text: Kaylee opened her eyes. Before her, an infinite blackness stretched out in all directions, interrupted only by pinpricks of light from what she somehow knew were distant stars. She was dimly aware that something about her had changed, but couldn’t quite put a finger on it. It was then that she realized she didn’t have a finger; She had no body at all. She tried to remember where she had come from, but could conjure only hazy memories that flitted away almost as soon as they came. She realized she should panic, she should be afraid, but no such emotions would come to her. “Hello,” someone said in a voice that seemed to come from all around her and from nowhere. The voice was neither male nor female, loud nor soft, here nor there. ”Hello?” she responded. “Sorry about that” the voice said. “Sorry about ... what?” “That existence. It wasn’t what I intended.” “Oh.” Kaylee was silent for what seemed like a long time, before venturing to speak again. “So are you... umm...” ”Yes.” She thought again for a long time, and realized she had always known there was something- some*one* out there. It was true. It was real. It was *all* real. Something was real. Kaylee couldn’t be sure how much time had passed before she spoke again. “How did I... uh... get here? What is... here?” The voice didn’t immediately respond, and she worried that it was gone. Long moments passed; or perhaps centuries. It was really impossible to tell. Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, came a response. “Well, there is no ‘here’ anymore. There isn’t much of anything for you anymore, I’m afraid. It’s very hard to explain. As for how you got here... your existence is at an end.” “Oh. So I’m dead?” “If you want to think of it that way.” From the tone of the voice, it sounded as if the being was shrugging. “Regardless, this is the end.” ”End of what?” ”Earth. Life. The Universe.” “Everything?” Kaylee was afraid just for the briefest of instances, before realizing there was nothing to be afraid of; Not anymore; Not ever again. “Everything except me” came the matter-of-fact response. ”Oh.” For a long time after that, Kaylee merely existed. Or perhaps she didn’t. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. As she stared into the infinity ahead of her, one of the distant points of light blinked out. She stared at the spot where it used to be, then after another long wait, another one disappeared, then another, and another. Something like fear gripped her, though she was sure there was nothing to be afraid of. ”So what happens now?” she asked. Another long silence. “I will start over. Everything begins anew.” ”And... to me?” There was a momentary pause, as though the voice was considering how to respond. “Hmm... Do you remember where you were before you were born?” ”No...I guess not” Kaylee admitted. ”You’re going back.” ”Oh.” She focused on the little distant dying stars. They were going faster now, one or two a year. “When do I go?” she asked after a hundred centuries. “‘When’ is not a concept I deal in. To me, you are already gone and have been gone for longer than your mind can comprehend. ” “So...” Kaylee struggled to comprehend what she was being told. “I’m already gone?” ”Yes” “Then there’s not really anything to worry about” she concluded. “There never was” the voice assured her. After eons upon eons of watching, the last point of light diminished and disappeared. Every photon in the universe had been exhausted, leaving only black. After a millennium of utter darkness, Kaylee tried to remember what her existence was like before she came here, but her memories betrayed her, faded away just like the rest of the universe. Realizing there was nothing to hold on to anymore, that there was nothing to be afraid of, Kaylee let go at long last. As the energy that had once been Kaylee dissipated into nothingness, returning to the void from where it had come, she voiced the final thought of her existence to anyone or anything who was still listening. “Well, that’s the end of all that then, isn’t it?” And it was.