“Vera… Veeeera.... wake up.”
My eyes fluttered open. There was a gentle touch on my shoulder, and I looked up, dazed, to find a handsome fellow — a very handsome fellow, in fact — standing above me.
“Wh...who are you? What happened? All I remember is—”
“I’m an angel; my name is Eric. You were hit by a car. Some drunk fool. He’s over there,” he gestured, scowling. “He’s still breathing… you, on the other hand, are not.”
“I… I’m dead?”
“Unfortunately. I’m just here to take you to the afterlife.”
“The afterlife? Am I going to Heaven?”
“I don’t make those kinds of decisions.”
I sat quietly, thinking as I studied my mangled body lying on the floor. Well, I definitely did look pretty dead. Bummer.
“Why did this happen to me?” I asked. “I’m a good person… I think. I pay all my taxes and I don’t steal and I mean I guess I’ve had the occasional impure thought, but nothing worthy of dying over.”
“Well, there really isn’t a crazy explanation for this. Stuff happens. C’est la vie.” Eric shrugged. “Come on, get up. We’ve got an afterlife to get to.”
Slowly, I got up, stumbling slightly. My feet were virtually weightless; it was going to take some time to get used to my dumb dead body.
“So how does this work? Do I just hold onto you and we fly up somewhere or…?”
“No, silly. This isn’t anything like the movies. It’s actually a pretty long trek.” He pointed to a hazy speck on the horizon. “We’re going there.”
It had been about an hour since I’d found out that I was dead, and by that time, Eric and I were well out of the city. Walking (more like floating) goes by a lot faster when you don’t weigh anything.
Eric was funny, and a great conversationalist. “Hot” wouldn’t even cut it. And the angelic aura was definitely adding to the overall effect.
If we weren’t both dead, he’d be exactly my type.
I thought briefly about Haley, my best friend of 12 years. If I could show her who I was hanging out with right now...
“Umm, Vera?”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I was just asking about your hobbies. What did you do in your free time?” Eric looked at me curiously.
“I volunteered a lot, if that could be considered a hobby. I love animals. I spent all my time at the shelter helping out—” The thought of the shelter suddenly made me realize that I was dead, and my dog was home all alone. “Oh my God! What about Mikey?! What’s going to happen to him? He didn’t even get his afternoon walk today!”
Eric stifled a laugh. “You’re dead, and the first thing you think about is how your dog is going to get a walk? What about your family?”
“My family can take care of themselves,” I said defensively. “Mikey only has me. It’s not like he can walk or feed himself or anything… Oh God. He’s going to be so upset when he figures out I’m not coming back.”
It was the first time I wanted to cry since finding out about my death.
Eric looked concerned. “Well, it is against the rules… but, I guess we could double back. Just to check on Mikey. That way, you can say goodbye.”
I burst into tears, although strangely enough, I felt no wetness or moisture on my face. “Eric, that would be so great, thank you, thank you, thank you!”
As we were floating back to my apartment, we came back to the scene of my death. My body was still there, quite broken. I looked so small and so fragile on that wide open road.
The police were there now, and to my surprise, Haley. She was pale, her fists clenched as she stared at my limp and lifeless body.
I touched her face one last time as Eric and I passed by, unnoticed. “I love you,” I whispered in her ear.
Seeing Haley had shocked me. Dying hadn’t felt all that “real” until I saw her grieving over me. “You’re quiet,” Eric said.
“Yeah. I guess it just finally sunk in… seeing Haley and all that. I don’t mind being dead. I just don’t want everyone hurting over me like that.” I sighed. “Even if I’m dead, I just want good things to happen to the people I love and care about. I want them to get over me quickly.”
Eric looked perplexed. “You’re weird,” he said. “Most people I take on this journey want people to grieve over them a long time. They want to be remembered.”
“I mean, it’s nice to be remembered, but I’m dead and those people are alive. It’s no use being sad over me, it won’t change anything… but they have their whole lives ahead of them. I want them to live them beautifully, so that when they get to where I am, they won’t be regretting anything… like not taking their dog on an afternoon walk.” I grinned.
Eric said nothing, but I could feel him glancing over at me.
My apartment was completely dark, and I immediately felt terrible, knowing that Mikey had sat alone at home all day, waiting for me.
He seemed to know that something was amiss; as Eric and I entered, he looked in my direction, his tongue lolling out. His eyes seemed to focus directly on me.
“My baby,” I held my hands out to him although neither of us could feel, and I was certain that Mikey could not see me.
Eric and I had been largely silent this entire time. I wondered if I had upset him with some of the things I said.
“Who’s the quiet one now?” I teased.
He gave me a sad smile. “I’m just thinking about things. It makes me sad… but some people go way too soon.”
I shrugged. “Yeah… what was it you said earlier? C’est la vie?”
After spending an hour with Mikey, I turned to Eric. “I think I’m ready to go now.”
Eric had been pacing behind me, back and forth, back and forth. He said nothing, but had the expression of a very concerned parent attending a parent-teacher conference.
“Vera, I don’t feel right about this.”
“About what?” “Taking you away. I’ve only seen slices of you and your life, but I can see that you’re beautiful, in every possible way. Your heart is tender and kind and loving. It’s not right that I take you away,” his voice wavered, and he hesitated before going on. “Mikey needs you. You deserve to stay with him and with your friends and your family and the people you love. You are too young and too sweet to leave this earth, and I will not be the one to do it.”
I moved my mouth, but words would not come out. I was crying again, but like before, I could feel nothing.
“Shh.. I know,” he said, holding me close. I could see a single freckle on his chin, the lines around his eyes; I could see even the peach fuzz on the curved shell of his ear. “I only get one of these in my entire lifetime, and I want you to use it well. I’ll watch over you, okay? I’ll protect you...” He touched my face tenderly, like an old lover. “Close your eyes…”
“Vera… Veeeera.... wake up.”
I blinked rapidly, my eyes adjusting to the light in my room. Haley sat on the edge of my bed, Mikey in her arms.
“Damn, what time did you go to bed last night? I can’t believe you woke up this late!” She laughed. “I walked Mikey for you since you were dead to the world.”
Dazed, I looked around. Everything was exactly the same as it’d always been.
Maybe it was all a dream after all?