Wilks, 1 Is there a life after death? If there is, is there a Heaven or a Hell? If so then who decides our fate after death? In life we are presented with so many decisions that it would be impossible to count them. Decisions as small as, what to have for dinner, or as big as popping the question to the love of your life; we are faced with decisions both easy and hard in our lives. It is up to us to make the right choice, so decide, Heaven or Hell. I slowly opened my eyes, dazed and confused. I felt the icy floor against my face, as I lay there trying to gather my thoughts. I tried to remember what had happened to me, I can’t seem to recall anything that would lead me to this place. I search my fuzzy mind for some explanation to where I was or why I was here. I consider the possibilities but none seem like a solid answer. I suddenly become aware off a large knot on the back of my head. I touched it, and screamed out in pain. How did I get this knot, and how did this all fit together? Then like a short movie flashing in front on my eyes, I saw it, being fired from my job, driving to a bar, and drinking. I had been drinking quite a lot when I recognized a man celebrating his new job with a few friends. I then saw that this man was taking my position. So I took the shot in front of me and stumbled over to him. I was enraged; my life was ruined because of this man! I couldn’t hold it in, I swung, I remember feeling his jaw against my fist, and the crack. After that it all went down hill… the alley, the baseball bat, and then blackness. Now that I had figured out the previous events, what was this place? I slowly sit up to study my surroundings, I didn’t recognize anything here. I sat in the middle of what seemed to be a room; I don’t remember ever being here before. As I struggle to find my feet, candles dimly illuminate the room. I slowly turn around to get a better look at where was. I was standing on a marble floor, as I gradually turn I see a
Wilks, 2 chair with a single light shown upon it. I slowly walk towards it, unsure if it is meant for me. I soon reach the chair; I stand right in front of it. Suddenly I’m compelled to sit. I obey my inner voice, and sit in this peculiar chair. As soon as sit, the room is fully light. I close my eyes, the light was over whelming, my eyes needed to adjust. I again slowly open them to find a man. “You’re late, Mr. Richards,” said the man in a black suit. I check behind me, confused, it’s just me. “Um, I’m sorry? I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be here,” I said confused. “Typical, no one ever does,” said the man with a sigh, “well hurry up; we can’t afford to waste any more time. Oh, we are very behind schedule, the boss won’t be happy about this,” he said looking at his pocket watch. “Uh, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but who are you, what schedule, and who is the boss?” I said in a timid voice. “Sorry, no time for questions now, they will all be answered at a later time, but now we must rush to the Evaluator, well don’t just sit there, stand up, hurry! No, the boss won’t be happy about this at all,” he muttered in a worried voice. I stood with quite haste, but I got a head rush for standing too quickly. I staggered after the man as fast as I could. He stopped suddenly at an elevator shaft that appeared. He tapped his foot impatiently as he stared at the elevator slowly coming closer to our floor. All I could think was where I was, and what was this place? Ding! No time to ask questions, the elevator was here. We stepped in; there were four buttons, 1, 0, -1, and -2. The man pushed the 0, why would you put a zero in an elevator I thought, then again who would put negative numbers in their elevator?
Wilks, 3 “…uh, is there time to answer where we are going?” I said hesitatingly. “Enough time to give you a short version, we are going to the Evaluator, to get you evaluated,” he said in a sarcastic voice. “Well, I figured that much, but why am I being evaluated?” I said frustrated. Ding! No time to answer, again. The doors opened and a felt a blast of heat. It must be a thousand degrees in there I thought. “Go!” he said as he pushed me out the doors. We entered an enormous room, with numerous lines, and chairs. This place seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. The man pushed me into a line and handed me a paper and a pen. “I’ll be back when you’re done, and remember you can’t lie,” he said with a smirk, and vanished. Confused but not surprised that he could do something like that, this place was so mysterious like that. I stood there staring off into space trying to think where this place reminded me of….. “The D.M.V.,” said the man in front of me. “Yes! That’s it, the D.M.V., of course, I knew that this was familiar,” I said with a groan. “Yeah, it took me awhile, but then it hit me, the D.M.V.,” he said as he chuckled. “Chad Richards,” I said as I extended a hand. “James Perenchio,” he said accepting my hand. “So, James, we obviously aren’t on earth, so where are we?” I asked him. He looked surprised, “you haven’t figured that out? We are in Hell, how did you not figure that out.” “…WHAT?! HELL?!, HOW?” I almost yelled.
