Chapter 1

1

Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Barnim Badzinski and this is the story of what happened when I was given a second chance at life.

It all started on a fall night 2017, while I was drowning my sorrows in a lot of beer. At 40yrs old, my life was boring, repetitive, and unfulfilling, mostly due to my laziness and no drive to better myself. So, after another long day of driving a forklift, I decided to drink myself into a stupor. Tomorrow was Saturday, so no getting up early.

As I sat down at the Home Plate sports bar, the only thing on my mind was getting blitzed, which I did at least 3 times a week. I loved this place because it was just like one of the chain places -- cute coeds, very short skirts, and lots of cleavage. Not that any of them would have anything to do with me, as I was what you would call a fat ass. At 6’4, 325lbs and living paycheck to paycheck, I wasn’t a catch by any stretch of the imagination. It was my own fault. Like my mom always said “You make your own bed, now lay in it.”

So, here I was on another Friday night sitting and drinking away my woes. About 10 o’clock, 4 hrs into getting blitzed, I was feeling no pain. I watched as Susan; my smoking hot waitress walked up. I was mesmerized as she brushed her blonde hair behind her ear.

“Barnim, you sit here in my section all the time but I never see you sitting with anyone or talking to any of the other patrons.”

“Well, I like to be alone and really wouldn’t be good company for anyone. Plus, who wants to be around a useless, old fat guy going nowhere.”

I shocked myself with that last part and at that moment knew the old saying was true. Only children and drunks tell the complete truth. Guess it was time to go home before I embarrassed myself further.

“Susan, can you close out my tab? It’s time to go home.”

She came back with my bill, which was a bit more than usual. Then again, I was really getting blitzed. Luckily Monday was payday, and my monthly bills were already taken care of. I left a big tip with a note apologizing for dumping my issues on her.

As I was getting to the front door, Susan came walking up. God she was gorgeous. Those large, but perfect tits for her small frame were jiggling wonderfully. She wasn’t my ideal type, but being picky wasn’t an issue. I knew that would never happen though; I just wasn’t that lucky.

“Barnim, you’re not going to drive home. Let me call you an Uber.”

“Nope, I live about a quarter mile from here, so I’m going to stumble home and sweat out some of this alcohol on the way.”

“Ok. I guess I’ll see you next week. Please be safe going home.”

“Thanks Susan. Have a great night.” And with that, I was out the door.

It was a usual Georgia fall night, still rather warm and humid as shit. I was sweating my balls off by the time I reached the end of the parking lot. Halfway home I realized I was a lot drunker than I thought. Drenched in sweat, focusing on anything was difficult. Luckily there was only one major cross street for me to cross. That was going to be interesting.

Looking down 176th street, I could see a pair of headlights that appeared pretty far off. I felt I could make it across; no problem. Stepping off the curb, I heard the horn. My back foot caught on something and I fell into the street. Suddenly my eyes focused on the car, right in front of me.

Well, I was fucked. There was no surviving this. In that split second, I felt my chest turn to Jello, then all of a sudden time stopped. My body was hanging in midair, it’s flight from the impact with the car stopped.

All of a sudden, a voice popped into my head.

“Evening Barnim. You’re right, you’ll be dead before you get to the hospital. You have six broken ribs and both lungs are punctured. Not to mention a multitude of broken bones and lacerated organs. But it’ll be the numerous skull fragments that do you in.”

“What the fuck is happening?” I didn’t hear anything but the voice in my head, no other noises. So, it seemed all conversations were in my head. On top of dying, I was going crazy.

“You’re not going crazy. Barnim, you’re being given a unique opportunity if you want it. You can have your life happen differently. Do you accept?”

“Sure, couldn’t be any worse than dying. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”