Amphibian

Eddie’s first moment of post-life was something quite remarkable. Instead of the bright, shining light cliché he had always heard about but never believed, the blissful tranquility of green leaves engulfed him. His eyes opened as he felt his body pushed through the branches and foliage of the greatest forest he could ever have imagined. Sun shining ahead so brightly, the filtered chartreuses and emeralds and tinges of yellow and jade brought immediate bliss to his mind.

Was this really the afterlife? He thought to himself. He knew he had left his life – that was an instant realization. But this world! It was so stunning! So intensely pure and awe-inspiring and beautiful! Eddie’s fortunes had just been revealed.

He looked out, upon feeling himself placed high on a branch. Perched above him, a small yellow bird, perhaps a canary, he wasn’t sure, sang sweetly. The rustling of its wings shook a twig from the branch and it cracked in the tiniest of pleasurable sounds to tumble below. Eddie followed it with his gaze as it gleefully swooped down to the ground, landing softly in a dense mat of the most luscious moss.

Eddie swirled his head around in order to gain some orientation. He had, in fact, morphed out of this tree into this world – there was no question he had come from behind. But where that source was? There was no obvious permeable opening to the bark, nor a hole that he might have tumbled from. He certainly did not recall falling here. That would be impossible! Somehow, the notion of being reborn into this world was anything but distressing. A calm embraced his whole body, much the same way the sun’s rays began to warm his skin. And that was when Eddie realized he was not wearing anything! Not a stitch of fabric, no loin cloth, no watch, no glasses! He was bare naked, seated high on a branch, in the midst of a beautiful grove of trees. To be reborn is to be renewed in the most humbling of ways, he thought. Of course I shall be naked! What a freeing experience!

Eddie looked down at the branch beneath him. While he was seated fairly high, perhaps 3 or 4 metres above the ground, he felt at ease with the distance. He decided it would be worthwhile to climb down and see what other sights awaited him in this new reality. He slid himself carefully back against the trunk of the tree, cautiously to prevent scratching his exposed self, and stood up and turned around. Slowly, Eddie moved his feet down to lower branches, wary of the potential for falling but euphoric at the potential of this new experience. Prudently, one foot after the other, Eddie made his way down the trunk. It was almost too easy of a journey; the tree seemed to have grown exactly into a ladder for Eddie’s descent. He looked around as he descended. The floor of the forest was covered in an abundant cover of flora, mushrooms peaking out of tree roots, flowers of a rainbow of colours exploding out of tall grasses. Eddie could hardly contain himself. He quickened his descent and rushed to the ground.

And with one foot on the mossy surface, all of his present reality changed. The brilliant sun seemed to close itself into the sky, filling the air with a cold, dark storm. The tree branches that had guided his climb morphed into cancerous bulbs of rickety old bark. The flowers that had, moments ago, stood so elegantly in the grass undertook a transformation of malaise and wilt, collapsing into darkening piles of drooping, dying leaves. Rather than allowing for an exploration of the forest below, Eddie’s descent caused the degeneration of his surroundings into a regressed, withering netherworld. His mood changed abruptly too. Eddie’s skin, no longer heated by the warmth of the sky, grew cold and developed rapidly into a series of goose bumps. No longer feeling a euphoria of happiness, Eddie didn’t know what to do. Everything had seemed so simple, so wonderful, only moments before. He tried to scramble back up to the tree, but it was no use; the branches he had used for descent had wilted into the trunk as it became moist and wet to the touch of his hands and feet. There would be no immediate way to climb this thing.

A flock of pigeons swept by in the bristly dark air. Pigeons!? Eddie thought. I didn’t even know they came out at night. Their formation was tight, scripted almost. Eddie followed their movement with his fearful eyes. They soared upwards and landed on the branch above where Eddie had first found himself in this mysterious place. And then, upon resting on the tree, their eyes looked down ominously, as they opened their beaks and cooed loudly. This was their territory, in other words. Eddie sensed their possessiveness.

He made a decision. Rather than waiting around, Eddie started to run. Dashing naked through the trunks of the trees, he ambled as quickly as he could, hoping to find some sense of shelter. What had been so simple, real and joyful had morphed so rapidly into a nightmare. This was far from enjoyable. Eddie passed what seemed like hundreds of trees. Rocks on the ground shot pain into his feet with every foot’s impact. The moments, each ticking by so slowly, took on what felt like an eternity of anticipation and anxiety. What seemed liked a cry from behind him only hastened his pace, pushing Eddie to run even faster, his heels aching now from the impacts on the solid cold ground, his sweat an unhelpful armour on his already chilled body. All he wanted was escape.

