Short Stories

The Bet

She walked slowly towards the gallows. Her head was covered by a dirty old bag and her hands were tied behind her back. In her left hand she held a coin, twirling it slowly. They read off her crimes, and put the noose around her neck. She looked out at James in the crowd, smiling to him for the last time. He gave her an angry look and turned away as they pulled the lever. Her neck didn't snap, she got unlucky. Her legs shook as the life slowly drained from her lungs.

Her eyes slowly opened to a bright light, there were golden gates in front of her and a man waiting outside. She felt compelled to walk up to the man, standing before him as he flipped through the pages of a book.

"Hmm... yes, I see, I see..."

"You see what? Who are you?"

"I'm saint Adam. I'm the judge here."

"I thought it was supposed to be saint Peter, or something..."

"He's taking a lunch."

"Ah, yes, that needs no further explanation."

"Of course. Now, Sandra Milecks. You've lived quite a life, stealing, lying, cheating... I think that you're probably going to have to go to hell. Although you were devoted to the lord, and you did love your neighbor... Hmm..."

"So where do I go? Do I just stay in the middle?"

"No, no, we'll find you a spot in hell, we just need to call them."

"But you just said that I was a Christian, and I cared for others. I didn't steal from anyone who didn't steal from others, and I only lied and cheated on James."

"Well the lord has stated, that you're not allowed inside. Some of James' family would be upset with him if we did let you in."

"Wait, wait wait wait, hold on... what if I made a little bet with you?"

Adam raised an eyebrow. "A bet? For what?"

"Well, for my immortal soul, obviously. I was holding a coin when I died, if I can guess what it landed on, you'll let me in."

"What? That's not- That's literally just a 50/50 chance, there's no backing to that. Why would anyone allow that?"

"Listen to my theory: You send a person with bad intentions in their mind into a certain situation, a bad situation, it could be that it ends well, or it doesn't. It's 50/50. You judge those people based on which way they react. So this is basically the same thing, except with no moral repercussions, and no one getting hurt. So if I guess wrong, I go to hell, and if I guess right, you let me in."

Adam looked down at Sandra. "I can see why James didn't like you, now... You're very calculating."

"Thank you."

He sighed. "Fine, if you guess right, I'll let you through the gates."

"Deal. And I guess... heads."

Adam nodded and opened a window into the mortal world. Sandra's body was still hanging, her hands tied behind her. The coin was resting on the ground, the heads side up. Adam sighed and looked back at her. "You're good, go ahead in."

"Awesome, thank you so much!" she walked through the gates into the holy land of heaven.

Adam closed the gates and looked back at the window into the gallows. He reached in and picked up the coin, flipping it over.

"Heads... well played."