Heaven Isn't All It's Jazzed Up To Be

When dying isn't the biggest problem you are having that day, you know things are not going your way. At least that was what Hino Michio was thinking as he was standing at the front desk of what he was told was supposed to be heaven.

„What do you mean a roommate? Isn't this supposed to be paradise?“ he was almost yelling. He had waited for what felt like an eternity to get to the front of the line and now he was told that he had to share the place he would be spending eternity in with another person. The elderly woman sitting behind the counter was not impressed.

„Look man, people are dying like it's going out of style lately. We are short on accommodation so we all have to make do. It is what it is. I'm having to share my place with some saints and believe me, they will let you know how holy they are whether you like it or not.“

Michio was pulling a face like he was being sent to hell, but at last he resigned.

„Fine, where do I have to go then?“

„That's more like it sweetie. Here is the key and a map. You should find it pretty easily. It's a bit of a walk though.“

„Walk? What is this suppo...“ A stern look by the lady shut him up and he just grabbed the key and map that lay in front of him and was out onto the street of what allegedly was heaven. Now he could for the first time look at where he actually was and he couldn't deny that it looked quite heavenly after all. There were a lot of buildings in all different sizes scattered around the place and all were shimmering white. The bases of nearly all the buildings were covered in clouds and the roofs of the buildings were gold plated and the sunlight made them light up in a way that was hard to describe, but certainly put all the earths churches to shame. It was hard to tell how big this place really was, because the all sides the buildings eventually disappeared into the clouds and that made it seem like they could potentially go on forever. Thinking that he would have more than enough time to look at the surroundings later on Michio wanted to make his way to his new place, especially to find out what the business with this roommate was. Supposedly it was a person that died quite recently just like he had, so they both probably had no real clue about what was really going on at this place.

Michio looked at the map and at the street sign next to him and saw that it would indeed be quite easy to find, but it looked like a trudge. But since he had nothing else to do he just started walking and it felt strangely pleasant to walk on the surface of this street. It was sturdy, but at the same time it felt flexible and soft. Maybe there was something to this heaven business after all. Walking in this pleasant way Michio for the first time since he arrived at the pearly gates had some time to think about what actually had happened to him. Dead. He still couldn't quite believe it. The one second you are a high school student in the prime of your life and the next you are told off by a lady that barely deserved the description of angel, athough that's probably what she was. And how did he actually die? The last thing he remembered was trying to score a date with his crush like every day. They were alone on the roof of the school and then everything went black. Something must have happened. Something bad. Or good. Maybe she finally said yes and he died of happiness. But that was very unlikely, since his crush always had seemed very one sided. But that gave way to another thought. 

Now that he was in heaven, why did he still think about her? Wasn't this supposed to be a place of tranquility and bliss? Not that the thought of the girl he liked wasn't bliss, but the likeliness of him scoring a date were pretty low now, which presented a bit of a conundrum. Spending all eternity thinking about a girl that now literally was out of reach wasn't a very pleasent prospect. But who knew, maybe there were some other girls here he could fall in love with. Speaking of other girls, there were actually quite a few people out on the street, but for some reason noone ever seemed to run into each other, no matter how busy everything was. 

Probably another benefit of being in heaven. Everyone was also wearing the same clothing pretty much. The women were wearing a sort of plain white dress that had accents in different colors. Not very progressive thought Michio to himself. Pants were not allowed for women it seemed. The men were wearing pants though and they also had the same kind of different white color with different accents, same as the shirts everyone was sporting. Very egalitarian in its way. 

The temperature was also very pleasent and an ever so slight breeze was making it quite a lovely place to be. Looking at the map again Michio realised that he was almost there and he started to look for the house with the appropriate house number and name. Cloud No. 9. Michio couldn't help but smile at the lucky coincidence of being allotted a place with such a meaningful name. If only his crush were here as well, that would make everything perfect. Finally he saw the right building and it turned out to be a family home that looked like it could house two people very comfortably and Michio was relieved. Maybe this would work out after all. Standing at the doorstep he took a deep breath, put the key in and turned it.