After They Die At The End

🕙 Part 1 - Chapter 4

Rufus
I gasp, looking at my surroundings. I'm in Althea Park, I think. I stand up from the gravel floor, then looking backwards as I spot an ambulance carrying a body away and a car parked besides it, a guy seeming to explain what happened.

That's my body, wasn't it? Guess that's how I died at the end. I'm sure the Plutos will get the news sooner or later, these types of things sometimes appear on the news. I hope they are home by now, I didn't get to talk to them after me and Mateo left the pub.

I walk forward as if I'm going to Althea when the setting turns into a light, and it's daytime. It's a bit weird, but I continue walking. I go to that tree where I kissed a girl once and just sit on the grass for a bit. I'm not sure how this "being dead thing" works, but it's weird how I can feel the grass.

I then see the Pluto's in the distance, holding something in their hands. I stand up, walking pretty quickly towards them, I'm glad as hell (can I say that here?) to see they're all alive. I know they can't seem me, but it still feels nice to follow them around a bit. They're all here: Malcolm, Tagoe, and Aimee. In Malcolm's hand, there's an urn, which I believe has my ashes inside. I'm sure my foster parents would be here too, but by the time this is happening, they're probably at work

"Ready?" Malcolm says. The others nod. They really kept to what I asked, the spreading my ashes around Althea Park. Malcolm opened the urn, looking at the others sympathetically. Tagoe has his glasses on, though some tears were visible, and he twitches his neck every now and again. I feel somewhat honored by that, Tagoe crying and all. He wasn't always the easiest to cry, even if he was sometimes the one to show more of his emotions than me or Malcolm. I'll sure miss their company now. Maybe I can still visit them spiritually like right now, though I'm still confused on how this is actually happening.

Malcolm puts his hand inside the urn, getting a handful of my ashes and slowly letting them fall on the ground. They went around in turns as they walked from tree to tree until there weren't any ashes left inside.

"We're sure gonna miss you Roof," Tagoe says.

"Yeah," Aimee agrees. They closed the urn, sighing before turning to walk out and leave. Wish I could thank them for this, I truly appreciate it. They start walking away from the park. I try following them as another white cloud appears .

I walk in, since I don't really seem to have any other choice, and to each of my sides are memories of how I was and how my life was back when I was alive, up to the point of my first few steps as a human being. I try to look away from some of the memories of my past regrets, though I know how important they were for me as I grew up. It's all like some kind of gallery, pictures and moments of importance to me. Some I even go back on, just to appreciate that specific moment, like when Mateo kissed me, like hanging out with the Plutos, like taking Aimee out on dates, like celebrating my sister's birthdays, like the ski trips me and the fam used to go, all these little things that really mattered to me.

At the end of the tunnel, there's a message:

"RUFUS EMETERIO
DECEMBER 9, 2000- SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2017

We are sorry for your loss, Rufus. The showing of someone's life is something that aids those to remember who they were in order to let their souls move on. Here at Afterlife you have the option to remain here and live out until you are ready to start a new life down at earth, or go directly to a new one. You can make that choice at any time. We are here to help your soul in any way we can. We cannot provide you with the option of going back to the same life you had or contact those still living. Visits to the living world are permitted whenever you would like. Other souls can accompany you on this trip if you so wish. Here is a list with those who seemed to be close to you, living and dead:

⬜️ LIVING:
Tagoe
Malcolm
Aimee
Francis
Jenn Lori

🪦 DEAD
Your mother
Your father
Olivia Emeterio
Mateo Torrez
Your grandmother from your mother's side
Your grandmother from your father's side
Your grandfather from your mother's side
Your grandfather from your father's side

Would you like to find any of those who are dead?
▫️YES ▫️NO"

I notice I can see my family again, and it's going to be great to see them all, tell them what I've been up to during the past few months till Death-Cast called me up too. I can't wait to see Mateo again, and even introduce him to my parents, but I'll stick to what I said before I died: I'll find my parents, and they can help me find Mateo again.

I select "YES", then choosing my sister, since they're probably together. A new message shows up, along with a leading kind of path:

"This path will lead you to Olivia Emeterio. She will be expecting your arrival.
We are here to support you through afterlife, Rufus.
May you be able to enjoy this eternity"

It vanishes as I begin walking through the path. It leads me to the memory that they died died in, with me being able to watch them just drown while I escape.

I enter this portal like memory, and it's a bit different than the last I remembered it to be. The memory used to end when I swim up and ran to call 911, but now, they are standing there, seeing the car go down, from the roadside where it fell out of. I start tearing up at the sight of my sister, my mom, and my dad. I don't think they saw me entering this portal or whatever, so I run up to them, wrapping them in a hug, one I wish I had the chance to have given the Plutos one last time.

"Rufus!?! You're here!!" Olivia says, realizing it's me. As we part from the hug, my parents are a little surprised to say the least, but I think they're happy to see me.

"I'm guessing Olivia didn't tell you guys I was here?" I ask. They just smile, pulling me in for another hug

"We're just happy- and worried (!) to see you," Mom says.

"How was your day as a Decker?" Dad asks. I can tell he's disturbed by this like Mom is, though he tries to play it cool.

"I had a really cool Last Friend, his name is Mateo Torrez," I say. The next thing I know, I'm telling them all about how the day went, the Plutos, what happened to me after they passed away, though I think I should talk to Mateo before I tell them anything more in detail about us.

"I'm glad you found a community of sorts, son," Dad says as I tell them more about the Plutos. It's quite interesting to tell them all that happened when it didn't even seem that long ago when this memory we're in happened. I'm honestly still processing the fact that I'm here with them, but it's still a good kind of processing, I think.

"So yeah, that's what was going on before I got the call, I guess," I say, "What have you guys been up to?"

They go on to tell me how time works here and some little things they can and can't do. Olivia still wanted to experience college, so she said there's a library we can use to continue studying (even if it'd be for nothing) to try and simulate how that might have been. Mom tells me how afterlife has even some mental help options for some who might need more help processing this or don't have any spirit relative to hang out with, though those also sometimes go directly to a new life to "start fresh" as Dad puts it. I think that's pretty cool of Afterlife to have. You can say these little "tips" are probably going to be helpful, and especially on how to find Mateo later.

(1432 words! Sorry for posting later than the others....Rufus is a character that is a bit more difficult for me to write, so I took a longer time trying to sound how he would, hope you understand and enjoy what I managed to make <3 The picture for this chapter is an image I found of Althea Park on google ;))