Dead!

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

It turned out that I did get that job at the Celestial Post. My first day at work was on a relatively ordinary Monday. Then again, every day seemed ordinary in Heaven. Not much happened around there, so I wasn't even certain why Heaven needed a newspaper. Maybe it was just reading material for all of the old people who still couldn't figure out how to use the Internet. That was my best guess, at least.

In any case, Maya and I left around the same time, but she put her headphones in before I could tell her to have fun with all of the other emos. We went in opposite directions anyways. As I walked towards the Celestial Post's office, which was in the center of town, I passed by the cute boy with hazel eyes again. This time, he was working with two older guys to plant a tree. I didn't want to disturb him, but I promised myself that I would talk to him at some point.

I found the Celestial Post's office, and I opened the door and went inside. A middle aged man looked at me and said, "You must be Ivy Livingston," he said.

"Yes, that would be me," I said, nervously looking around the room.

"Come with me," he said. "I'm going to introduce you to Rosie. You'll be working with her for a while." I followed the man through various cubicles, where I saw people typing up articles or changing around the layout. Finally, we stopped in a cubicle where a dark-skinned woman of around seventy was bent over a computer. The man ran back into the lobby, leaving me with Rosie.

Rosie finished the paragraph that she was working on and turned around. "Hello Ivy," she said. "I'm Rosie Jennings. Nice to meet you."

I shook Rosie's hand and said, "Nice to meet you too."

"I'm an investigative journalist and a photographer," she explained. "My job is essentially to show you how things work around here, and to do that, you're going to be helping me out on my next project. Do you want to see what I'm working on?"

"Sure," I said.

"I'm planning to write an article about the Black Afterlives Matter movement," Rosie said. "Do you know what that is?"

"I've heard of it," I said. "I think someone mentioned it back in the waiting room."

"It's a movement that campaigns for the fairer treatment of African Americans in the sorting system and in Heaven," Rosie said. "It's unfortunate, really. Even in Heaven, people are still prejudiced sometimes. It's certainly much better than it is on Earth, but they're trying to eradicate racism altogether."

"How bad is racism here anyways?" I asked.

"There was an incident a few weeks ago," Rosie said. "You might have heard about it. There was a young black woman, and she was probably one of the innocent people ever. I think she worked with the Peace Corps. One of the judges wanted her to go to Hell just because she was black."

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed.

"Thankfully, the judge that did that was reincarnated a few days ago," Rosie said. "The Council is still trying to decide who's going to replace him."

"What's the Council?" I asked.

"It's the legislative division within the Celestial Bureaucracy, and one of the few divisions that is elected by the people," Rosie said. "They're the ones who appoint the judges."

"Oh okay," I said.

"Any other questions?" Rosie asked.

"No," I answered. I smiled. This project actually seemed like it was going to be fun.

"Great," Rosie said. "Let me show you how the camera works." Rosie went into another room and pulled out a camera and a tripod. She then demonstrated how to set up the tripod and how the camera worked. "Remember, you're going to have to do this yourself in a few days. I scheduled an interview with two of the women who are very active in the Black Afterlives Matter movement on Wednesday, and you're going to take all of the pictures."

"That doesn't sound too hard," I said. "I think that I can do it."

"Wonderful," Rosie said. "Are you free this Saturday?"

"I think so," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"There's a rally in Washington DC that day," Rosie explained. "If you do a good job on Wednesday, I can take you with me to help cover that."

"That would be so cool!" I exclaimed. "I have to ask my grandmother first, obviously, but I would love to go!"

"Again, we'll have to see how you do on Wednesday first," Rosie said. "I'm sure that you'll do fine. For now, we can practice with the camera for a bit." Rosie led me outside, and I started taking pictures. Some of them were a little bit blurry, but some of them turned out nicely. "Not bad," Rosie said as she looked over my shoulder to see the pictures. "With a little bit of practice, you could become really good at this."

"Thanks," I said. I ended up spending most of the rest of the day practicing. I think I got a little bit better, but I hoped that the pictures for the interview would turn out okay.

Time seemed to fly by, and it wasn't long before I had to head home. It had been one of the best days yet in Heaven. I was finally starting to feel like I had found somewhere that I belonged.

Maybe this was what I was missing back on Earth, this sense of belonging. All I knew was that it sure felt amazing to finally find my place in Heaven.