The next thing I knew I was being transported in some kind of winding vortex. You know when you see people in movies go through a time warp or reality shift or something like that? Well, that's what was happening to me. As the swirls faded, I found myself standing in a giant empty void. It was weird because I could see my hands and feet and the space around me, but everything else was just darkness. It just seemed that I was in a room where infinite emptiness expanded on and on.

  "Hello!?" I called out into the nothingness, "Helloooo!?".

  As expected, there was no response. After a couple minutes of complete silence, I figured I'd just pick a direction and start walking to see if anything would change. After what felt like an hour or so of aimless walking, I was starting to get tired and annoyed.

  "Helloooo? Anybody out there? If this is some sort of prank or hidden camera show, this shiz isn't funny!"

  Still no response. At this point, I decided to just sit down and wait. No sense in wasting energy wandering around aimlessly in what seemed like an endless void. Just as I was beginning to sit down, I noticed a small distortion of space in front of me. For a moment, it swirled around.

  "What the-" was all I could utter out before the space seemed to condense and then explode into a flash of light.

  I shut my eyes and shielded my face, half expecting to be blown away. After a couple seconds of nothing, followed by a loud yawn and a chuckle, I opened my eyes to see what appeared to be a very tall man dressed in what reminded me of Arabian clothes. He was floating in the air, sitting on what seemed like a large purple cushion adorned with golden tassels. He had long wavy hair, smooth tan skin, a stubble beard that framed his strong jawline, and fierce looking brown eyes. This gigachad was also ripped and had the body of a Greek god.

  For clothing, he wore a teal vest that was cropped halfway and was embroidered with gold colored patterns. It only covered the upper half of his chest, but if I had pecs and abs like those, I wouldn't be hiding them either. He also had a small necklace that he wore. For a moment I didn't think he had any pants, but then I realized that he covered his lower half with a long loin cloth, seemingly longer than his legs.

  While this dude was a total babe magnet, something about him really irked me. Maybe it was his smug grin, or the fact that he looked infinitely cooler than me. Maybe it was because he reminded me of a better looking, cockier Derek? Whatever it was, I didn't like it. He exuded an aura of confidence and power. Sheesh, talk about being in the upper one percent of very attractive humans. If I was into dudes, I would no doubt be all over this guy.

  The mystery man gave me a good once over before running his hand through his long locks of hair. After a second, he smiled at me and rested his head on his hand saying, "Congratulations on your untimely demise! Believe it or not, you've earned my attention, and you should be grateful! I dare say you've won a lottery of sorts."

  * What? A lottery?? I just had one of the most traumatic experiences imaginable, and this dude says I'm lucky? *

  "That's right, you're lucky!" He said again with a smile.

  "Yeah yeah I heard you the first time. What the heck do you mean lucky?? Why on earth would anyone be happy dying like that? My life was just getting started!"

  "Well, it's not just every day you get to meet one of the most powerful beings among the cosmos. You can thank me now-you're welcome!"

  I could definitely feel my blood pressure starting to rise.

  * Who even is this guy? Just cause he's got way more charm than I ever could doesn't mean he can just look down on me like he is. *

  The man smiled again and chuckled.

  "Let me guess, you're wondering who I am, right?"

  "...Yeah...?"

  * Is this dude reading my mind...? *

  "No, I'm not. But, my name, small human, is Muganno - the primordial deity of Alteration. I have the power to change or alter reality as I see fit."

  "Yeah, yeah and I bet you're in cahoots with fate and destiny or something," I said jokingly.

  With an amused laugh he said, "Close...those two deities, Fate and Destiny, are something like what you know as cousins. They tend to argue a lot though. Fate has more of a 'Guided path' policy, while Destiny has more of a 'It's the choices you make' approach. I, on the other hand, am quite different."

  "Riiight. So you're just some all powerful weirdo that can screw with people's lives?"

  "No no, silly boy. I prefer to just make...'tweaks' here and there. I find great amusement in watching the outcome of my outcome of my work.

  "My name is Mason, by the way. Thanks for asking. And you're actually a lunatic."

  Muganno smiled and said, "Oh I'm well aware of who you are, and don't you worry. I've got big plans for you."

  "That makes me feel overjoyed, oh great one," I said sarcastically.

  "Good! So you do understand! I was beginning to think you didn't like me!"

  Mugnanno mumbled something afterwards. I thought I could make out '...he's an eight...', but couldn't hear the rest.

  "So what kind of 'tweaks' do you even make?" I asked.

