Naomi, for the first time in a long time, was feeling at peace. She felt like she was in a grassy meadow, chirping birds, flowers in full bloom, and a gentle summer breeze. In the background, there was also a clear sound of a hammer hitting an anvil, sizzling water when someone put a hot iron in the bucket and the work of bellows under the furnace. Naomi doesn't want to open her eyes and stop her best dream ever. She gives up on everything, so maybe she gives up on living and dreams until everything fades.

  ''Hey, little one. Can you open your eyes?'' Naomi heard a gentle female voice.

  She knows her dream can’t last too long. It was too good. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and was stunned. She was in a grassy meadow, and there was smithy. And not the small ones, there was even a beautiful stallion waiting for new horseshoes. There were also people. A tall female with a gentle smile in a long green dress and even a sparrow on her shoulder. She was like some depictions of Gaia, the goddess of life worshiped by neo-pagans and Wiccans. And there was a man big and muscular with soot on his face and in full smith gear.

  ''Ach, there she is,'' Man smiles.

  Naomi tries to stand but realizes she doesn't have a body.

  ''I died. yes?''

  ''Sorry, my dear, but yes,'' The female responded with genuine sadness.

  ''Can I stay here?''

  ''Why do you won’t stay here?''

  ''This meadow is beautiful and makes me feel relaxed. And there is a smithy. I don't have a body anymore, but if I can watch your work, sir, I will be delighted.

  ''You know about smithing?'' Ask man.

  ''Only a little. I was on a two-week-long course in which instructors with knowledge of history were teaching about smithing. On the last day, I was allowed to make myself horseshoes. Well, I did it, and it somehow looks like a horseshoe but will hurt the horse if anyone tries to fit it.''

  ''History?'' The man asks.

  ''I think we forgot to introduce ourselves. So I will start.'' Said the woman. ''I’m The Lady. I'm the goddess of life in general. I especially take care of everything that is happening in spring.''

  ''And I'm The Smith, god of smiths, crafters, and ancestor god of dwarfs.''

  ''Hello, Mam and Sir. I'm Naomi. In my past life, I was a girl full of regrets and unfulfilled passions. I'm a failure.'' Naomi said with a breaking voice.

  ''You're not.'' The Smith disagrees with her. ''Maybe you finally gave up in the end, but we both see how bright and strong your soul is, and that means that you keep trying and don’t abandon your passions until the end.''

  ''My soul?''

  ''Yes. Maybe some basic knowledge about that will help. Through your life, your soul grows and changes. When someone gives up when he faces some challenges, his soul dims and weakens. And when someone like you keeps trying and doesn't give up, his soul grows and shines brighter. The second thing is when someone dies, his soul ends in the ocean of souls, where they wait to be reborn.'' Continued goddess. ''Universes are like islands in this ocean. Most souls are reborn in the same universe where they were born. They stay near things they know and like. Others like you venture or drift away usually because they were hurt and are looking for a better place to live. All of that happens without anyone's intervention.''

  ''Well, usually'' Said god. ''We, gods, can look there, and if we see some interesting soul like yours, we can invite it to talk.''

  ''You want something from me.'' Naomi tries to step back, but without a real body, she can’t move.

  ''Oh no. Not that kind of talk. You scared her.'' Goddess scolded her companion.

  ''Ach, sorry. I mean friendly talk or business talk.''

  ''Business? with me?'' Naomi was surprised.

  ''Yes, we have a proposition for you.'' Said god.

  ''And you are invited to live in our world regardless of your decision,'' Goddess added.

  ''Exactly. Your bright soul has the potential to inspire people of our world. I know, give me a moment, I'll bring the Globus and show Theneye.'' He runs to one of the buildings.

  ''Don’t be scared of him. Maybe he is rough, but he has a heart of gold. His wife is still in love with him. Even after all those thousands of years of marriage.''

  ''Marry? Thousands of years?'' Naomi was shocked that he was married and how long.

  ''Yes. Goddess Iliana, goddess of arts. They are such a good fit for each other. He likes creating mundane practical things, and she loves beautiful ones, not necessarily useful things.''

  ''But things can be practical and beautiful.'' Naomi retorted. ''Sorry.''

  ''Don’t be. And it’s not a secret. They always work and help each other. Thanks to that, their love for each other only deepens over time.''

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  ''I have it!'' Naomi heard a joyful cry. God was bringing an enormous globus, a 1-meter diameter, and with legs, it was 1.5 meters tall. Mountains, valleys, and seas are not only painted but also carved. Names of places were calligraphed, and Naomi was almost certain that with the help of a magnifying glass, she would find many fine details.

  ''Beautiful,'' Naomi said, seeing it. ''And I’m sorry for being scared. I'm bad with people.''

  ''Don’t worry. My wife always scolds me because I sometimes scare people.'' He laughs.

  ''I think you need a body,'' Goddess said. ''But I’m concerned it will be cruel for you.''

  ''Why?''

  ''Well, it will be a temporary body. But if you accept our offer, you can keep it. We can modify it if you feel that some changes are needed.''

  ''But if I don’t, I don’t.'' Naomi sighed.

  ''Sorry. Rules and all of that. We can only guarantee your race and gender.'' Said god.

  ''I think I will risk it. Even for a moment, I want to see myself as I always dreamed.''

