It was a Run

Silence. No white light either. Good to know that is a lie.

“Well hello there!”, A voice greets me loudly as if speaking into a microphone, deafening me from the volume. I cover my ears attempting to prepare myself for the next overbearing sound. “Oh sorry bout that.”, The voice adds quieter now. I presume the one behind the voice lowered the volume or decided to use their inside voice. “Let me help you there.”, The voice says making me realize that I cannot open my eyes. Before dread can take hold of me however, my eyes finally open.

I am left speechless at the sight. It most certainly does not look like any pearly gates with streets of gold. There is no weeping or screams either. It is just a plain room with beige painted walls, most likely an office. A wizened man with salt and pepper hair and a pure white beard smiles at me. The owner of the voice, I presume. Instead of continuing to speak it seems he is giving me time to absorb the senses of the cramped surroundings.

“You weren’t the most amazing person in life.”, The man says finally breaking the silence that fell between us. He looks at an open folder full of pieces of paper on his desk as he continues, “But you did save those kids at the end. So that’s pretty nice.”, He adds as he just skips to the last page of the file. I shift in my seat, the chair is really uncomfortable but I do not feel a pain in my back like I usually do. Wait, he just said I saved kids!?

“I’m dead…”, I say with both shock and stoicism in my voice as realization dawns but still trying to appear controlled.

“Yuppers!”, The man responds in a rather chipper tone. “No need to act tough right now. I know how you’re actually feeling.”, He looks up at me with a friendly smile but his eyes appear empty and his tone is stoic. He probably has to deal with this all the time. “To keep things simple.”, He continues as he looks down at his desk and reaches into one of its drawers, “I’m a god but not with a capital g, you dig?” He pulls out a brochure from the drawer and sets it on his desk in front of me. “It’s complicated and I’m not gonna bother trying to explain it because you wouldn’t comprehend everything anyways.” I grab the brochure and look at it. The small paper has a blue and orange color scheme on the front page that reads, “You only die once! (Usually)”, I raise my brow at the sight of the word in parenthesis. What could that even mean? Reverse Buddhism? You usually move on to your eternity but some do not?

“You’re a being that looks after souls once the body dies. Not too complicated.”, I say as I skim the little paper in my hands. “The real complicated part is what all this is and what the process is.” The man rests his hands on his gut as he begins to laugh hardily. Apparently I said something funny.

“You’re kind of right.”, The portly man says after he finally stops laughing. His gaze falls onto the brochure in my hands as he continues, “You’re in one of those special cases.”

“What does that mean?”, I ask without missing a beat.

Instead of responding to me, he flips through my file once more until he finds the section he is looking for.

“I have the will but not the means.”, He reads from the paper. “You said this, correct?”, His gaze falls on me like a parent finding out their child has been trying to hide something embarrassing from them as he inquires. Oh lord, it really does sound lame to say. But I did say it. I nod my head in acknowledgment to answer his question. “Well that’s why you’re here.”, He says as he sets the paper down. He stands up from his desk as too many questions race through my mind to even think of properly. “I’ll answer your questions.”, He speaks gently trying to put me at ease as he walks up to the door behind us. “If you will follow me.”, He adds as he opens the door.

-- -- --

The old man and I pass by a trio of rather bland people in business attire. Each of the trio is looking intently at their computer screens.

“As you can see, we work hard and diligently to find the right place for every soul.”, The old man says as if he is now a tour guide. He looks at me before inquiring, “Is there something you want to ask?”

“Yes.”, I answer. “What’s your name?”, I ask him as I came to the realization he never introduced himself.

“Oh right!”, My psychopomp says as he puts a hand to his head. He sticks a hand out for me to shake as he states with a bit too much enthusiasm, “You can call me Cedric.” I look at his hand for a moment without a word. “Not one for touching people. Right! In the file.”, Cedric says as he puts his hand into one of his suit pockets.

“Cedric? I would’ve expected something a bit more archaic or something. You know, like Anubis or Hermes.”, I say just letting out my thoughts.

“Maybe I am.”, Cedric says with a chuckle as he turns away and begins to lead me down the hallway once again. He did say to call him Cedric, not that it is his name. It could be one of the psychopomps of mythology, there is no pearly gates so I assume he is not an angel in the biblical sense.

“Where exactly are we going?”, I ask once we reach the end of the hallway and enter a large entry.

“Down.”, Cedric answers vaguely as he walks over to a pair of elevators and presses the down button to call one. Well that is not reassuring. Is he trying to keep some big surprise secret? I really hate surprises, they were never good in my life.

“And where exactly is that?”, I inquire further, trying to pry any information from the psychopomp.

“I would say classified but you’re gonna see it anyways.”, The mysterious man chuckles in response. His gaze meets mine as he continues, “I told you that I’m giving you the means to match your will.” The elevator pings and its doors slide open to the small empty box inside. We step inside as Cedric continues explaining, “You’re gonna be given a second chance at life to do anything really of note.” I raise a brow at the words, he is not wrong that I did not really do anything note worthy but I still can feel offended by those words. “I expect a lot from you. Despite the age you died at you’re practically an untapped mine of potential.”, He states seeming to try to lessen the insult he said just before.

“So we’re going where that will happen?”, I ask because I really hate when people beat around the bush.

“Yes indeed.”, Cedric nods his head as he answers.

A silence falls between us right before the elevator stops and the doors ping open to reveal a large empty room.

“This is the place?”, I ask as we step out of the elevator. I look around to see if there is anything or anyone besides the two of us. “I expected something, anything in here.”, I say in annoyance.

“Yup.”, Cedric stoically states as he stops in the middle of the room.

“Now you’re gonna tell me magic is real. Or you have some super advanced technology I can’t understand, right?”, I let my annoyance flow freely from my mouth as I walk to his side.

“Got it in one.”, The psychopomp answers with a sly smile. He points at me and taps a foot against the floor.

A multitude of transparent screen displays appear around me. Why did we have to come here for him just to do this? I hold my tongue and attempt to read the screens around me. They possess quite a lot of words. A few catch my eye.

“An orphaned girl!?”, I say unable to stay silent.

“It’s easier than a kid with a family.”, Cedric shrugs rather nonchalantly. That is very concerning.

“How!?”, I inquire with worry as I read other parts of the screens.

“It’s easier for you because it’s not like you were all that close to your family in your past life.”, He retorts with a shrug.

“Okay, but why a girl? I’m a guy.”, I ask as I take mental notes of the words I am reading.

“It was the option selected for you.”, He answers as he puts one of his heavy arms on my shoulders.

“Okayyyyyy…”, I respond with a perplexed look. He seems very different than before.

“Well that’s about it. You’ll be off to your new life.”, The psychopomp states with a broad smile as he removes his arm from my shoulders. “Unless you have any questions.”, He says with a hint of indignation.

“Several, but I doubt you’ll answer them.”, I answer honestly.

“True enough.”, He responds with a shrug.

A hole appears near the two of us with a rush of air blowing through it. I walk over to it and see that it is some kind of portal to the open air. I look back to Cedric to ask him why not put the portal on the ground but instead there is a woman in rather form fitting business attire.

“Have fun!”, The woman says as she pushes me into the open sky. I barely notice her name tag on her blouse before the portal closes and she vanishes from sight. Eris, damn. Seriously!?