  "Well, for example, a particular seed may struggle in absorbing enough water to really survive. I may tweak it such that it improves its ability to absorb moisture. From there it could either flourish and multiply, or maybe it does a little too well and begins to overwhelm other plants."

  "I guess that's not such a bad thing..."

  "Oh yes, and perhaps you're familiar with the meteorite that wiped your planet's dinosaurs?"

  Muganno had an amused look that also seemed somewhat ashamed.

  "Well..." he continued, "I may have 'tweaked' the trajectory of a comet so that it would pass by earth every couple millennia. It would have been a very beautiful sight, but...it also just so happened to bump into a giant asteroid...aaaand sent it right in the direction of earth."

  * Alright, yep, this guy is bat guano crazy. I take back every good thing I said. *

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Woah, woah, so let me get this straight...you're some sort of genie-lookin'-ladies'-man with the ability to change something HOWEVER YOU WANT, then you just sit back and watch the aftermath? What if you ruin someone's life? You literally caused the extinction of an entire species!" I yelled angrily. "You don't even care that you could completely ruin the balance of nature?"

  Muganno shrugged and nodded saying, "You could summarize it like that, yes. Though, to be clear, I'm not evil. I just can't predict the outcome of the changes I make like Fate and Destiny can."

  "Just the fact that you don't care is enough to make you evil!"

  "Maybe...but it's just so fascinating to watch how something I tweaked adapts to its new situation. Will it thrive? Will it die? I don't know these things, but I truly do love to find out. You see, it also gets frightfully boring after centuries of no entertainment. People like you do not come by so often."

  "But people die all the time!"

  "And not everyone is like you," he laughed, giving me a suspicious smile.

  "Well I don't want anything to do with you! You're out of your mind! Take me back to earth right now!"

  "I'm afraid I cannot do that."

  "And why's that!?"

  "Well to be blunt...it's because you're dead."

  Oh right...I'd died. This couldn't be real, I had to be dreaming. It was literally shaping up into some sort of anime cliche. I had a bad feeling about where this was going, and I was pretty sure it was going to be something to alleviate Muganno's boredom.

  * I don't even want to know what he has planned for me, but I'm sure he'll tell me any moment now. I gotta get out of here ASAP. *

  "Amazing! I WAS about to tell you my plans!"

  "Hold up...have you been reading my-"

  I knew you showed promise!" Muganno beamed. "Indeed, I intend to give you another shot at life. However, I-"

  "Let me guess, you're gonna 'tweak' something about me and see if I live or die, right?"

  His smile could have lit up a ballroom.

  "Yes! Yes! You get it! That's two for two! Gah, I'd hug you...if it wouldn't completely erase your existence. Perhaps you're actually a nine out ten..."

  "Are you rating me? And why me?" I asked. "There are billions of other people you could have chosen, and I'm not special by any means."

  "Ohhh Mason, but you are!" Muganno said assuringly. "I'll tell you why, but first humor me one more time. If you can guess why, I'll give you a reward."

  I stopped to think for a minute. When I was alive, I'd never made any big achievements, or had a big influence on the people around me. I was on the verge of making some headway with Shelly, but I'm sure that wasn't it. I was a simple nerdy college boy who never really made an impact on anybody. Well except for maybe...

  "It wouldn't happen to be because I saved Shelly from getting killed, would it?" I asked.

  "Hmm...close. That is part of the reason. You see, I don't give just anyone a second shot at life. There are actually a few criteria that must be met before I can really change anything. First and foremost, they must have a certain level of potential. You don't have to be amazing by any means, nor do you have to have made a large impact on society. You see, even a snowball can cause an avalanche."

  "Okay well if you know I'm not amazing, why'd you pick me?"

  "If I sense they could provide me with a fair amount of amusement, and I'm usually a pretty good judge, I select them as a lucky candidate. Second, I only choose those whose life had been cut short. Those that lived long and full lives, or died of natural causes are not qualified."

  "I guess I do fit that bill..." I said trailing off.

  "Third, I will not select a descendant of an ancestor who I have previously changed. For example, if I changed something in your great great grandfather's life, I would not do so again in any of his children or grandchildren and so on."

  "Well I'm glad I'm unique enough then..."

  "Thus, Mason Bell, you have been given a rare opportunity," Muganno said.

  Everything about this situation screamed 'coo-coo for yoyo-fluffs'. It made no sense whatsoever, yet I knew deep down that this was real, and I couldn't do anything about it.

