I can't tell you how many times I've died. This was probably my eighty nineth---or ninety eighth life? I sat at a witch's workshop table holding a cup of weird liquid. My first time I died, I was in the sky, and the reason is still blurry to me because of the amount of lives I had. I was just floating up there then I got stuck. For a minute I was paralyzed then the next second I was tumbling millions of feet down the sky onto a skyscraper. Then I woke up and I was completely fine. The second time I died, and I was sure I was immortal by then, I fell 163 stories high from the Burj Khalifa. Hospitalized yet I was still breathing somehow.

I was done with this. Hurting over and over again, yet not satisfied with my life. Gaia, the witch, sat across me. I visited her because I believed she could brew me a poisonous potion. A potion so powerful I could finally rest forever.

"Are you sure you want this?" she asked.

"I'm as sure as ever," I replied. The potion boiled and smoked. I gulped, thinking about how it could burn my throat.

I didn't know the saying "my life flashed before my eyes" was true, but now I was experiencing it. My vision started from the birth of my real life, my first life. I was born in a normal hospital. I didn't have a dad. My mom died shortly after giving birth to me, leaving me as an orphan. Then it jumped to my childhood. I was about 8 years old when I roamed the streets parentless with my two orphaned friends, Jasper and Ella. Ella was the intelligent one. Good at calculating, making decisions, she was sort of the leader of the group. Jasper was the engineer, he was the one working on survival, like building shelters and gathering materials. I was the creative child. I designed our shelters, I designed our clothes, and most importantly, I designed our escape plan. My vision cut to my teenage years where our team attempted to execute our escape from earth. I was the only one who got lost. Ella and Jasper made it out of the earth together. Meanwhile I got stuck in the portal.

The witch explained earlier how there could still be a chance of finding them in another universe---but I'd prefer not to go diving into the multiverse. That was extremely dangerous.

My vision went black for a second, then it resumed to the part where I was in my second life. The portal pulled me back onto earth, and I had no choice but to repeat life over and over again. Then my vision blurred into what was happening in the present.

"How long was I out?" I asked the witch.

"Out? We were just talking about your decision a second ago.

So one second felt like a few minutes when you're rewatching your life. I began rethinking my decision. I was tired of hurting. Trying again and again. I could just end it all with a simple drink. Then my vision blurred. Here we go again.

"I won't ever leave you guys," 12 year old me told Jasper and Ella as we sat around a campfire.

"Don't think you have a choice, we're your only family," Jasper said. Ella nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I vow to never leave, betray, or hurt my family on purpose," Ella vowed. She looked at me and Jasper waiting for a response.

"Oh, right. I vow to never leave, betray, or hurt my family on purpose," Jasper said and I repeated in unison.

My vision snapped back to the present. Our vows, I nearly forgot about that. Did I want to break my relationship with my family, I was not sure. I don't know if they forgot about me yet. A century had passed.

"Well, drink it?" Gaia rushed me. Then I thought again. If I broke my vow to never leave them, to never leave the world without them by my side, that would leave a painful mark on me. I realized I didn't want to do this. I wanted to be with my family, not escape my pain.

"No," I replied, "I won't. I've changed my mind. I'm going to keep searching for my family," I said in a harsh tone.

"Well alright. I'll still charge you for wasting my time then," The witch said in a harsher tone.

I slipped my hand into my pocket, and searched for coins. I tossed them to Gaia and sprinted out the witch's workshop.

Today marks our 1st anniversary of our family reunion. One year ago, I refused to end my life and went looking for my family. By some miracle, I found them in another universe (like the witch had said) and we've been inseperable since.

The end.