Wilks, 4 “SHH! Don’t upset them, that would be the worst mistake that you ever made,” James said in a hushed voice. I looked at who he was talking about, guards. Men dressed black suites, stood around the room. They all were wearing sunglasses but I could feel their gazes on me. “Oh, them. Sorry I just didn’t think…” “That’s right you didn’t, now don’t talk to me, if you get in trouble I’m not going to get pulled in too.” He said in an annoyed tone. Okay…, I glanced down at the paper in my hands. The title was THE TEST, I thought wow this must be Hell, because I haven’t taken a test since college. 1. Did you constantly put yourself before others? Yes___ No___ 2. Did you beg from others what you could provide for yourself? Yes___ No___ 3. Did you intentionally cause pain to others? Yes___ No___ 4. Did you commit slander? Yes___ No___ 5. Did you abuse innocents? Yes___ No___ 6. Did you commit murder? Yes___ No___ 7. Were you vain? Yes___ No___ 8. Did you cheat? Yes___ No___ 9. Were you a thief? Yes___ No___ 10. Are you a liar?
Wilks, 5 Yes___ No___
I read each question slowly, thinking carefully about the words on the paper. I recapped my life, to make sure that I wrote the right answer, hmm… (Now, you the reader are to answer these questions truthfully, to determine Mr. Richards’ fate. You must answer to continue with this story.) Once I finished my test, I checked to make sure I wrote down the correct answer. I didn’t want to mess this test up. I looked up from my test to find that the line hadn’t moved at all. Typical D.M.V., I thought. We shuffled through the lines, for what seemed to be hours. Many people made small talk; there was even an argument where the guards got involved. The guards seized the two men arguing and they disappeared, the room fell silent, followed by cries of pain. There was a murmur and people became to talk again. Since I had obviously offended James, I thought about what would happen once I got to the front of the line. Every so often I would NEXT!, but other then that I had no idea what was going on. Finally I reached the front of the line, NEXT! I walked up to the women behind the desk. “Hi, here you go,” I said as I handed her my test. She didn’t look up, but she snatched it from my hands and swung around in her chair to a wall of filing cabinets. “Name,” she ordered. “Chad Richards,” I replied. She typed it in to a keypad and the file cabinets flew past, until it came to R. She jerked open the Richards drawer, she thumbed through the files. She then yanked a file from the cabinet and swung around in her chair. She looked up at me for the first time.
Wilks, 6 She was an elderly lady, in frumpy clothes, and wild glasses with the beaded croakies. She had penciled on eyebrows, which were an odd shade of reddish brown, and she had bright red lipstick smeared on her front teeth. I couldn’t help but smile inside. “Let’s see…, hmm,” she was reviewing my answers. When she is done she stamps it “APPROVED.” “Okay, here take this and go over there,” she said. “Are you serious, I just waited in this line for forever, and now you are telling me to go stay in a holding pen?” I said in an annoyed tone “Is that a problem?” she said peering over the top of her glasses. “No, just checking that’s what you wanted me to do,” I said, trying to make it sound like that’s honestly what I meant. I turned around and began to walk to line number 1. “NEXT!,” the lady yelled from behind me. I looked down at the paper I had been give. It appeared to be an answer sheet for the test I had just taken, it read: For the test that you have just taken, here is the point system. For each question you answered “yes” to add the number of points to your score. After you finished going over your test, add up the total score that you answered “yes” to.
