Judges

Chapter Thirty One

Forever

I stand in a blank infinite land alone, and I can see nothing, yet there is light.

I take a step forward, and then begin to walk, and after I walk for a bit I see a city on the horizon, coming closer with each step. I begin to run, and as I approach the outskirts I can see it is light, clean, and modern. The buildings stretch into the air, and the streets are bright. People walk past and smile, and I shyly wave back. Everyone looks like they died recently, but the beings have no blood or wounds or signs of death.

Souls can't be wounded.

Some people are old and some are young.

After wandering for a bit I decide that there has to be some kind of faster way to find Margaret than walking mindlessly over the infinite city.

"Excuse me sir, could you help me?" I ask a passerby.

"Of course, what do you need?" The man smiles, and his eyes are a beautiful blend of every color, with each visible.

"I need to find a Margaret Moore, could you help me?"

"Ma'am, there are millions of Margaret Moores in the City of Palaces. You must be new here."

"I was a judge."

"Ah," he nods. "We get quite a few of them. Do you know Margaret's date of death?"

"I know that she was born in 1895. Does that help?"

"A bit. She might be found in the older areas of the city. You will want to take a train car back the nineteenth-century sector. Here comes one now."

"Would that help me to find her?"

"I don't know her, but the train can take you to someone who might. Go, and good luck!" He points to the rails above the streets, to a new train, and I climb the stairs to the walkway and get on.

"Thank you!" I call out.

"You're welcome!" The man smiles and starts walking to his destination.

I watch him as the train leaves and we are moving silently over the buildings and people on the streets. The buildings change from large apartment buildings made of metal and glass to brick ones, smaller ones, then wooden ones with small windows.

A woman sits next to me on the train, speaking to a man next to her.

"Ma'am, what sector are we passing through?"

"I'd say the thirties. Looks like the architecture. Might be early forties."

"I'm visiting 1895."

"The farthest I've ever gone from home was the late eighteenth century, but my children are going on a group trip to the late seventeenth to meet some people."

"I may have to visit."

The woman smiles and comments on the beautiful weather to her friend, who agrees kindly. As a few more minutes pass, the train stops and the woman and her friend disembark and greet someone waiting at the station.

At the next stop I get off and look around, and the train is now underground. Few people wait in the station, and I realize that they are wearing time period clothing while I am wearing a bright red t-shirt and jeans with Converse.

I quietly walk up the stairs and into the street where suddenly I feel that I am transported back  to my childhood.

I stop another man on the street and ask him about Margaret.