Phone Bill

There is a moment in everyone’s last seconds when a decision is to be made: To leave this lifetime and venture forth or to relive your past lifetime a thousand times over. Most choose the first option, but for Theodore…Well, he had forgotten to pay his phone bill, so the practical choice seemed obvious. As he chose, he imagined the familiar voice of his favorite gameshow host exclaiming, “Now, let’s see what lies behind Door 2!”

He could almost feel the heat from the spotlight, the heartbeat of the timer…he was sweating, his glasses fogging with every tick. His favorite host reached the door and glanced back with that soon-to-be-revealed-infamous smile of his. “See you on the other side, Pal,” slithered from his lips as Theodore peered through the-

It was gone. Everything was gone. Until precisely 72 years and 116 lifetimes later.

He was swaying from side to side, entranced in a rhythm that only the strongest nostalgia can sing. The room was lit with the glow of holiday decorations and voluntarily hypnotized by the purring of a winter fire in the fireplace. Moments later, Theodore would realize that it was snowing outside, but in this moment, he could only see the eyes of the person he loved most in this world. He held his beloved wife in his arms and, like every night, she had looked up to tell him that it was time for sleep.

As he stared into her eyes, he knew this would be the night he would die. It felt like a dream, but it moved like a memory as 72 years of the same life 116 times over flashed before him. Was he the same man he was 116 lifetimes ago? He didn’t know and frankly, he didn’t care, as long as he had learnt enough to choose Door 2 again. “Just one more song, dear,” he asked. “I’m not quite ready to go yet.”

And as the two swayed side to side one more time, the phone bill slipped from the refrigerator, never to be paid and always to remain the silent murderer of Door 1.