QUESTIONS POINTS 1 = 3 2 = 3 3 = 3 4 = 2 5 = 4 6 = 5 7 = 1
Wilks, 7 8 9 10
= = =
3 3 4
If you scored 0-8, congratulations, you get to go to purgatory. You have lived a selfish life, so for your punishment report to line number 1. If you scored 9-20, you have lived the path of the lesser of two evils; for your punishment report to line number 2. If you scored 21-31, your life was full of sins; for your punishment report to line number 3. (Now you, the reader, score the test that you filled out, based on the point system above. According to the line you are sent to continue from that section in the story.) Line One Lucky me, I though, purgatory, this will be tons of fun for eternity. I guess the up side is that my life wasn’t a compete scam. My life could have been better though, I should have given more back to the community. As I thought about my life I made my way over to line number 1. I looked around, what a bunch of losers I though, oh wait, now I’m a loser too, splendid. I waited in line again, but this time the line was shorter. But it still seemed to take forever, time sure flies when you’re having fun! While I was having fun, I couldn’t help but wonder what my punishment would be. Would I be pulled apart limb by limb, and then painfully have to re-grow my limbs? Or would I starve to death, but never die? If that one happened though at least I could obtain the figure I always wanted. I couldn’t help but let my imagination fun wild, with different ways that could be used to torture me.
Wilks, 8 Finally I got shoved into the elevator. We were all sweating for the unbearable heat, so the elevator stung with the scent of B.O. It was oh so wonderful being in Hell. Once the elevator stopped we filed out. We were then ushered into a large room. The man, whom I had met earlier in my adventure, was at the front of the room. The room looked like a meeting for motivational speeches. I grabbed one of the chairs in the middle of the room and waited for what ever was supposed to happened, to happen. Finally everyone was seated and the man in the black suit began. “Welcome to purgatory; you will be here for the rest of eternity. Now for the moment you all have been waiting for…. Your punishment,” he paused for the dramatic effect. Then he continued, “Since you have lived a selfish life, you will finally be able to indulge yourself. You will all gain fifty pounds, due to the pleasure you had in spoiling yourself.” That’s stupid I thought, its Hell come on, I’ve lost fifty pounds since I’ve been here in sweat. “Oh, and one last thing, it will be impossible for you to lose a single pound. Even if you starve yourself and work out, you will NEVER lose this weight,” he said with a laugh. As soon as he said that I though wow this is hell. I am about six foot, and weigh a hundred and eighty pounds, I’m an average guy. With an extra fifty pounds I’ll weigh two hundred and thirty pounds, there’s no way that’s normal. One of the good things I did on earth was eating right and exercise. Now everything that I’ve worked on will be gone within seconds. Now this wasn’t fair, but then again it’s Hell.
Wilks, 9 I looked around the room, to find that everyone was beginning to swell, even me. I looked at my stomach as it started to inflate like a large balloon. I’ll I could do was stare in disbelief. One woman screamed, I wanted to yell and curse in frustration, but my voice wouldn’t work, I was speechless. The buttons on my shirt started to pop off. I quickly undid my belt to make room for my enlarging stomach. It started to become painful, my skin was being stretched way to fast, and I felt like I was going to explode. My flesh began to ach, it was like when a cut you have finally loses its scab and you accidentally pull the skin around it and the cut is reopened. It was the most painful thing that I have endured in my life time. Once I stopped growing, I looked myself over, this is bad, really bad, I thought. I was embarrassed and ashamed of my body. How could people live like this on earth? We were in the room for about a grand total of ten minutes, but it seemed like ten hours, from watching your body transform. We were again herded out of the room, we had no idea where we were going, but then again we never knew where we were going or what we were going to do once we got there. (Now turn to Doors to continue the story.) Line Two I left the desk and made my way to line number two; the whole time thinking about me life and my decisions. Thinking the whole time, well there was that one time that I…, and then that one year I …., and the one business deal…. By the time that I had recapped and thought about all the mistakes I had made in my life I was at the then end of line two. I stood there thinking about the possible punishments that I could receive. Hmm…. By the time I had reached the front of the line I had imagined every thing
