Chapter 1: The Beginning after the End.

I woke up in the hospital bed, my body weak and my breath shallow. I looked around, confused. I didn't remember how I got there.

A nurse came in and smiled at me. "Good morning," she said. "How are you feeling?"

I tried to speak, but my voice was too weak. I shook my head.

"It's okay," the nurse said. "You just need to rest. You've been through a lot."

I closed my eyes and tried to rest. But my mind wouldn't stop racing. I thought about my life, and how depressing it had been.

I had always been a salary man. I had gone to a good college, gotten a good job, and married a good woman. But I had never been happy.

My job was boring and repetitive. I worked long hours, but I never felt like I was accomplishing anything. My boss was a jerk, and my coworkers were all backstabbers.

My home life wasn't much better. My wife was always nagging me about something. My kids were ungrateful and disrespectful. I felt like I was just a paycheck to them.

I had no friends. Everyone I knew was too busy with their own lives to care about me. I was all alone.

And now, I was dying.

I didn't know how long I had left, but I knew it wasn't much. I felt a wave of despair wash over me. I had wasted my life. I had never been happy. I had never lived life to the fullest.

I closed my eyes and cried.

Later that day

My wife and kids came to visit me. They sat around my bed and talked about their day. But I wasn't listening. I was just staring at the ceiling, thinking about my life.

I thought about how I had never told my wife and kids how much I loved them. I thought about how I had never taken them on vacation or done anything special for them. I thought about how I had been a terrible husband and father.

I felt a wave of guilt and regret wash over me. I had wasted my life, and now it was too late to change anything.

I opened my eyes and looked at them. "I love you," I said. "I'm so sorry for everything."

My wife and kids looked at me in surprise. They had never heard me say those words before.

"We love you too, Dad," my son said.

I smiled. I was finally at peace.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I dreamed of a different life, a life where I had been a better husband and father, a life where I had lived life to the fullest.

I died in my sleep that night.

I know that I made a lot of mistakes in my life. I was too focused on my job and not enough on my family. I was too afraid to take risks and pursue my dreams. But I hope that in my next life, I will be able to do things differently. I hope that I will be able to live a life that is full of love, laughter, and adventure.