ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ ʟɪʙʀᴀʀʏ

IᗰᗩGIᑎᗩᖇY ᖴᖇIEᑎᗪ

I looked around in shock. It was a funeral.

My parents were crying in the front row, and my brother's eyes were red. I waved to them, but they didn't see me. I blinked. Rude.

I saw my co-workers, dressed in black. Even our cranky cleaning lady was there, and she hated the outdoors. The chief of police was crying into his handkerchief. He looked big and intimidating, but he was actually a huge, soft teddy bear. Next to him was a six year old girl, patting Chief's arm. Her mother was holding onto her little girl's hand, squeezing it gently.

My eyes brightened when I saw Noah Canterbury and Lily Blanc. We did a high school play together when I was a sophomore and they were seniors. Last I heard, they were getting pretty famous for their acting skills. I waved to them, but they were holding on to each other, crying silently. I was frustrated. God, couldn't anyone see me right now?

I looked to the stage in the front and saw Nellie and Nathan speaking. Nellie's flaming red hair was frizzy, and Nathan was holding onto the podium for dear life. Then I saw a picture up on the stage. Next to a casket.

I tried to scream. But my mouth didn't release any noise. I recognized who's picture that was.

It was me.

                                                                                           ╰┈➤

"Next!"

Ok, don't freak out. Don't. Panic.

There's a reasonable explanation. For all of this. It's a prank. Yeah. A prank that Nellie and Nathan planned.

"You're holding up the line missy"

I looked behind me and there was a bald guy with a beer belly. "You look much too young to die, dearie, what happened?", a woman with a flowery hat asked, petting a cat that looked suspiciously made out of a cloud. "I'm sorry, did you just say that-", I stammered. "I died by listening to a fortune teller", added one man in a cardigan. "Oh, what did the fortune teller say?" asked the beer-belly guy. "I don't know, I died halfway through her prediction", the cardigan dude shrugged. Then a mime tapped my shoulder and acted out how I died.

Yes, a mime.

He acted sad and shivered, but then he smiled through the pain. He made a heart with his hands and mimicked it beating. Then he frowned and stood on his toes while puffing out his chest. Then he turned back to the frail character and mimicked a choking and stabbing event.

"You had a dark but handsome lover but he was abusive and he killed you? God, that's awesome! I got hit my bully!", said a high-pitched voice that belonged to a girl with a 'Hello Kitty' T-shirt.

I clapped at his performance to be polite and then turned to the people near me. "Can we go back to the part where you said 'How did I die?'. I didn't die. I can't have.", I said firmly. "Are you in this line?", asked the beer-belly guy. I nodded. Honestly, I didn't have the faintest idea why I was in the line, but I knew that I had to be. There were more queues in the room, but it seemed never-ending. . "Well then, it's confirmed, you're dead. We're dead. Everybody's dead", shrugged the flower hat lady. 

"You'll be seeing Miss Kamari, the spirit guide. She'll fill you in on the details and you'll be on your merry way.", a woman smiled at me. She was wearing a black uniform. "Where's God? Or...wait...am I in Hell? Oh come on! I hit my brother a few times when I was young and I argued with my parents when I was a teenager! Let me talk to Hades!", I yelled at her. 

She looked at her for a second and laughed. 

"You think this is still a time where Hades, Lord Minos, Lord Rhadamanthus, and Lord Aeacus help the dead?", she asked me. I gave her a 'duh' look. It was their job. "Darling, this isn't Greek mythology", she patted my head as if I was a dog and continued with the next person.