Chapter 1 – Dead and Alive
As Daniel dies on his bed, the doctors try to keep him alive. No one prays for him on Earth or in the afterlife. No one by his side cares for him. His life slips away from his Earthly body and enters his new one in Purgatory. Everything around him appears to be dark with little light to illuminate his surroundings. The only colors here appear to be black, white, and gray. He’s on a bridge near a river. Wondering what he looks like, he looks down into the river to see that he’s wearing a black cloak. Half his face is a skeleton with pieces of his body gone leaving his skeletal body open to see.
“I guess I shouldn’t expect more for myself given what I’ve done,” Daniel says to himself.
He looks around again to see that his new eyes have adjusted to his surroundings to reveal a gloomy city. People similar to him, but not exactly the same, walk its streets. Their skulls and appearances vary to reflect their personality and their actions. Some have extended noses, eyes, mouths, oddly shaped bodies, and heads, and some are almost half the size of the houses and stores. They’re all walking alongside a person that is neither angel nor demon in appearance. The beings appear to be a mix of the two and their appearances vary as well.
One of these beings come up from behind Daniel and says, “Hello there, Daniel!”
Daniel is somewhat startled. The being’s appearance doesn’t help. The big smile on its skeletal face and the black hat, which is half a skull with a frowning face. The being wears what appears to be a horse carriage driver’s outfit, but a bit torn up.
“Who are you?”
“Don’t mind him,” the hat says, “He gets a bit too happy when he’s around people.”
“Oh, you’re right! My apologies,” the being says before taking off his hat and bowing. “My name is Azrael and my trusty assistant is named Cherub. We will assist you in carrying your luggage and showing you to your destinations this fine evening.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in Purgatory. Only one step closer to Heaven,” Cherub says.
“That’s a relief.”
“If you think so.”
“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”
“Fret not my dear Daniel. You have nothing to worry about if you made it this far,” Azrael says as he picks up all of Daniel’s luggage that has appeared around him.
Daniel has seven huge bags of luggage that Azrael easily carries.
Azrael then says, “Let us be on our way then. This is going to be exciting, Daniel!”
“For you, it might, Azrael, but I doubt he’ll have any fun.”
Daniel follows Azrael and says, “What are these destinations you are taking me too?”
“Places to trade your luggage in. You don’t want to be like the ghosts on Earth who attach themselves to places, do you?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Good! You see Cherub? Daniel is a smart man who knows what to truly value.”
“What am I going to do at these destinations? Just trade in my luggage?”
“Not exactly. You’re going to have to trade one in then experience what you have to in order to move on. It’s nothing bad! Just imagining taking a hot shower.”
“Except the water is lava,” Cherub adds.
“Oh, shut it Cherub! The water only feels like lava if you make it feel that way.”
Even though Daniel knows how Purgatory works, he still feels uneasy about it.
He asks, “Were you assigned to me?”
“I’ve been assigned to you since your birth.”
“You’re my guardian angel then?”
“Of course I am! Are you excited to finally see me in the flesh? Or should I say in the spirit?”
“Not really, no.”
“That’s understandable based on your life experiences. I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m still overjoyed that you made it this far!”
“Is it because you’ll finally be free of me at the end?”
“That’s not it at all! I just want to see you happy.”
“I find that hard to believe, but I guess I should just accept it at this point.”
“Now that’s the spirit, no pun intended.”
“You intended it, Azrael.”
“Maybe I did. Hahaha.”
Azrael takes Daniel to a store that appears to sell coffins. He shoves one of Daniel’s luggage into a keyhole and the door opens.
“Everyone here has to go through this first, so step in. Don’t worry about what you see.”
After Daniel steps into the store, the door behind him slams shut. The store around Daniel changes as it decays, and weeds take it over. The building roof and walls rise from the ground and into the sky. Darkness fills where the city once was and lifts to reveal a field full of weeds and thorns in a graveyard. Man-sized crows with black wings and skinless skulls wander the graveyard. They pecked at skeletons and coffins. Daniel quietly watches them, anxious about what might happen.
He doesn’t know what to do and whispers, “Azrael, are you there?”
The disembodied voice of Azrael says, “I’m here, Daniel.”
“What am I supposed to do here?”
“You’ll see soon enough. This is going to be exciting!”
“For you, it is,” Cherub interrupts, “But for him, it might not be.”
As the large crows break apart the bodies, spirits come out of them. Some appear to be demons, some appear to be skeletal angels, while very few are angels. The demons stray away from the light above and try flying to Heaven on their own without its light and fall down to the fires below. The angels fly up to Heaven as they barely stray from the light and the Gates of Heaven open wide open for them. Last, but not least, the skeletal angels struggle to stay in the light. They land on the clouds surrounding Heaven and the clouds in Heaven rain down on them to clean them before the Gates of Heaven open to them. As Daniel looks down, he sees his body being picked at by the skeletal crows. Before he can do anything, rain falls on him. Steaming rain that erodes the sin off the horns of sinful humans and grotesque and mutated features they have infected themselves with.
Eventually, everything around Daniel erodes and he’s back in the coffin shop. He walks outside to see Azrael and Cherub waiting for him with his luggage.
“Wasn’t that interesting? The crows of decomposition are a wonderous thing,
aren’t they?” Azrael asks.
Daniel responds, “It was. Can I ask you what kind of people go to Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell?”
“Of course you can. Everyone that goes to Heaven is a saint. They may make a few mistakes here or there, but their devotion to doing good every day of their life totally eclipses their failings. They don’t need to do miracles like canonized saints, but they do need to live like one. Those in Purgatory are people whose vices still get the better of them, but they’re still devoted to doing good like the saints. Therefore, they are purified in Purgatory so they can enter Heaven without any blemishes. In Hell, there are no innocent people. They are those who have forsaken the truth and strayed away from goodness itself in order to live out their own truth, which is a lie since anything that isn’t wholly the truth is a lie. Hell is a choice made by adult men and women though young children don’t go to Hell since they are still young in soul. They are given another chance while the adults who are rebellious and childlike in mind aren’t.”
“I understand now. Thank you for the wise teaching.”
“It’s my pleasure, Daniel. Are you ready to continue your adventure? It’s only going to get better from here.”
“I’m ready.”
“That’s great! Now let’s hurry along. I’m sure you’re eager to see what’s next.”
“Or dreading,” Cherub says.
“I’m both,” Daniel thinks to himself.
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