  "Yeah, still don't feel lucky in the slightest...maybe at least tell me what you're going to do to me?"

  "I considered it...and decided not to. I think it will be much more fun as a surprise," Muganno said smiling. "I came up with this idea a while ago, and it's one that I have not tried on humans before. It's a small change really, but I believe it will provide me quite an entertaining journey."

  Something about the way he said 'small change' didn't sit well with me. Given the personality of this dude I didn't doubt that whatever he did would totally change my life. I was about to ask him again in hopes of gaining a little insight into his plans, but before I could he cut me off.

  "While you did not get all three guesses, I will still reward you for at least getting two." Muganno said.

  Muganno cracked his knuckles, and with a smile stretched out his hand. After clenching his fist for a couple seconds, he opened it again. After a few moments, a purple aura enveloped his hand. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like something straight out of a magic show. A small bubble of aura separated from his hand and rose up in front of him. Just like before, the bubble seemed to condense and then shone bright like a small light. After the light dissipated, I was amazed to see a small golden ring floating there in its place.

  Muganno pinched the ring between two fingers and pondered for a second before pointing his other hand at it. Another trickle of purple aura left his hand and coated the ring. I couldn't exactly see what that did, but Muganno seemed content with the result. A lavender glow enveloped the ring, and when Muganno gestured towards me the ring started floating through the air right towards me. It stopped just out of my reach before stopping and hovering right there.

  Muganno smiled at the quizzical expression on my face before explaining, "I've decided to give you a special ring made by yours truly. It may not look like much but believe me there is no other like it in existence."

  "Not look like much?" I quoted while giving him a flat look.

  Obviously as a guy I'd never really cared much for jewelry. The only jewelry I'd ever really seen were the necklaces and earrings my mom used to wear, yet I could tell from just the engravings alone that the ring in front of me would have taken several months to make. I could see all kinds of tiny runes or something resembling some sort of a pattern. On the top of the ring there was a large, clear, ovular looking stone that emanated a white glow and seemed to shimmer despite the lack of light from the void we were in. On the bottom of the ring was a smaller amethyst-looking gem that seemed to radiate its own deep purple glow.

  "It's a simple feat really," Muganno bragged. "The world to which I'm sending you is indeed perilous, and as a reward for entertaining me I'm giving you a ring capable of evoking my power. I sense a large potential in you, and I believe you fall high on my amusement scale. That purple gem represents a single use of my power, meaning that you can alter reality a single time."

  "And what does the white one do?" I asked.

  "I will let you figure that one out yourself," Muganno smiled, "To use the purple gem you simply remove it from the ring and state your desired change. One time use, very powerful, do be mindful though as this ring is the only boon you'll get from me, so use it wisely."

  "Well then why wouldn't I-"

  "And no, you cannot use it to return to your world. As I said before, you died. As amusing as that might be to watch, I can't let you be revived in the same world. It causes too many problems. Oh yes, one more thing before you go."

  Muganno extended his hand out towards me, and that faint purple light enveloped his hand again. He waved his hand around, and all of a sudden I felt a small yank on my hair.

  "Ouch! What the-did you just pull my hair?" I yelled.

  "Oh come now, don't be such a softy," Muganno teased, "But yes, I did."

  I saw a tiny ball of aura float away from me.

  "I just needed one strand of hair from you."

  "For what?"

  "Just watch."

  Muganno closed his hand into a fist as the piece of hair landed in his hand. For a moment his hand glowed brighter and brighter before he clapped his hands together. As he began to open his hands, a strange tome began to materialize out of nowhere. The tome stopped at about eight inches high, and then Muganno floated the book over to me like he did the ring.

  Another piece of art was created before my very eyes. The intricate patterns and runic symbols on this book would have taken an ordinary human a long time to make. The cover felt like a smooth leather, and the pages inside were thick. I wanted to open the book right here to see what was inside but at the same time I was just ready to get out of here and away from this insane situation.

  Seeming to sense this Muganno concluded, "Oh and one last little tip for you...I would recommend seeking out T.G.U. It is a marvelous place and I think it will help you greatly! You'll need that book when you get there. I wish you the best of luck, and do try not to die again."

  "T.G.U.?" I tried to question. "What is that? And what is this book for?"

  "Ta ta!"

  Muganno just smiled at me and gave me a wave with bow as if bidding me farewell. I wanted more answers but was starting to feel quite dizzy. Dizzy enough to make me fall back on my butt. The last thing I saw before passing out was that obnoxious grin from Muganno before he faded back into a ball of condensed light.