Edited by: Piamo

After working his 9 to 5 job, A 25-year-old man walked out of an ice cream shop holding a cup of ice cream. It had two scoops of vanilla and a scoop of cookie dough, drizzled in a caramel sauce. It was his guilty pleasure after a rough week at work.

He was petite in stature, with short curly brown hair and eyes. Someone could obviously see that he was enjoying his ice cream because he was smiling, humming, and doing a small happy dance as he ate. No one would be able to tell he was a working adult because he looked youthful and innocent while eating his ice cream.

As he walked along the sidewalk toward his home, he heard a lot of commotion nearby.

"Holy shit! That car just hit another car and is still going!" a man shouted and pointed at the nearby intersection.

This intersection was busy every day. People were always crossing the street whether they were going to and from work or school. There were also a lot of cars on the road because it was one of the largest cities in the area.

It was a lot more crowded after this crazy incident.

The man stopped eating his ice cream and tried to go a little closer to the road to see what was going on. He was just nosy honestly.

Before he could get any closer to the road, he tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. His ice cream tumbled out of his hands. He had a look of horror as the ice cream tipped out of the cup.

It felt like the whole world was grinding to a halt, and his body and the cup of ice cream were moving in slow motion. He couldn't help but think, "No! My ice creammmm!"

Before he could even continue the thoughts in his head, he was interrupted by an impact to his forehead. He slammed his head so hard into the conveniently placed metal light post that he felt the air leaving him. Afterward, he stumbled onto the ground, lying right next to his fallen ice cream that unfortunately hit the pavement.

There was nothing left in the cup.

The ice cream slowly melted on the pavement, inching closer to him.

The man could not move, could not talk, or even close his eyes as the fallen ice cream was the only thing in his line of sight. As he lay on the ground, his life flashed before his eyes.

His name was Atlas. His mother wanted him to have a name with meaning, nothing that was randomly picked or something that "sounded right" but ended up having a useless meaning like a baker. Atlas had two meanings. The one definition that was most known as being a collection of maps. The second and the one his mother liked was the name of a Greek Titan. The titan lost to Zeus and was forced to bear the weight of the sky. That was why his name meant "to endure."

She wanted him to be enduring. For what, he didn't know.

Was it for this moment?

Atlas' life was not hard. He had a wonderful childhood with loving parents, grandparents, and other relatives. He also had a best friend, a pitbull named Sir Walter whom he loved like an older brother. Even though Sir Walter died when he was 16, he still thought about him every day.

He was lucky to have parents who could help him pay for his university. He didn't have to take any ridiculous loans, didn't have to worry about a place to live, and didn't have to worry about food. He was grateful, so he still lived at home to care for his parents. They weren't too old, but he helped with cleaning, cooking, as well as paying some of the bills.

Atlas was a fresh university graduate who was fortunate enough to find a job right out of university. Even though he was just average in intelligence, he still somehow graduated, albeit not in 4 years. Soon after, he started working for a game company devising story plots, character backgrounds, and things like that. He didn't know how long he would stay in this company, but it was enough to help him pay the bills.

Now, he couldn't ponder on his current life or his future.

Atlas knew he was dying.

His biggest regret was not being able to say goodbye to his parents... He loved them so much. He knew it would break their heart, but he could only hope they knew that he loved them so much...

Still, every day he was happy and grateful to be alive. He hoped that his parents would remember him but not wallow in grief. He wanted them to be happy every time they thought of him. He didn't want them to cry or give up on life.

He hoped they would still love him, even if he was no longer here...

He could hear people surrounding him, asking if he was okay, but he couldn't respond back.

Atlas felt his body growing heavier and heavier. He tried to keep his eyes open just a bit longer, but he was so tired. He couldn't feel anything anymore. It was like he didn't have control of his body anymore.

The last thing he heard as he struggled to stay awake was the screams of terror of someone getting hit by the car that was trying to get out of the intersection.

He heard them say that he saved someone's life and that was it...

.

.

.

.

.

Around the same time Atlas tripped and died, the driver hit a car and tried to run from the scene. Seeing this, the other cars and the people on the streets tried to run out of the way.

The car seemed determined to get out of there, not caring for anyone around them.

A woman and her child crossing the street tried to run with the other pedestrians, but her child fell to the ground and started to cry. She tried to pick up her son, but she ended up tripping on stray items that people had dropped while they were running.

A young man saw the woman and her son and rushed over to them. He helped the woman off the ground. She was holding on to her child when she heard shouting from people nearby.

Voices could be heard telling them to run and to get out of the run as soon as possible.

When she looked to her left, she saw the rogue car coming toward her and the young man who helped her. Before she could say anything, she felt her body lift off the ground. Even though she landed on the floor, it was out of the path of the crazy driver who was determined to get through the busy traffic.

The reckless driver hit three more cars before making their great getaway. No one knows what prompted the person to flee from the scene like that, but nothing seemed to stop them.

Some people were able to get the license plate of the driver while others were reporting to the emergency line what happened and updating them on the aftermath.

As for the woman who was saved, she looked at the child in her arms and was relieved to see that he was also alive. He was still crying, but he was unharmed. She made sure he didn't hit his head when they fell to the ground together.

As for the man who helped her, he actually pushed the mother and child out of the way and took the brunt of the hit. Thankfully, the mother and child were okay, only had a few scrapes and bruises, but the young man who saved them was fighting for his life.

The young man was named Milo. He had only just turned 18 years old. He was walking to his car which was parked down the street from his job. He had just gotten off his shift and was about to drive to school when this freak accident occurred.

He was in critical condition.

He was a lanky young man, with black hair and brown eyes. With his body size, it was no wonder that the car had hit him so hard that he felt like all of his bones were broken at the same time.

He struggled and did his best to stay alive but his body was numb. He couldn't move, couldn't scream, and could not see. He couldn't feel his body going cold, or the blood coming out of his head or mouth. He, too, had his life flash before his eyes, but the memories brought up were not happy and cheerful like Atlas'.

He may have died a hero but he died depressed and full of regret. He didn't want to die. There were still so many things he wanted to do...

Milo tragically passed away at the same time as Atlas.

The two who died at the same time and place were able to reincarnate into another world.