The End?

Meredith Hood had been working as a sales ambassador for a popular menswear brand. During the holiday season, customers came nonstop, leaving Meredith with little time for breaks. The holidays had always been difficult for her job since everyone needed a gift or two. Her sales pitch had been perfected to a T. The pay wasn't good, but she had been working in the industry for so long that she was used to it. People had told her that she was perfect for the job because of her looks.

She had long, rich, dark hair that complemented her chocolate-brown eyes. Her face was symmetrical, which sometimes caused her to be hit on by customers. It didn't bother her, though; she thought of it as an advantage to sell more products to them.

However, she hadn't realized how dangerous a game it was until it was too late. A man—someone she remembered as an avid customer—attacked her, stabbing her directly in the abdomen.

"You lying bitch," the man exclaimed as he shakily held a big, bloody kitchen knife in front of him.

What was worse was that Meredith was on her way home, and she lived in a shitty apartment near a shitty street. This meant she could not call for help, as people tended to avoid that place.

Meredith fell face-first onto the pavement. She couldn't believe she was going to die wearing her work clothes.

The man ran away, and Meredith tried reaching for him as she coughed up blood.

Meredith woke up gasping for air. This time, she wasn't lying on cold, hard pavement but in a lush, green grass bed. She examined herself—she was still wearing her company uniform: a red pencil skirt paired with a black blouse, along with her stockings and stilettos—but her stab wound was gone.

She realized she was in a forest. She didn't know if she was hallucinating before dying or if she had arrived in heaven or hell. It was a hot afternoon, and it was quiet save for the birds chirping and the leaves rustling in the trees.

Meredith stood up, her stilettos digging into the soft ground. She decided to remove them and explore the area with just her stockings. It was serene compared to the rush she had been used to from work. She took in the trees, a stark contrast to the tall buildings she had been used to looking at. Suddenly, it dawned on her that if she was in the forest, there might be wild animals that could attack her.

However, she realized she was supposed to be dead anyway. There was no use in being careful if this was just her hallucination.

Suddenly, her stomach growled, and Meredith felt a pang of hunger. She didn't know that dead people could feel hunger. She looked around—the forest probably had fruit-bearing trees that could satisfy her hunger. She would have preferred eating something balanced, like vegetables and meat, but beggars couldn't be choosers. She found an apple tree and stared up at it.

Now, what could a short woman do to get fruit from a tall tree? Meredith stood at a whopping 160 centimeters in height. She looked at the stilettos in her hand and had the grand idea of throwing them to knock some apples down.

She grinned at herself and aimed high. She threw one of the pair, and it hit an apple squarely. She cheered as she gathered her shoe back—now with an apple in hand. She sat under the shade of the apple tree, set her shoes beside her, and started eating.

Living in the forest might not be bad. She didn't have to go to work, and all she needed to worry about was surviving. Well, it was the same as when she was working, but this time, there were no other people to pester her. She relaxed a bit, the wind blew through her hair, and Meredith welcomed the lullaby of the forest, which slowly lulled her to sleep.

The sun had started setting, and Meredith was awakened by voices—male voices, to be exact. She could hear them yelling, and it scared her. She took her shoes and silently walked away from her tree. What she thought had been her paradise was now being invaded by men—again.

She had no idea what was happening, but it was clear that there was a fight going on. She heard the sounds of metal clashing together.

It was starting to get dark, and Meredith wanted to find shelter. She examined the forest one more time, but all she could see were vast trees stretching across the land. She thought she could just shack up near a secluded tree to hide away from the voices. She silently walked, careful not to alert anyone or anything.

However, she felt something was off. The forest had become eerily quiet. Sure, she had moved away from the fight, but now she couldn't hear the wind or the birds. Fear creeping in, she instinctively gripped her stilettos as a weapon, raising them in front of her as she carefully walked in search of safety.

The darkness wasn't helping—Meredith had to adjust her eyes to see where she was walking.

"I'm not scared. I'm already dead," she muttered to herself.

The clouds that had been covering the moon finally swept away with the wind, and now the moon shone brightly in front of Meredith. She sighed, thankful for the brightness. But still, the feeling of being watched didn't leave. In fact, it only grew stronger.

Something rustled in her peripheral vision, and Meredith quickly turned to look at it. Finally, she spoke up. "Who's there?" she called out, raising her stilettos higher. "I have a weapon," she threatened.

Animal ears emerged from the bush, and Meredith began shaking. Whatever animal it was, it was big.

"I'm not scared, I'm not scared," Meredith chanted to herself. She looked around, searching for a way to escape. She knew her puny stilettos wouldn't be enough to defeat an animal that large.

However, Meredith had no intention of dying twice today.