The Afterlife Bar and Grille - Pilot
Hey folks! Olly here again. Just wanted to make sure everyone’s glass was filled… snacks sufficient… because we have a new story here at ‘The Afterlife Bar and Grille’ tonight. Everyone ready? Now calling #4298… Connie? Are you out there sweety?
‘I can never go home.’ That’s what I told them all. And, they all either believed me or simply didn’t care enough to ask for an explanation. In the years since my mortal death, no one ever cared. Not that I expected them to. After all, Joseph obviously didn’t care while I was alive.
And all men are the same. They are all devious bastards who only think with their… well, not their brains. Given the chance, they would all stray.
Joseph, my husband, had an affair. He was my life, my love, my… my….
I admit now that I may have acted in haste. But, after all, I was mad with grief. My life, my world, my marriage was shattered. I couldn’t live knowing that Joseph… that he…
And, I couldn’t just leave my children, my treasures, with that bastard.
Well… it all made sense at the time.
Then, I became something other than human. I was a spirit - a woman in white, in mourning. And, for the first time, I had a purpose. My new calling was to rid the world of devious, deceitful men.
It wasn’t hard to find them really. All I did was stand beside the road and they would come to me. They all cheated, or were prepared to cheat on their wives or girlfriends. I was protecting these women!
Then, I met Sam. I should have known there was something different about him. When I first saw him on the bridge… he and his brother… there some something about them… they tried to call out to me when I jumped from the bridge. No one had ever done that before.
Then, the car, the same car I drove towards them on the bridge, was on my road. I stood at the edge as I always do, but Sam didn’t seem to see me. But there was something about him that I was drawn to, so I stood in the middle of my road and looked him in the eye. He drove right through me.
Sam hit the breaks and took a deep breath, but by that time I was smitten. I don’t know what it was about him. Perhaps it was those heartbroken eyes or the pout of his lips that first drew me in, but once I was sitting in the back seat of that car I remembered - he is a man, and all men are the same. They all betray!
I told him what I tell them all. I can never go home.
He told me something that none of them have ever said. I didn’t cheat.
Well, to be honest, that took me by surprise. I recovered quickly. You will, I told him, as I was certain that all men would (or have).
What he did next took astonishment to a whole new level. He took me home.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even after I attempted to take out his heart - it’s symbolic, you see. Even after all the pain I put him through, he took me home.
I stood there, looking at my home. I was angry and happy and sad and scared all at once. I hadn’t seen my home in years - not since I jumped from the bridge and took my new role.
Then, water... Water began pouring down the staircase. And at the top - I couldn’t believe my eyes. My euphoric, yet frightened eyes. My children, my sweet, darling children stood there… they called me Mommy.
In an instant, they were at my side. And, for a moment I was at peace. I had my children with me once again. But then, they each took one of my hands - I was so joyful…
Then… pain… drowning and yet, at the same time, fire… anguish, agony, ache…
Then… here.
Olly, I think I could use a drink…