I have always been a fan of those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. So much so, that when I die, I sincerely hope that there is a kiosk just off the Admissions Centre of whatever afterlife there is for us that sells the “darkepiphany, Choose Your Own Life Experience” book. It would be electronic (natch) and covered with buttons, kind of like “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (It’s my afterlife, you can have the Great Elven Library if you want, I want the Guide.)

In the book, there would be a synopsis of your life in book form. You could pick any point in your life, like:

Age 1

You see a bright light atop your birthday candle. It looks warm and like it would be fun to touch.

If you touch the light, go to page 34345

If you eat the light, go to page 2124

If you pour your bottle over the light, …etc



Then, you could see what Butterfly Effect, if any, that choice made.



Page 34345

You touch the bright light. Suddenly, an intense burning sensation shoots up your finger. You howl in pain as you yank your hand away, smacking your father in the face. He falls back, bounces off your uncle, and falls face first into your birthday cake. Go to page 242454.



Page 242454

You look at the small scar on your finger, as your beautiful bride slides an exquisite wedding ring onto it. You’ve known Alex all of your life. It was only in your 80’s that time and tide brought you back together. She was the first person besides your family that you told that story to. You’ve been there for each other through marriages, divorce, death, children, and everything else that filled your separate but parallel lives. Now, you life is complete. You’ve lived…maybe not the life you wanted or expected, but it was full and now you can be at peace…with your first love.



Obviously, there would be some really dumb decisions you could have made, just to satisfy some morbid curiosity.





Age 23

You cannot believe your luck! This girl is smoking hot AND she wants you to come back to her place! Sarah is still at home, preparing for her Maths final. She’ll never know.

If you go with the girl with all the piercings, go to page 43565



If you go back home to Sarah, go to page 65323

Page 43565

You wake up in a bathtub filled with rubies. You cannot remember last night. Where are you? You sit up, and the pain in your side almost makes you pass out again. The smell of copper is in the air. You look down at the source of the pain, and with horror realize that what you thought were rubies actually are blood-tinged ice cubes. The pain comes from your lower back. In an instant of perfect clarity, you know what’s happened. In the corner of your mind, you hear a buzz. On the bathroom counter, your phone is vibrating towards the edge. It clatters to the ground, the sound reverberating in your skull, but also sounding more distant that it should. You reach for the phone. The pain makes you shut your eyes as tears cloud your vision. You open your eyes for the last time on the screen of your phone: Missed Call - Sarah - 23 missed calls. You feel and hear a pop, and a flood of warmth cascades down your back. Everything is cloudy now, and you can smell sunlight. You close your eyes.









There are so many inflection points in our life that have the power to push our lives in one direction or another. There are obvious ones. Do I get married? Do I quit my job? There is an easily discernable cause and effect. Then, there are the not-so-obvious ones. Your alarm clock goes off. You hit snooze, convinced that another 10 minutes is the difference between “Bright-Eyed and Bushy Tailed” and “Death Warmed Over”. So, of course, you oversleep. Now, you have about 3.5 seconds to get ready. You’re late. You’re pissed. You’re only more pissed that your normal way to work is now blocked due to a multi car accident. You arrive to work 45 minutes late. You are stressed, tired, upset, and probably blissfully unaware of the grisly fate that awaited you if you woke up on time.

Meanwhile, at the Afterlife Bookstore, I could relive this and a thousand more subtle influences that shaped the life - the adventure path I did take. Frost said, “I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.” I disagree with Frost’s take on life. I believe that life is an interconnected web. There are many forks in the road, and many roads lead to the same place. In the end, it is not the journey that defines our lives, nor the destination. It is if we get the grape or cola slurpee at the roadside convenience store.