I shouldn’t be alive. I should have died a long time ago but somehow I didn’t. I just continued to exist while letting parts of me on the way here. My body continued functioning, a witness of the lost parts, like an insect which has lost some of its legs but still which continues to crawl with the hopes that nobody will notice he’s missing some parts of him (or her). The following is a list of some of my near-death experiences, the ones I can remember. In order to protect people’s privacy, I will refer to them only using their initials. I have no idea what is anyone supposed to do with this information after reading it, but I guess you’re already here so you might as well keep reading:
- On the roofs.The first near-death experiences I can recall are when I was 11 years old in Argentina, F. and I used to climb to the rooftops of some really tall buildings and walking on the ledges for some reason. And many times we almost fell, but sometimes we also didn’t fall and that was the first time my timeline started branching out from the times I did fall off.
- Under the bus.I was 13, in Argentina, I was on the bus, on a stormy afternoon and about to get down. Wearing flip-flops and carrying a big backpack with heavy school books. I pressed the button to let the driver know I wanted to get off, he opened the door and I slipped down the stairs, which were wet because of the heavy rain and ended up directly under the bus’s double wheels. Luckily a woman on the bus had seen me slip and shouted to the driver to stop, which he did, saving my life and giving me the scare of a lifetime. It was the second time my timelines split, leaving my death self behind and my former self somehow incomplete.
- Off the balcony.
16 years old, at home, alone. Everyone in my life was a bully, Things were bad. I sat on the edge of our 8th-floor window and was about to jump and end it all when someone knocked on the door. I got down and opened the door, didn’t jump.
- Under the gun.17 years old, Rosario, Argentina. While I was riding a bicycle with D., a guy hits him on his head, we fall off the bike and he points at us with his gun and robs us. In this timeline he didn’t shoot, so we are still alive but in a different timeline we are dead.
- Hitchhiking.While hitchhiking alone somewhere in Germany, in the year 2007, I knew a car wanted to run me over because its driver didn’t like hitchhikers. It charged towards me and I somehow managed to jump to the side and avoid it. As it drove away, it sounded its horn maniacally in the same way people used to shoot their revolvers while riding away on their horses in the wild wild west.
- Cliffhanger.In Pakistan, the year was 2008, with K. we were on a hiking trail along a mountain that had a missing part and for some reason we decided to try and grab our way to the other side, leaving me hanging from 1000 meters high without any equipment.
- Bike.
In Malaysia, 2013 maybe, with S. I was riding my motorbike on the highway and carrying about 5 liters of extra petrol because we were going to an isolated area when a car blocks my way and forces me to drive on a patch of spilled sand on the highway. I lose control, we fell off the bike, roll on the pavement, and witness the gas tank rolling next to me and a truck almost running me over. The tank didn’t explode and the truck didn’t stop to see if we were ok.
- Blades.
2016, somewhere in either Santa Fe province in Argentina, walking with Bong Gu by the side of the highway. A sort of tractor with some very sharp blades to mow the land of cut the grass drives full speed and passes me by just a few centimeters away from my legs. The driver didn’t even bother to warn me he was coming with his blades.
- A close call.
Also in Argentina, somewhere in La Pampa during the same walking trip. The night was falling and we hid behind some bushes by the side of the road. A vehicle drives by and spots us while we were searching for the perfect place. Half an hour later, when it was almost pitch dark, the car comes back and they come hunting for us with flashlights. We remain hidden and motionless, hearing them talking about what they would do to us if they found us. It was my call, I could have made a run for it when I had the chance or remain hidden and pray they don’t find us. I made the right call, and we are still alive.
- 2017. With N. In Peru, a crazy guy was probably about to kill me but then something happened and he didn’t. Later that same year I fell off a cliff and landed on a cactus, and the next year, 2018, I was attacked by 100 bees and passed out and almost died, and this year I was almost dragged by the current in Bahia de Caraquez and pulled all my strength for a final desperation move where I ran as fast as I could against the current and somehow managed to make it back with my last breath. The End.