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You made it this far without a single death. You try to feel impressed with yourself, but for some reason kids at school with death-marks make fun of full-lifers, calling you a wuss for never taking any risks. "Whatever", you mentally sigh. "Better than being noosed." You feel sorry briefly for the handful of kids at school that already lost two lives. Other kids call them noosed, since they are just waiting to drop, for good.
[[Continue...|2A]]You wake up, a bit bleary eyed, but well rested. The sun shines a bit too brightly. "Must be Saturday", you mutter to no one. You smile, realizing it isn't just any Saturday, but your sixteenth birthday. Your eyes slide from the window to your left wrist, laying palm up, and you see...
[[Smooth, unblemeshed skin.|1A]]
[[A single, tattooed tickmark.|1B]]
[[Two tickmarks.|1C]]A brief wave of anxiety washes over you as your eyes trace the two marks. "This is it...", you think to yourself. "Barely sixteen and a noose around my neck...happy birthday to me I guess!"
[[Continue...|2A]]Only one death. Just enough cred to keep kids at school from mocking you for being a full-lifer you suppose. You've always thought it was weird that everyone treated re-life days as another birthday, instead of acknowledging anything bad happened, but you seem to be in the minority.
[[Continue...|2A]]As usual, the thrift store is full of the most amazing junk to ever waste your hard earned dollars on. A faceless robot teddy, a sincere painting of white Jesus, and more! After running up and down the aisles a bit you both stop in front of a selection of hats. Lillith glares at you as you fondle the bright red fez, "Just buy it already! You've been eyeing it for weeks."
[*IN-PAPER PURCHASE REQUIRED AT http://jerrytron.com/project/three-lives]
[[Purchase the red fez! - $1.00*|4A]]
[[Nah, mayber later.|4B]]"Awwww, hell yeah!" she cries, blowing out the speaker in your crappy phone for a moment. When you first met Lillith you were a bit overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, but you like that she has enough for both of you. After changing into swimsuits and heading to the old train bridge, or 'cliff', you stand side-by-side on the edge of one of the rails. Lillith grins wildly, "Ready?"
[[IF >Red Fez< IS IN INVENTORY|6A]]
[["On three! One... Two... Three!"|6B]]
"Haha, ok! Just as long as you don't go all Of Mice and Men 'Lennie' on me." she jests. "I won't!" you promise, "They only get one life, so NICE squeezing." You laugh and reminisce about the last visit to the rescue briefly, then hit the road.
After you arrive, one of the employees informs you that they just took in an injured puma that was found close to town. The pairs of your eyes go wide, and you exclaim in unison, "CAN WE SEE IT?!?"
The employee's smile drops, "Unfortunately no, it's being treated at the moment." You wander off disappointed, but notice a sign leading to the treatment area. With two devilious grins you follow it, until you can see the sedated puma through the small glass window of a locked door. Lillith motions to you as a vet leaves another door to the same room, and you both rush to stop it from closing. You slip inside the room, looking back to make sure Lillith gets in ok. After a brief moment of snickering together, you step close to the sleeping, chained puma. "It's out cold! Com'on, pet it, it's your birthday!" Lillith whispers excitedly.
[[IF >Red Fez< IS IN INVENTORY|6C]]
[["Shhhh! Hurry!"|6D]]You drive Lillith and yourself about an hour outside of town to the Medieval Fair. It's a beautiful day, and full of people dressed in all manner of historically inaccurate garb. You laugh at a jester doing magic tricks in the mud, eat a pair of turkey legs, then proceed to get dragged to the jousting field. Lillith wears a mischevious grin, "When you were in the ba- I mean privy, I paid for you to get to be part of the jousting demonstration! Happy birthday!!!"
Before you have a chance to react, a large knight in gleaming white takes your arm and lifts you up to a podium to get dressed, and mount your horse. "Worry not," he explains, "the shield and lance are mounted, and the tips are padded."
[[IF >Red Fez< IS IN INVENTORY|6C]]
[["Giddyup I guess!"|6D]]There is no pain, just the sensation of being emptied, hollowed out. You realization this isn't a thing to be feared, because your body has simply been a vessel. It was the jar, and the real you, the part that matters is what empties into the black unknown. Soon after this realization, you feel at peace, and let go of your thoughts, of everything.The pain is intense, but dull, distant somehow. Just as quickly as you noticed its presence, it dissipates and is replaced by a heat that borders on unbearable until all sensation fades away.
The re-life process complete, a tickmark tattoo is added to your left wrist, a mark definitely worth keeping track of.
[[Continue...|Start]]After a few more hours of goofing off with Lillith, you wave goodbye after dropping her off at home. You fiddle with the radio a bit until a tune suitable to your elated mood and the setting sun filters through. Sunglasses are adjusted, your red fez tilted just so, tassel practically glowing in the light. You drive home feeling hopeful, that no matter how many lives you have left, or even if this is your last, you don't regret one second of it.Three LivesYour cell buzzes, and your friend Lillith's face appears on the screen, her middle finger stuck up her nose. "Heeeey! Happy birthday!" she yells. Lillith continues, "Now get up or we won't have time for our usual Saturday thrift stop before birthday fun! LET'S GO!"