Wilks, 10 possible. NEXT! I walked up and was ushered in to the room. In the room there was a man in blue suit, I approached him with curiosity. “Step up, don’t be shy. Mr. Richards welcome to the middle part of Hell. Here you will receive your punishment for the crimes you committed. Walk through these doors to your fate,” said the man in the blue suit. I nodded and walked turned the knob on the door took a deep breath and walked in. I suddenly was in the middle of a dessert. It was actually a little cooler then the D.M.V. room. I wasn’t quite sure what to do so I began to walk. I soon found out that this was a worse heat though because it was humid. My lips were cracked and bleeding and I was so sun burned that I resembled a lobster. But all I could do is walk and hope that I could find away out of this. I kept walking until I saw an ocean…or was it a mirage? I ran for it hoping for the best. As soon as I got closer I saw that it was a true and blue ocean. I ran even faster, but only to find it getting farther and farther away. I stopped, hmm… how could I reach an ocean that I can’t reach going towards it….? So I turned around and began to walk backwards toward the ocean, and believe it or not the ocean started to get closer. This is too easy I thought, as I kept walking, did I escape Hell that easy? Of coarse not! I got to the edge of the water and there stood the man in the blue suit. “Congratulations are in order, Mr. Richards, you figured out how to reach the water. But now you must pay for being so clever, you will wish that you never found a way to get to the water,” he said with a smirk. I suddenly was thrown into the water, and began to sink. The water felt so nice against my sunburned skin, that I thought that fool on the beach is wrong, I am very glad
Wilks, 11 I found the water. As soon as I tried to swim towards the surface I realized that I couldn’t move… I tried again to make my way to the surface, and failed. Okay, I thought this can’t turn out good. I began to sink even faster, as I sank I could feel the pressure building around me. I soon was in complete darkness, and I could fee my bones being crushed. The pressure was too great, and I began to crumple into a ball, when suddenly I was yanked from the water. “Because you have shown promising talents, we are taking you to another part of Hell, for another test. If you pass you will be greatly rewarded. Consider yourself lucky,” said the man in the blue suit. I was lead to a group of others like me, wet and sunburned; we stood in a group and waited for the next event to happen. (Now turn to Doors to continue the story.) Line Three I left her desk and made my way to line number three. Had my life been that sinful? Was I really that bad of a person? My life was terrible…wow I was a bad person. I was ashamed and embarrassed of my life. But if I was that terrible why were people my “friends?” Why didn’t my family confront me? Oh, that’s right they did try to help… Why was I so stubborn? Why didn’t I listen, try to change? By the time I had questioned my life and morals I was at the end of line three. This line was so much shorter then the other lines. It must be because such few people have committed numerous sins. I was still in shock from my score on my test, when I was ushered into a small room. I hadn’t noticed that they were taking people in one at a
Wilks, 12 time. I was in a daze as they practically dragged me into the room. They let go of me, and I managed to stand. If front of me was a man in a red suit. “Mr. Richards, as you know this is the deepest part of Hell, I am assigning you to room twenty-five, for each sin you have committed. Don’t be afraid,” he said with a laugh. I was then dragged out of the room, down a hall with numbers carved into doors. We reached room twenty-five; the guards opened the door, “Enjoy,” said one and shut the door. This shouldn’t be too bad I thought complete solitude. The room was completely black; there was a faint light, though I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I was exhausted, so I lay on the floor and closed my eyes to get some sleep. I had been dozing off when I saw a girl running, she was frightened. I sat up to get a better look; she had blond hair, and was skinny and tan. She was running and constantly checking behind her. When she started to slow down she kept looking behind her, she turned around to face forward to be caught by a man. He had a knife; he thrust it in to her chest. She screamed as he pulled it out and let go of her. She fell to the ground, were the man continued to slice her throat. As she lay there blood oozing from her, I saw her face for the first time, it was my sister. I couldn’t stop watching, I tried to turn away, but the image followed me, I closed my eyes but the scene kept going. I began to cry, “TAKE ME!,” I cried at the man, he just stared at me and smiled. I couldn’t stand so I sat there in a ball, trying to block out the images.
