I died. It was gruesome and bloody and involved a pick-axe. The world disintegrated into blackness. Colors expressed themselves in flashes like when you stare at a light bulb then close your eyes. I blinked my eyes open, a long dark hallway. “Good morning sunshine,” a male voice. Half his face had been blown off, American. I was in a long line reeking of death. All souls, all ages, all creatures – some old, some young, some missing limbs, some put together: Nuns, lions, babies, elders, parrots, and fish flopping noisily on the concrete slabs.
The line moved quickly, one by one through iron doors. The half-faced man wished me luck. Three judges inside with a lead brick of papers they called my life. A floor littered with silver disks reflecting light onto the ceiling. With a glance upon the others, the mid-judge stood up, cloak billowing, and pointed down upon the disks as they changed to blue. I stepped down and looked inside one. A life flashed before my eyes: a cheetah, one brother, the savanna, the sun, speed, 32 kills, a poacher. I tore my eyes away, another disk. Another life: A baby boy, 5 sisters, CEO father, a new wagon, a new car, pink slip, bankruptcy, poverty, robbery, gang shooting. Another disk: A baby girl, only child, no father, dropped in a trash can. Another disk: a puppy, a runt, 5 siblings, sold to a woman, long walks, fetch, a big bone every Christmas, demise of a tumor. Another disk: A baby girl, 1 brother, murdered a water buffalo, tribal dance, married off, born 3 children, died of old age. Another disk: A slug - whoa no thanks. Another disk: A baby boy, an abusive father, a whimpering mother, alcohol at 8, weed at 10, heroin at 13, suicide at 15. What happens if someone doesn’t watch the whole life in these disks? What if they didn’t see the ending? What a miserable fate. I choose my disk, my future.
They sentence me 3 years in Hell, 3 years in Heaven for my past life that I can’t remember. Two archways, one after the other: 3 years of mind-numbing, body aching, skin searing torture; 3 years of ever-healing, smile enhancing, peacefully perfected bliss.
After Heaven I’m dropped into a green field, the waters of eternity in a pond before me. Nowhere to go now, but birth.
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