This book idea surfaced years ago, and I became very good at making excuses for not writing the story down. None of them were very good, but they were extremely effective.
One day I decided to post the first six chapters (all I had written) and ask my Facebook friends to take a look. My commitment was that I would post one chapter a day for six days. I thought maybe one or two people would say it was pretty good and encourage me to write more, which would push me to write maybe a chapter every week or so until the book was finally complete. By the sixth day of posting my friends had shared my website with over 140 others and people were beginning to get excited about the story.
This continued for the next three months and I didn’t just write a chapter or two, the support and encouragement allowed me to write the entire first book!
There have been over three thousand visits to my website and many, many excited people who could not wait to read the next chapter as I wrote it.
I dedicate this book to all of you… my friends who wanted more from me than I wanted for myself.
It is with a smile on my face that I deeply thank you for your encouragement and support.
This book exists through me… but because of you, and for that I am extremely thankful.
Chapter 1
He woke up in a white room.
The walls, ceiling, floor, lights… everything was white.
He couldn't remember how he got here. He recalled pain, followed by a sense of leaving his body, floating above it and watching people surround him. Then he was enveloped in darkness and moving slowly towards a tunnel of bright light. The closer he got to it, the faster he moved, until he was streaking towards it at an incredible speed. Suddenly he slammed to a stop and lost consciousness. Now he was in this room, lying on a table with a white cloth draped over his body. He remembered stories like this that involved people dying, or almost dying, and being drawn towards a bright, white light. People sharing these stories had all been revived by doctors, moving away from the light and returning from death's door. He'd never heard of anyone going into the light and living to tell about it. Near death experiences? That was it! The white light was associated with dying, or almost dying. No story had ever mentioned a room like this.
“Am I dead?” He asked out loud. His voice was different than the one he had used just a short time ago, much different. No longer deep and raspy, it sounded younger, more like 16 than 74. He distinctly remembered being 74. Holding a hand up, he noticed it wasn’t a 74-year old, thin, frail, wrinkled hand. It was the strong young hand of a teenager. He groaned softly, “Ah, crap. I am dead.”
“Kind of,” a voice said. “But not quite.”
Turning his head towards the voice, he saw a kid, about 18 years old, with a friendly smile on his face.
“Welcome back, stranger. You had an incredible run that time! Glad to see you back safe and sound.”
“Back? From where?” The man sat up much quicker than he imagined possible. His body was strong and young, not old and weak. It felt both strange and exhilarating at the same time. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and turned to face his visitor. “And where am I? I think I’ve been here before... but I’m not certain.”
The kid laughed. “Oh yes, you’ve been here before, many times. Don’t worry, Zack, your disorientation won’t last long. You remember reality quickly once you come out. We’ll have you out of here and home in no time at all.”
“Come out?” Zack asked. “Come out of where?”
The visitor grinned. “I always enjoy the look on your face when you realize you’re not dead. You just came out of the Game, Zack, and on this last play, you got your best score ever!”