Wilks, 13 Every time I blocked out an image another would appear, my mother, my father, my brother, and my sister all be viciously murdered right in front of my eyes. I tried to block the images but they kept coming, I was violently sick. I couldn’t take it anymore. When the door was yanked open by the guards, “Had enough,” one said. “YES, please don’t punish them for my mistakes,” I pleaded. The guards looked at each other, and then one spoke, “Come on.” I hadn’t noticed but I wasn’t the only person there, more people in my state, delusional. (Now turn to Doors to continue the story.) Doors We were lead down the hall and into a room with two doors. The room was all white, even the floor. It was perfect and it wasn’t the least bit dirty. It was like standing in the mind of someone with O.C.D. The two doors were as equally as white as the rest of the room. The men in black suits stuck out like a sore thumb. But there was one man in a white suit by the two doors. In this line though no one spoke, it was completely silent. The person at the front of the line waved the person to step forward and then the man in the white suit would whisper something into the person’s ear. The person would then step closer to the doors, some would walk straight up to a door, and some would hesitate before being swallowed by the darkness behind the door. As I came closer to the front of the line, I began to wonder what would be whispered into my ear. I finally got to the front of the line, the man waved me forward. As I approached him I felt a flutter of fear inside of me. I stood next to him, he leaned in whispered,
Wilks, 14 “If given a second chance at life would you accept it, or continue in the afterworld? The door on the right is for if you would like a second chance and the door on the left is for you would like to continue in the afterworld. Remember there is no lying or you will stay in Hell for sure.” I stepped forward, had to make this decision, but I must choose carefully. First of all he said that I would stay in Hell, which means that one of these doors leads out. So now my decision was that much more important. On one hand getting out of Hell would be ideal, but what would I do with my life? Would I actually do good for the world, or would I just say that to get out of here, and then continue living my life the way that I had before? Or would I really make a difference on earth and dedicate myself to doing good for the world? Or I could decide to stay here and accept the consequences for the decisions that I made. I made mistakes and it was up to me to fix them while I was one earth, I left things how fate intended them to be, if I went back I would be medaling with fate. If I did mess up, fate, it might make things even worse and I could end up in a deeper part of Hell. Wow this was a tough decision… what to do? (Now you, the reader, decide what Chad should do, enter the right door for a second chance, the door on the left to stay in the afterlife. Decide and continue the story based off your decision.) The Right Door I took a deep breath as I reached for the door knob on the right. I held my breath as I stepped through the door, it was completely black. I took another step forward in to the blackness. Wow this is dark I thought, as I kept walking, cautiously. I felt it start to get hotter. I kept walking, unsure where I was supposed to be going. Suddenly with a
Wilks, 15 burst of flame I knew, Hell. Oh no, I had made the wrong decision, but how, it seems liked the answer that would be right. “Aw, Mr. Richards, I didn’t know if I would be seeing you again. I see that you made the wrong decision, tsk tsk…. Now you are kicking yourself, thinking why? Well it is part of life and fate to accept what you did of earth. You should know by now that you aren’t given many second chances in life. It is your duty on earth to make mistakes and to repair them, or to accept your punishment. You tried to deny your punishment, which is a big no, no. So welcome to Hell for the rest of your life, Mr. Richards,” lectured the man in the black suit. The Left Door I took a deep breath as I reached for the door knob on the left. I held my breath as I stepped through the door, it was completely black. I took another step forward into the blackness. Wow this is dark I thought, as I kept walking, cautiously. I felt it start to get cooler. Then up ahead I saw a bright white light, I remember hearing, “walk into the light,” from the people on earth. It was so blinding that I shielded my eyes with my hand. Then with a blast of cool air and a blinding flash of light, I was fully engulfed by light. I closed my eyes unsure what was happening. When I opened them again I saw crystal blue sky with perfect clouds drifting by. I was overjoyed that I found eternal bliss! HURRAY!! I had freed myself from my punishments from Hell. I was pleased, cheery, delighted, ecstatic, glad, on cloud nine (literally), well you get the point I was happy. I made the right choice on the most important decision of my life and after life.