  ''Ok. Close your eyes and imagine yourself. Try to focus on how hard you can. But don’t worry, we can fix it if something goes wrong.''

  Naomi closed her eyes, and a warm feeling surrounded her, and she started remembering her perfect self.

  ''I think we are ready. You can open your eyes.'' Naomi heard after a few moments. She was standing in front of a full-high mirror. It took a few very long moments until she started to understand what she saw. Her face was delicate and girlie. Her hands and body were petite, at least one foot shorter than six feet four inches high, a monstrosity full of muscles. She can wear dresses. She was even wearing a yellow sundress.

  ''Thank you,'' Naomi said after a long moment. ''I promise to consider your proposition. However, I don't feel worthy to be part of some divine plans.

  ''Don’t worry. It’s nothing that big.'' Said god. ''Anyway, this is Theneya. As you see, we have three continents. The smallest one in the south is called Auos. Most cities are on the coast, but in the center of this continent, under mountains, are three dwarven kingdoms too. Humans and elves are two main races. There are others, like halflings or beastmen, too. All of them are great sailors. The second landmass and the biggest one is called Gina. It stretches from almost half the distance between the equator and the South Pole to far north. And its width is also similar. There are a lot of woods, plains, mountains, and rivers. Anyone can find a place to live. Well, maybe apart from the Great Ul-hiram Desert in the center. Some tribes roam through the sand, but no cities or even villages. And there is a third continent in the north. Frozen and unsuitable for habitation. Home of twisted gods, orcs, goblins, and other evil creations. They try to conquer other continents by sea or land.''

  ''I see that you have a question. Ask, don’t be afraid'' Encouraged her goddess.

  ''It could be an impudent question.'' Naomi started. ''But by twisted and evil, you mean they want to kill and destroy everyone, or just that they have different views on all the important things. People sometimes can’t agree on which type of government is better, a king, council, or parliament.''

  ''That it is indeed a bold question. I like her.'' Laugh god.

  ''Yes. And I’m afraid it’s the first option. Oh, you don't know how I wish that someday we can stop all this killing and destruction.''

  ''Well, first you need to a way to communicate with them. You see a young one. We call them gods because they have powers like us. And they exist because someone worships them. But they are mindless, twisted beasts. Nobody is safe near them, even those who serve them.'' Explain god.

  ''So like lord of the rings.'' Naomi sighted.

  ''Lord of the Rings?'' Asked goddess.

  ''Oh, it's a fictional story from my world, one of the greatest. There, too, were dark powers seeking to twist and destroy everything.''

  ''In your world, they don’t exist?''

  ''In my world, there are only humans. Some people say we can be so cruel to each other that all evil runs away scared.''

  ''That's terrible. No wonder you are so scared.''

  ''I had it bad, but not that bad. People from my world can be very selfless and caring, too. I really cannot say what is worse, some eldritch horrors or some mad politician who thinks that can decide about everyone's lives.''

  ''I'm afraid that we gods cannot help you with your rulers.''

  ''Why?''

  ''It’s like with kids and parents. What will happen when parents help with everything?''

  ''Kid grows up as spoiled, lazy brat,'' Naomi said. ''Sorry.''

  ''I like her more and more,'' Laughed god.

  ''Well, I wouldn’t use exact words, but yes.'' Goddess smiles, too.

  ''And that is a good moment for you to tell us a few words about yourself, young one. For example, you said you learn about smithing as something almost forgotten.'' Ask god.

  ''Well, another big difference between my world and yours is the lack of magic, or at least no one knows how to use it. We have learned through thousands of years how to observe nature and unravel its secrets. We call it science. We have physics that explains thunder or gravity. We have chemistry, which tells us about matter and its properties, we use that to predict what we need to create new substances. Biology tells us how living things work. This is tightly connected to medicine. The mathematics that allows it sometimes even predicts the future. And my passion, engineering. Well, part of it. Knowledge about machines. Because in my world, we use machines for everything. They become so complicated that we need other machines to create machines we use daily.''

  ''And you know all of that.'' Gasp goddess.

  ''No.'' Naomi smiled. ''No one knows all of that. But we have the internet. It's a kind of library. We have this device, which we call a smartphone. In the past, they were used to just talking to other people who were far away, like a city or continent. Now, they allow us to access the internet almost everywhere in my world. My passion, like I said, was engineering. I especially love clocks and everything with gears. Our modern machines practically stop using them. And old machines were created by someone with basic tools with just someone's imagination.''

  ''Ha, I know it! You are just like me.'' Smiled god. ''You love to create thighs, especially if you can do it by hand and personally.''

  ''Well, I built a couple by myself. But I use some machines to design parts and see if everything fits.''

  ''Nah, detail. Everyone uses what he or she has, some have paper, you have machines, and I have light.'' He presented a holographic schematic of a sword with lots of floating notes about different parts. ''Some had paths of sand and sticks. None of these things can create anything for you. All those notes I placed personally'' He pointed out on the hologram. ''Your machine can do that?''

  ''No, they can't.''

  ''And that means you are like us. You are the creator. Even our goddess here sometimes nudges things here and there to see what happens.''

  ''Well, yes.'' Goddess was a little embarrassed. ''Stagnation is bad for living things. One unexpected storm or wildfire can wipe out many living creatures. If through my nudging some run away or survive, life will go on.''

  ''And now we go to our proposition.''