The Haunting of Bobby Bangash (Ongoing)

Anchored!

The waiting room at Chitragupt's court up outside the intersection of Heaven and Hell was not very different from any ordinary waiting room on Earth. Bobby found himself waiting with quite a crowd of people, young, old, some just newborn babies. It wasn't as clinical looking as doctor's – for one, it was most definitely airy and pleasant. Clouds flitted by from time to time (making Bobby very curious – if Heaven and Hell were somewhere in space, outside the atmospheric layer of the Earth, how come it had clouds???). Nevertheless, it was calm and serene. Bobby never would have believed he could enjoy just simply sitting around and waiting so much! There was no clock in sight, so he couldn't tell how long he had been there. Maybe this is what "timelessness" is, he pondered. I can't even tell if time is passing at all – maybe there is no such thing as Time in this place.

He sat quietly looking around. Most people sat like him – quiet, curious and contemplative. Some chatted with their neighbours in low voices. Bobby noticed that none of the babies cried; they all seemed to be awake and alert, but they lay very quiet in fluffy, cloudy cradles. Once in a while, one of them would giggle, making everyone smile. "My mother used to say babies can converse with the Almighty himself", he overheard a woman tell another sitting next to her. "I think He must be keeping them company out here."

Bobby had heard of that too. He never gave it any thought, but now as he sat waiting for his own interview with the Almighty, he wondered if it had any truth to it. It certainly was true that babies often giggled and reacted to seemingly invisible things. Was it that they could see something or someone a grownup couldn't? Maybe their connection with God hadn't completely severed for the first few months after birth. Then they learned the human ways of communication and lost all connection with the Divine. It was true – education ruined us all, thought Bobby Bangash.

He looked down at his own body. He had turned – semi-visible. There was a wispiness about him, about them all. They weren't completely ghostlike yet – or at least what humans thought of as 'ghostlike'. He was still completely clothed, which was a relief. But his clothes seemed wispy and faded too, like all colour was slowly draining out of them. Maybe Heaven and Hell were monochrome, he decided. Being a photographer he didn't mind it either. Black and White looked beautiful... he had often admired the way some photographers played with light to bring out the beauty of shadows and sun beams. Black and white... opposites... but as beautiful together as they were separately... black and white... night and day... ebony and ivory... bad and good...

Yin and yang.

Ann.

Suddenly a powerful spasm shot through Bobby's...well, body (he wasn't sure if he was officially just a "Soul" yet; surely Souls can't feel physical pain, can they?). He clutched his stomach with one hand and his chest with the other. His face did the most terrific muscular acrobatics – several people around him actually screamed.

And all of a sudden, it was gone.

No pain. As if it had never been there in the first place.

Bobby blinked in surprise. Everyone blinked in surprise, even the babies. They were all staring at him now. He gulped – this was weird. One of the onlookers cautiously came forward, tenderly laid a hand on his shoulder and gently asked, "Umm, you ok mate?" Bobby nodded slowly. "What – what- just happened?" the man inquired, "You seemed to be in some sort of pain." "I was", answered Bobby distractedly.

"But, but", the man was trying very hard to be brave, polite, nosey at the same time. "But, how can you feel pain now?" he asked. "I mean you're... we all are... dead."

Bobby was confused. And scared. Very very scared. The people around him settled down again, but he could feel them watching him from time to time. He poked his stomach a bit to check if he could detect any signs of the pain, but it was gone for good.