Of all things, I woke up in a river.

Even stranger, I was one hundred percent certain that I had just died. Not that I could remember how exactly I'd perished, but I really couldn't care less at the moment. I was wet, I was cold, and I was naturally inclined to feel irritated. You'd feel so too if you died and woke up in a random body of water.

With a surge of unreasonable anger, I hauled myself to my feet and glared - at the black water, at the cool mist, at the dark sky, at my ridiculously thin sundress which seemed grossly out of place in such a gloomy setting.

I was in the process of pondering the merits of throwing a tantrum in the middle of a river when a detached voice carried over to where I was standing, rigid and undeniably annoyed.

"Your rash behavior makes one wonder if you were the right choice, child."

It was with no little pride that I managed not to shriek and sound like a silly little girl, instead turning my head ever so slightly in the direction of the voice. The mist parted ever so slightly, the sight of sand (and further on, greenery) greeting me, bathed in shadows.

A small movement had me walking toward it, steps measured and eyes straining to catch a glimpse of any form of life other than myself. One would think to run away from a mysterious voice drifting from a shady island, but apparently I wasn't quite right in the head and so I found myself stepping onto shore, scanning the area.

"At least you possess admirable self-control," the voice mused, and at last I was privy to who or what was speaking.

A tiger.

A white tiger.

I stared unabashedly.

The animal was sitting primly atop a large boulder, tail curled neatly around its paws, its eyes fragments of glacial ice that studied me with little interest. A massive creature, it was easily twice my size in length and its paw was roughly the size of my head. And though it was lounging with an air of calmness, I knew instantly that this massive tiger could lash out and maim me in the blink of an eye.

It was intimidating.

"Is this what happens when you die?" I asked, lifting my chin. I might be wary, but I wasn't about to advertise it. Predatory animals had a tendency of attacking creatures they knew to be weaker than them, and fear was a sign of weakness in the animal world. "End up in a river, wake up to a talking animal?"

Its tail twitched. "Impertinent," it said dryly. "I suppose it's better than a hysterical meltdown. Very well." It might have been the moonlight, but I thought its eyes flashed briefly. "You are, as you suspected, dead. And for some reason, you have been selected to enter my domain for me to offer you a choice."

"And this choice is...?"

The tiger might have been amused. "Straight to the point, aren't you? Before I offer you this choice, I will clarify a few things." With one massive paw, it gestured to the deathly quiet scene around us. "You awoke in the river. That river is one branch of a massive system in which the souls of the dead are swept to the true afterlife. Few are sorted here."

I glanced around. "Looks fun."

"Silence. To answer your prior statement, no - not all who make it here see the river as you do. Some see a waterfall; others an ocean; others a lake; most often though, they see the place they remember fondly. A mall. An amusement park. Their bedroom. Their school. It varies."

There was no point resisting the sneer that crossed my face. "School?"

"Humans are all different," the tiger reproached. "It would serve you well to respect the differences of the living... and the dead, I suppose. Continuing on: seeing as you see the in-between as it is, you are rather unusual. This tells me that you had no love for your previous world."

I didn't bother denying it. Fact was, even if I couldn't remember my own name, I knew with unerring certainty that I had despised my world. Being dead was peaceful in comparison.

The tiger sighed softly. "You," it said, "are a difficult creature. However, it is my job to pass the choice on to those they have deemed worthy, and so I shall." There was a momentary pause as it gazed down at me solemnly. "Do you wish to live?"

"No." The answer surprised even me in its swiftness.

"Are you sure? Your choice is to either be born into a different world, a different body, and live - or to move onto the land of the dead and become naught more than a whisper in the midst of countless other spirits."

I crossed my arms. "Death is surprisingly pleasant thus far. No need to live again and suffer."

"Ah, but will your boredom say otherwise after the first few millennia?"

Millennia. Millennia.

"Your choice," the tiger said, "is evident. Before you pass on, I will attempt to sway you a last time; this new world you could enter is full of brutality, corruption, and powers you cannot imagine. Only the strongest survive. I have sensed a thread of savagery within you - I am without doubt that you will do well there."

Despite myself, I was intrigued. "Power... survival of the fittest, huh? Alright, why not."

I did not know that tigers could smile. It was full of sharp teeth and not very reassuring. "Excellent," it rumbled, and then the mist was closing around us. "I knew you'd choose well."

And then I was falling into a chasm I had not been aware of -