Everything and Nothing

The moment my heart stopped beating, I came to life.

I took a moment to feel what I couldn’t feel. My heart wasn’t pounding in my chest, my ears weren’t ringing, it wasn’t quiet but there was no sound. My thoughts were gone. I was but a star in the sky—no more human than the Earth my body died on, no more dead than the sun once hot on my skin.

I knew I was everything and nothing at all.

Before I died I could only feel fear—fear for the people I left behind, fear I wouldn’t see those who had once left me, fear of the pain.

It was all for nothing. It didn’t matter. I could feel the fabric of the universe on my fingertips, burning and freezing but comforting nonetheless.

With no lungs, no hand on my throat, no heart in my chest, I took a breath for the first time.