"You've been out cold for a few days now…" the voice said. Without ever quite fully taking my eyes off the animal I tried to find the source of the voice, but it was impossible for me to find any possible source.
"I am sitting in front of you…" it said with a quite irritated tone of voice.
No, no way this beast is talking… right? I thought. Let me tell you, if an animal could have a pissed‑off expression it would definitely be the one the animal opposite of me was having right now. Its hind legs lifting itself up from the seating position, it once more took a step towards me.
"No, no no no no" — my blood pressure spiked as the animal came closer again. Protectively I put my hands up to shield myself, knowing very well that the only thing that would actually do for me was make my arms the first thing being bitten and possibly ripped off once the puma attacked.
Then our bodies made contact – the puma pressed its snout into my open palm and then – then it started to rub its face against my arm. Please tell me I'll wake up any second now. Unconsciously my fingers started to scratch the giant cat under its chin, a deep purr escaping the snow‑white animal.
"You remind me of my cat, he's just a bit… smaller than you." A small smile spread across my lips. As sudden as the animal had started to rub up against me, it distanced itself from me again.
"Follow me," the voice said again.
"Wait a seco—" "Follow me!" it said with a bit more pressure. Then the animal slowly started to walk away. I still didn't quite process the situation, so I instinctively grabbed the closest blanket and wrapped it around my body before following behind. So I was now following an oversized talking predator around a place I had never seen before.
It guided me down two sets of stairs, finally arriving in a grand room. Plants were hanging from the ceiling and mounted to the wooden pillars holding up the floor above. Wooden furniture made from old, dark wood gave the room a very old‑timey flair.
But then there were the sliding doors. They themselves weren't that impressive, but what lay behind them.
A beautiful courtyard, filled with all sorts of plants I had never seen before, the sound of water flowing between stones that had been carefully placed to allow the fish to swim between them but still make walking across them possible.
It was a scene that one would normally only see in a painting. My bare feet touched the stone as I stepped outside, taking in the beauty around me.
"Welcome home."
"Why? – Why am I here?" I asked, not turning around to face the animal.
"Because you died." I turned around. The white puma stood behind me, looking into my eyes. "And that day, I did too," he said.
A few seconds passed, then it hit me. "Moon?" All I got was a sad little nod, but that was enough. Walking back, I hugged him around his neck. Normally I would have preferred to pick him up and cuddle him, but that seemed impossible now, since at his size I could probably almost ride him like a pony.
"What happened?" I asked, my face still buried in his short fur.
"It was a gas leak. At some point there was nothing but gas left to breathe anymore," he said.
I looked around again, taking in the scenery. If this was what my personal heaven looked like, I definitely would enjoy spending my time here. "So this is heaven?"
"No," he stated as a matter of fact.
"What no?"
"This is a shrine. More specifically, it's your shrine."
"Sorry? My shrine???" I felt like I was missing an awful lot of context.
That I had died was a lot less of a surprise to me than I thought. Yet I still had this empty feeling inside of me. Maybe it was the realization that I had nothing I felt like I really lost? There was nobody I wanted to see tomorrow, or something I was really looking forward to.
But why was I here? And why is Moon, now an oversized, talking puma, here with me? And why did Moon say that this was my shrine?
As if he had listened to my mental breakdown slowly forming, he said: "You're a goddess now, and this is your shrine." he said as if it was the most logical thing in the world.