Still Story Time!
Sophie's After-World, Part One: http://www.livejournal.com/users/00existence00/42727.html
Sophie's After-World, Part Two: http://www.livejournal.com/users/00existence00/42950.html
Sophie's After-World
part 3
The big white door shut behind the two of them as they left the room, and Sophie gasped, immediately stopping where she was.
“It’s beautiful!” She breathed.
A warm light streamed down through the thick, leafy branches of the tallest trees Sophie had ever seen and came to rest on her where she stood, its pleasant heat tingling her skin beneath the robe she wore. The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue, and although it contained no sun, it was a brighter, warmer, more pleasant day than she had ever experienced before. Directly above her, the flawless blue of day faded into the deep purple of night, and she could see stars twinkling overhead.
“Both day and night at the same time.” She said, and her voice retained its breathy tone.
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Pother joked.
“It looks just like earth…” Sophie went on. “But somehow it’s more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“Yes, and there are good reasons for that.” Pother started. “It looks just like earth because it’s meant to be a smooth transition from life into the after-life. Since most of the people who come here aren’t ready to accept truth and death, they’re usually not ready to accept the magnificence and perfection of Heaven either. Still, it’s more beautiful than earth is because earth has been tainted with pollution, corruption, and imperfection, and those things show in everything that humanity can sense.”
Sophie nodded in understanding, and Pother began to pull her along again. Her eyes were wide as she took in everything around her as they went along. They passed unbelievably green plants, the fullest blossoms, and people that seemed very happy despite their nakedness.
They also passed dark, cloudy figures and light, shining figures that resembled human form and yet possessed no distinctive features. Sophie stopped again as she noticed a light figure and a dark figure in heated conversation standing near the brink of the clear, flowing stream that ran along the path she was following with Pother.
“Pother,” she pointed to them, “what are those things? They don’t look like people.”
“They’re not.” Pother answered. “The dark figures you see are the most congenial Demons from the first circle of Hell. The light figures are Angels from the lowest level of Heaven.”
“What are they doing here?”
“Heaven and Hell send them here to Middleground to claim the souls in purgatory that have made their choice so that they can take them to where they belong.” Pother explained as they stood listening to the gentle flow of the water beside them. “They also come here on slow days, when there are less dead than usual, to debate with each other. They may be each other’s enemies by creation, but the struggle between Good and Evil is one as old as Heaven and Hell. In other words, it’s been around as long as Existence itself, and as long as things remain unresolved and Middleground remains even ground, they’ll be here to duke it out amongst themselves.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Sophie said after contemplating this information for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a loud yell from Pother.
“Ow!” He boomed as he lifted a hand to rub the back of his head. “What the….”
An annoying voice sounded behind them. “Now, now, Bother - I mean Pother - you weren’t about to use the Underworld’s name in vain, were you?”
Pother and Sophie turned to see a small cluster of dark figures floating a few feet off the ground.
“What was that for?” Pother demanded of them.
“Oh, we meant no harm. We were playing an innocent game of ‘throw the apple’, and your head happened to get in the way.” The demon responded, and the group of them erupted in giggles.
Pother scowled and turned away, and the demons flew off, their laughs echoing through the air.
“Are you alright?” Sophie asked seriously as she bent to pick up the apple. Despite the impact it made with Pother’s head and then the ground, it was clean, round, and without bruises.
“I’m fine.” He rolled his eyes. “They’re harmless, really. More troublesome and mischievous than anything. You needn't worry about them bothering you though. They're not allowed to harass human souls, by both the Devil's command and God's. The Devil doesn't want his demons turning potential dark souls away from the Dark Side, and God doesn't want human souls persuaded to make any choices that they haven't come to of their own free will.”
“Oh.” Sophie said. She lifted the fruit to her lips and took a bite despite the fact that she wasn’t hungry. “Mmmm…” She closed her eyes as she chewed. “This is the most delicious fruit I’ve ever tasted!”
“That’s the general consensus.” Pother shrugged and took her free hand to lead her along again. “It’s from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
Sophie bit her lip. “Is it wrong for me to be eating this?”
“No. It makes no difference whether you eat it or not, because you already have knowledge of good and evil. Besides, you’re already dead.” Pother told her as they walked together.
“Well,” Sophie said as she happily took another bite, “it’s no surprise that Eve couldn’t help but try it. It tastes better than anything I’ve ever eaten.”
“That… and the fact that the serpent appealed to her most feminine desires.” Pother responded and laughed.
“What do you mean, her most feminine desires?” Sophie wondered as she raised an eyebrow and took another bite.
“It’s quite an obvious sexual innuendo, if you ask me. It’s a serpent, for Heaven’s sake. It always amazes me how few people pick up on it.” Pother laughed again.
“There are no sexual innuendos in the Bible.” Sophie glared at him.
“Oh, aren’t there? After all, it was written by men.”
Sophie shrugged, and the two of them continued on down the path. They walked in silence for awhile as Sophie finished her apple, and then she said, “I wonder how my funeral will be.”
“Oh, I’m sure it was just fine.” Pother said reassuringly.
“Was just fine? I only just died today.” She corrected him.
“Ah, it may seem that way, “ said Pother, “but actually, it’s probably been quite some time since you died.”
“How can that be?” Sophie asked in confusion. “We haven’t been here long.”
“On the contrary.” He explained. “Where we are, time flows differently. Truthfully, we are actually outside of time, and what may seem like a second to you here may be a hundred years on earth.”
“Do you mean that everyone I know is already dead as well?” She wondered anxiously.
“Oh, no, I’m sure it hasn’t been that long. Since there is no flow of time here, everyone that’s just died and hasn’t quite come to terms with it yet still feels time, but they all feel it differently. The time will come when you’ll lose track completely, like I have.” Pother smiled.
“If everyone here loses track of time, then how does God keep track of earth at all?” Sophie asked, her curiosity sparked.
“Well,” Pother said as they continued along, “aside from the fact that God is God and can therefore do anything and everything, it’s easiest to picture it this way: since God is here where time doesn’t exist, the entire history of the world, from beginning to end, is laid out just like a timeline, and that’s the way God sees it. God sees what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen, all at once.”
“I suppose it was foolish to think that anything gets past God.” Sophie blushed in her ignorance.
“And yet you understand what I’ve just told you.” Pother said.
“Yes.” Sophie answered.
“Foolishness may still linger in you, but wisdom comes much faster here than it does on earth.” He told her. “It’s what you do with that wisdom that makes all the difference.”