5 questions

"Why me?"

"Why am I so lonely?"

These were the questions I often asked God before sleeping, just to wake up in what felt like a second and live my miserable life again. 

On my way to the office, I always see this couple sitting in front of me, clinging to each other like it's doomsday. I hate them!

I hate the happy kids going to their schools together every day. I hate my coworkers enjoying their lives as if they are not stuck in this rat race with me. I hate my manager. I hate my landlord. I hate my neighbor and her stupid dog. I hate my…!

Uhhhhh… To be honest,

I don’t hate anyone. I know it in my heart: I’m just jealous of them.

"Why are they so happy, but not me?"

The question always ticks in my brain every hour.

"Cid, are you even listening?!"

 The sudden shout scared me. It was my manager.

"Complete this work before you head home," she ordered and left.

She’s an exception, actually. I do hate her

.After doing overtime for the second time this week, I finally reached home

.They say, “There’s nothing more peaceful than home.”

I think they have no idea about barbaric neighbors, drainage smells, insects, construction noise, or a stupid landlady.

I didn’t eat today. I was so tired that I just went straight to sleep, frustrated that tomorrow would be the same.

But this time, when my eyes opened, it was different. The sunlight was way too bright — too bright to be sunlight.

Soon I realized it was not sunlight. It was a sharp blinding white light shining directly into my eyeballs from all sides. And the weirdest thing was that I was unable to close my eyes, no matter how hard I tried.

“AaaAaaaaa…!”I started shouting like a child — a 25-year-old man, by the way.

After a minute of screaming, when my throat got tired, I heard a voice.

“Are you done, sir?”

“AaaaaAaaa…!” This time I might have shouted for about two or three minutes.

 Now my eyes had started adapting to the bright light, and I could see five jelly-like, Earthworm-like unclear figures sitting in front of me.

Soon I realized I was in some kind of trial room, with those five judges surrounding me. There was no audience. Just the bright white light, me, those five judges, and the coal-black furniture on which we were all sitting. I couldn't smell anything — just a weird low-audio siren sound was ringing in my ears.

 None of my limbs were tied but I couldn't move them.After a few moments, the judges became clearly visible to me. They were dark bluish and huge in size. They had facial features similar to ours — except for the biggest judge sitting in the middle, who had three eyes, one placed on his forehead.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You’re inside an 11D interdimensional space right now, where time is negligible in comparison to your world, so you can relax and take your time."

"How the hell am I supposed to relax? Just look at you people... Who the hell are you all?" 

I shouted.

"That’s not important. What is important is that your whole universe’s fate now depends upon your hands," the middle judge whispered.

 His voice was too deep.

"Whole planet?! What is this, a prank?" I couldn’t process all of this at all. At first, I thought this was a prank or maybe a dream, but all of it felt way too real. "And how am I supposed to save my universe?"

“Good. Now let’s talk business. We are the Celestial Judges. We choose a random being from a universe and ask it five questions. Each of us asks one question, and if any judge is not satisfied with its answer, their universe is destroyed.”

"Are you kidding me? Are you people crazy? What kind of logic is this? If these questions are really that important, you should find a genius from the universe to answer them — not random people. What if a five-year-old kid or a dog came instead of me?" I yelled."

I think you forgot — we are the ones who ask questions here," one scoffed, and the others started giggling.

All of this was so weird to me that I was speechless. But knowing I couldn’t do anything else, I agreed to answer their questions. I wasn’t very tense or scared because I couldn’t care less about this universe as long as I’m safe.

"Good. Now let’s begin. Go on, Mr. Paci," the middle judge spoke.

"Your father. Your mother. You have to kill one. Choose."

 This was the first question the rightmost judge asked me.

"You are not actually going to kill the one I choose, right?" I inquired.

"It will depend on your answer. If your answer doesn’t satisfy me, not one but both of your parents will be killed — along with your whole universe."

"Okay. I think I’ll choose my dad," I replied.

