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Deep within the rolling hills of the never ending countryside a boy was born.
He had a head full of thick, black hair. His cheeks were round and his eyes smiled right alongside his lips. He had a mom and a dad who loved him, and who named him Jisung. Though, when they were really happy with him they called him Jiji.
Their house was nestled near a stream. In the spring time it roared from the rain. In the summer it babbled with relief. During the fall it filled with amber colored leaves, and it froze solid when winter came.
But when the stream was thawed and warm, Jisung liked to fish. He would gather up his bait and tackle in a small wooden box, trek through the grass that tickled at his waist, and position himself with his feet in the water at the crystal clear brook. He would stay like this as the fish nibbled at the worms at the end of his line, and sometimes when their slimy scales rubbed against his toes his giggles would scare them all away from him. But he didn’t mind.
On the nights when the stars were perfectly seen he would lay on his back in the grass with his father. They would stare up at the hazy constellations that stretched perfectly across the black canvas of night, and his father would hold him close to his side.
“Are there really other worlds out there, appa?” Jisung would ask with his arms resting behind his head.
“Of course.” His dad would reply. “There are so many places on our planet, Jiji. Different countries, people who speak different languages, different races. Everything. And every star you see represents another world.”
“Different languages?!” Jisung sat up to peer down at his father with a scrunched up nose and a smile. “You mean, not everyone can understand each other?”
“No, but there’s nothing wrong with that son.”
Jisung laid back down, and pointed at each bundle of light in the sky, counting each one by one under his breath. “Someday I’m going to visit all of them.”
-
Seasons came and went, and Jisung grew up. He grew up to be a carpenter, and every time he gathered wood to carry back to his shop in the village he would peer beyond the rolling green hills and imagine the other worlds he knew were out there, and longed to see.
“Someday soon I’ll go see them.” He thought to himself.
But Jisung was always busy.
He was busy with his shop, like cutting trees into logs, and he was also busy with his family. Because during the process of growing up he fell in love, and after he fell in love he got married, and soon after that he had sons of his own.
And as time went on, Jisung lived to be very old. His once jet black hair had given way to the color of snow. His cheeks were not as round as they used to be, instead they were hollowed with age and coated in miles of wrinkles that mapped out the memories of his life.
He had smiled a lot, and laughed even more. He had been loved, and loved even harder. But he never left his village. He never had the chance to venture beyond the hills where he lived the entirety of his life.
Then, he died.
-
As quickly as his final breath tumbled from his lungs he was in a room that he couldn’t quite tell was either bright or dark. Everything felt lighter in fact, and he did too. His old bones no longer ached, and his vision wasn’t blurry anymore. The tips of his fingers glowed with a translucent light that crawled up his arms, and he swore he could almost see right through them. He didn’t know whether he was sitting or standing when a noiseless, but simultaneously booming voice entered his ears.
“You have a choice now, Jisung.” The voice was gentle, oh so gentle. “You can enter this endless universe of Heaven, or you can choose to live another life.”
“Will I still be Jisung?” The carpenter asked.
He received no reply.
Jisung pondered for a moment. The life he had lived had already slipped from his memory. He couldn’t recall images or memories or moments in his mind, but he could still feel them.
“Everything seems like a dream now.” Jisung revealed as he reached deeper into himself in hopes to retrieve something from his past to hold onto. “All I can remember is that I wanted to see the world.”
He thinks the voice smiles as it says: “Take a look around.”
Suddenly, the space that he couldn’t tell was either light or dark filled with a multitude of spiraling galaxies. He was in their midst. An impossible array of colors, shapes, and possibilities were all laid out before him, their spirals tangling around his ankles. It felt quite similar to scales against his feet, but he no longer knew why. They called to him with hushed whispers that beckoned his selection.
“There are millions of worlds,” Continued the voice. “They are all different, and they are all beautiful. You can choose whichever one you would like to live in.”
Choose me, choose me! These galaxies sang.
“But, how do I choose?” Jisung was afraid.
The voice comforted him. “Choose from your heart.”
He scanned over the myriad of pinwheel-shaped places, and settled on one that looked similarly to that of twisted fabric. “I like this one.” The carpenter signaled.