[["To the Quick Thrift!"|3A]]
[["Let's skip and just go have fun!"|4B]]"Ok, so what should we go do then?", Lillith inquires.
[["Let's go cliff diving!"|5A]]
[["The Medieval Fair is still happening!|5B]]
[["Pet shopping, FUZZY THINGS!"|5C]][DO NOT PROCEED UNTIL PAYPAL TRANSACTION IS COMPLETE - IF YOU STEAL YOU ARE FIGURATIVELY SMACKING 2/3 OF A BAG OF SNACKS OUT OF THE AUTHOR'S HANDS, AND THAT'S ON YOU BUDDY]
You don the magnificent, red, slanted cylinder, tassel flopping whimsically as you skip to the register, pay, and head outside with Lillith. A passerby immediately compliments you as they pass, "Nice fez."
>Red Fez< ADDED TO INVENTORY
[[Continue...|4B]]"Ok!" you yell, grinning back while pushing the fez tassel out of your eyes. "On three... One... Two... ", and suddenly a breeze tips the fez off your head while Lillith yells, "THREE!!!" and leaps down to the water below. After a brief chase further down the track the fez rolls off the bridge and you leap after it, splashing down in time to hear Lillith's delightful cackling at your expense.
Lillith swims over to you as you put the sopping wet fez back on your head, already laughing yourself. "Holy crap! I just missed landing on a bunch of old rusty sheet metal in the water! You would have landed right on it!"
Your laughter doubles as the close call sinks in, "Best birthday ever!!!"
[[Continue...|7A]]You both leap off the old train bridge, sunlight on your backs. Eyes now fixated on the water below, you realize that directly underneath you are sheets of rusty metal, just below the surface. The only thought you have time for before being eviscerated is how glad you are that Lillith is just far enough over to avoid the nasty fate.
[[If you have two tickmark tattoos...|7C]]
[[Otherwise...|7B]] "Hey, can you pin my fez on top of the helmet? I can see a few holding together your tunic. It's my birthday?", you smile. The knight grins and takes the fez, "Would be my pleasure."
He pulls out a few pins from his own costume and pushes them through the fez and into the helmet already on your head. Beaming, you turn to face the field, a knight in black waiting at the opposite end. The 'King' proclaims something unintelligable through the helmet, and both horses charge toward each other.
You brace yourself as the knight approaches, but the unexpected sight of the fez seems to distract your opponent and instead of aiming for your shield, he aims a bit too high, taking the fez right off your head with his lance! Your horse comes to a quick stop, and you hear a *tink* as the shield bolt breaks from years of fatigue building up, and you hold it loose in your hand, snickering to yourself. Lillith shows you the pictures she took of the whole thing and neither of you can stop laughing.
[[Continue...|7A]]A knight in black armor sits on a horse at the opposite end of the field, waiting patiently to begin. The 'King' proclaims something unintelligable with your oversized helmet on, and both horses charge toward each other, with you just along for the ride. The shield and lance jar up and down, only staying aimed due to the mounting hardware.
Unfortunately, the shield bolt, from years of demonstrations, has weakened, and when the knight strikes it with his lance, it breaks free, striking you in the neck between armor and helmet, and you hear a lound *snap*, before falling limply down into the dirt, gasps and screams filling the air, the king yelling to check how many ticks you have.
[[If you have two tickmark tattoos...|7C]]
[[Otherwise...|7B]] You nod in quick agreement, causing your fez to topple off your head and onto the puma. It's eyes quickly open, and the not-so-sedated puma quickly puts it's jaws around the red hat, with paws quickly following to pull it in and smother it. Eyes like saucers, you and Lillith back away quietly, only taking a breath once you are both sure it's chains won't allow it to reach you.
Slipping out, you sheepishly say goodbye to the employee in front, then collapse in the front seat of your car, dying of nervous laughter at the confusion sure to follow after the vet finds a half eaten red fez with their recovering puma.
[[Continue...|7A]]You nod in quick agreement and reach your hand out to pet the puma's head. It's warm, and soft, but you only get a moment to enjoy the sensation, as the dozing-but-not-sedated puma opens it's eyes and terrified of the intrusion quickly twists it's head and clamps onto your hand. Lillith screams and runs for the door as two large paws envelope you and the jaws loosen from your hand just long enough to find your neck.
[[If you have two tickmark tattoos...|7C]]
[[Otherwise...|7B]] [[Jerry Belich|https://jerrytron.com]] ([[@j3rrytron|https://twitter.com/j3rrytron]])[[Written for the A MAZE Magazine No. 3|https://issuu.com/independenceamazing/docs/magazin_ausgabe__de__online]]