The smell of decay lingered into his nose in every movement. The sound of howling, danger and darkness penetrated his head and seemed to swelter in the air. Eddie was in no wonderful place; the forest, rather than engrossing him with comfort, was a foreign, dangerous and inhospitable place. Eddie wanted to cry, but in this afterlife, there were no tears. Just torment and pain. He wanted to duck down, to crawl into himself, to tear apart the very reality encapsulating him. He wanted to be rid of this new reality and replace it with something — anything! — that would free him from the fright lurking around every corner.

And it was in this moment of fear that, just as quickly as things had changed before, they changed again. Suddenly, the forest’s wretched character rescinded back into itself. Like a fog lifting, the clarity began to rise as well: the forest undertook a transformation once again. The beauty and wonder of Eddie’s original landing space took over. Clouds parted; rays of hope shone through the once black spaces and filled the floor of the woods with an affectionate temperature. The pain once sheering through his feet converted itself into a comfortable, resonating fondness for the soft earth.

Eddie slowed his pace and caught his breath. What he lacked in knowledge for what exactly this place was, he held in appreciation for the end of the torment, if only temporary. He grabbed at his knees and breathed deep. Lungs filling with sweeter, warmer air, Eddie indulged in his surroundings. No longer a forest culpable of nightmarish horror, the woods had opened up to a beautiful clearing, the tree line receding to reveal a small brook babbling about. Eddie walked forward to the water’s edge and was amazed to discover the clearest, cleanest looking stream he could ever recount. There, pebbles glistened under the sparkling undulations of the rippling surface. On one of the larger rocks, Eddie noticed movement. A small frog had hopped from under the bank of the stream to sun itself on a ebony stone. Eddie kneeled down to get a closer look.

The frog, instead of startling itself back into the water, appeared to look directly up at him. And then, it did something even more profound. It began to speak.

“Welcome to your new universe,” the frog said.

Eddie reacted as one would expect. He moved back with amazement. “You can speak?” he asked.

“Just as sure as you can live on in an afterlife, yes!” the frog replied. “This is a parallel universe to what you considered your real life. Here, unlike where you felt you lived, you are still living. And things here are different.”

“I have noticed!” Eddie remarked. “For one, the frogs talk!”

“We talk in your universe, you silly. You humans just fail to notice us,” the frog replied.

“What do you mean, universe? I thought I was dead?” Eddie asked, inquisitively.

“In your universe, yes, you died. But here, you have just started your adventure,” the frog said. “That blip you just experienced was part of the crossover effect. Sometimes when someone transitions, there is a minor irregularity between life and death. In this universe, death is a mere process rather than a finality. It always results in more life.”

“Well, frankly, I think that’s how it works in our world too,” Eddie said. “But usually things don’t come back to life.”

“Oh, they do, just that you refuse to recognize them. That’s the reason why most of you end up here, eventually. So you can appreciate the completeness of this place,” said the frog.

“You mean there are others here?” Eddie asked.

“Of course. Go out and find them,” the frog said.

Eddie was delighted. Rather than feeling tormented by his present circumstances, he felt a sense of potential and kinetic energy. Before he got up from the brook, he inhaled and asked one more question.
“And who are you? Why do you know so much?”

“Why, I am you,” the frog said nonchalantly.

“Me? How is that possible?” asked Eddie.

“The universe operates in mysterious ways. Even you – me – we do not understand it completely. But in time you will find there is more to your existence than merely yourself. You will start to see shreds of your former self all around you. Pay attention: these are signs from the universe to ultimately enjoy and appreciate life to the fullest,” said the frog.

“I will, then,” Eddie said, smiling, as he stood up and made his way off into the woods. “Thankyou,” he called out, over his shoulder.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

A hand outstretched from the covers. It swooped quickly and hit the snooze on the alarm. The beeping stopped, at least for the next nine minutes.

Eddie rolled over and grabbed the pillow that had fallen over the edge of the bed. He shoved it over his head and buried himself from the morning sunlight.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

The alarm sounded again. This time, he flipped the alarm off and pushed off the blanket. “That was one fucked up dream,” Eddie thought to himself, as he yawned. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock. 6:54 am. Time to shower.

Eddie crawled out his warm bed and walked to his washroom. He flipped on the light and looked at his reflection in the mirror. What he saw did not impress: where his ears should have been, Eddie had developed mutated, amphibian-like slits. He was becoming a frog.