to stay a girl. You even said that the dragons were short on females, right?" I asked and Lottie nodded. "And, I guess I would like to keep my memories."
"Sounds good. that is pretty normal for dragons, actually.
" Seeing my confused look, Lottie elaborated.
"Dragons are born with genetic memories.
These are mostly related to what is and isn't relevant to survival: egg laying locations, what is and isn't good to eat- that sort of thing.
And, as they are hatching, the mother feeds them her own memories.
Sometimes, even memories that their own mother had shared with them!
It makes it so that dragons, as a race, are extremally intelligent.
But they are not really wired to live as creatures like humans or elves do.
they are still, mostly, wild in nature."
Interesting. I wonder what my new mother would be like? scary, no doubt. She would be a very large fire breathing dragon, after all.
"Alright, just give me a few moments, and I will be able to send you on your way!"