"Why? Don’t you love your dad? Wasn’t he the one who provided so much for you? He sacrificed his life, his dreams to look after you," Mr. Paci whispered.

"I know, I know... It’s just I think I love my mom more. That’s why."I couldn’t tell if my answer satisfied him, but now it was the turn of the next figure sitting beside him — Mrs. Atlanti.

"Hello, son. What is your name, by the way?" she asked.

She was kinder than the others.

"It’s Cid," I replied.

"So, Cid, tell me — I think you know about the other species living alongside your species on your planet," she asked.

"Do you mean animals and insects?" I followed.

"Yes. How do you feel about your species killing, eating, and using their bodies for their own benefits without their consent? You’re aware they might be less intelligent, but they also have life in them. They also have families who care about them. Why forcefully kill and eat them when your species can survive without them?"

"I don’t know. Maybe if we don’t eat them, their population would rise a lot," I answered.

"What about your species’ population? Will your species eat each other?" her question was sharp.

"I don’t know... maybe in the future. Animals do it. Maybe even some of us are already doing it."

"Cid, just answer me — how do you feel about this?" Mrs. Atlanti asked again.

"To be honest... I don’t feel anything. I eat them because they are tasty and healthy for my body. But I wouldn’t mind not eating them in the future either."

"Thank you, Cid. Mr. South, please."

Next was Mr. South, sitting on the leftmost chair, slightly smaller than the rest.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Cid. I don’t know about the others, but I liked your answers. I like honest beings," he said.

"Now then, let me ask you this simple question: What do you think is more deadly than Attraxon?"

"Attraxon? What’s that?" I questioned.

"Oh... so your planet doesn’t know about the strongest weapon in existence! I see. Basically, Cid, Attraxon is a weapon that can destroy multiple universes in the blink of an eye. Fun fact — we might use it to destroy your universe if you fail this test."

"More deadly than Attraxon... huh."I took a deep breath."I think it’s...Love. There is nothing more deadly than love."

That answer surprised a few of them.

"Attraxon kills you in the blink of an eye. But love — it kills you slowly. Every day it gets harder to even stay sane. The moving trains, the high bridges start calling your name. The urge to go back — and even if you do go back, it gives you so much pain, it’s indescribable."

I wanted to go on, but my teary eyes and the room’s suffocating aura stopped me.

Now it was the turn of the creature sitting next to Mr. South — Mrs. Arctic.

"You need to choose: you or your planet. Either you die, or your whole planet dies. If you choose yourself, you will be sent to one of the best planets in your univer..."

"Me. I die." I interrupted 

It was the fastest answer I gave. I wish I could do it myself, but my parents’ faces don’t let me. I think to myself — maybe I’m just born to suffer. And now, it was the turn of the middle judge. The biggest. The most important one sitting on the tallest seat. His name was Mr. Indi.

His question was the hardest of them all, which made me take at least ten minutes to answer.

"Do you believe there is a God? A Creator who created us all? Looks upon us? Fulfills our wishes? Punishes the wrongdoers?..."

My family is super religious. I was too. But growing up, seeing all this wrong happening in the world, innocent people suffering, my suffering, criminals living great lives — all of this made me question: does God really exist?All five judges were waiting patiently for my answer.

 My heart was beating slower than usual, and the silence was too loud — except for the continuous siren sound I was hearing.

"I think... there is a Creator. A God. But, He is not at all how we think He is. He just doesn’t care. I think all these stories that God will punish you for sins — they were made up by powerful people very long ago to make others fear doing bad things. And every day, the real truth is coming out more and more and I think God is..."

Suddenly!

"You failed!" all the judges roared.

My eyes finally opened. For a second, I was afraid that the destruction of the world had already begun when I heard siren sounds. But it was just an ambulance. 

Maybe the loud neighbor of mine got what he deserved.

I thought all of that was just a dream the moment my eyes snapped open. But I realized it very late that my eyes were closed this whole time.