“That galaxy is home to billions of stars.” Said the voice. “Stars of all shapes and sizes, and you can choose any one you like to be your own.”
The great host of twinkling lights shined brighter in a call to Jisung. They all were beautiful, they all shone so brightly. Some were small and some were big. But one particularly warm star caught his eye the most.
Jisung pointed his head at the flickering ball of light. “I want that one.”
He thinks the voice smiles again. “That star has eight little planets orbiting it. Which one of those planets would you like to be your home?”
A palette of color filled the space where Jisung was either sitting or standing, he still could not tell. He saw those eight planets all circling at different points around the star he had chosen. One of the planets was red like a blaze of fire. Another had rings and moons, and another looked like a mixture of white and blue all swirled together. Jisung thinks he can feel water splashing on his skin when he looks at that planet.
“I like the blue one..” Jisung blinked. “For some reason that one looks like home.”
“On that planet,” Started the voice again. “There are a great number of wonderful creatures. You may live your life as any one you like. Which will you choose?”
Jisung looked closer. The voice was right, there were droves of creatures of all colors and sizes. Some creatures ran, other ones flew, and different ones even swam.
Choose me, choose to be like me! Each of the creatures sang to him. See the fun you will have, see how beautiful you will be!
There were animals that were low to the ground, wild horses that ran free, birds that danced in the air and creatures way down deep in the sea. He saw them amongst people, people he thinks are just one breath away from being right where he is now, and he thinks quickly about how many others had done this before him, and how many will do it after he leaves. Did some really choose Heaven?
Jisung almost decided on the white dog that bounded through the fields until he saw the child that ran beside it. The child was holding a wooden fishing rod, one that looked very much like one he thinks he once knew.
“I want to be a person.” Jisung was sure.
“There are thousands of kinds of people in this world.” The voice felt like it was inside him now, it didn’t sound so booming. “Each one has different dances, songs, traditions. Different clothes and foods and ways to dress. You may join any kind you like.”
Jisung stayed for a moment, whether it was seconds or eons he couldn’t tell, watching all of the people in all of the worlds, speaking all of the languages that stirred up a familiar sense of curiosity in him. It looked like a garden, the planet amongst the stars, within the galaxy, filled with all the creatures that lived with all the people.
They all looked different, all sounded different too. But they were all beautiful.
“This is the hardest choice of all.” Jisung said in earnest, his eyes having still not left the horizon of people. Music began to fill his ears. “I want to join them.”
“Now,” Began the voice. “Where on this planet would you like to be born? It can be anywhere you like.”
Finally, Jisung saw all of the places and all of the countries that he had longed to see during his life. There were great castles, roaring rivers, twinkling city lights and an empty rolling plain. He saw roads that twisted and turned in between the land, he could hear laughter bellowing from within schoolhouses, and stared in reverence at towering statues he had only once seen from a book long ago. They all called to him, they all drew him near. He saw deserts, he saw streams, he saw rolling hills of green.
“That looks like the most perfect place to be born.” Jisung smiled.
He knows the voice smiled this time. “There are many mothers and fathers in between those hills. Whichever you like best, will be yours.”
Suddenly, all of the love from the young mothers and fathers swarmed into Jisung’s heart. The translucent tips of his fingers begin to glow, and he is certain a wind ruffled through his snow-white hair.
Come to us, come be ours! Called the mothers and fathers from below.
Jisung caught sight of a couple who made his heart leap in his chest. They had thick, black hair, and smiles that spread to their eyes. He felt safe. He felt warm.
“I want them for my parents.” The carpenter chose.
The voice sounded quieter now. “Lastly, you must choose whether to be a boy or a girl.”
At the end of the voice’s words his memories came to him all at the same time.
He remembered the hills, he remembered the babbling brook and how it looked during every season. He remembered the sun on his skin, and the fish at his feet. He could see the stacks of wood that he hauled into his village where he made beds, tables, and houses for those who lived with him. He remembered falling in love.
“I seem to remember that I was a boy.” Jisung said with a smile. “I think I would like that again this time.”
-
So, deep within the rolling hills of the never ending countryside a little boy was born. His cheeks were round, his hair was dark, and he loved to fish by the stream.