Afterlife

The Crash (New Version)

A/N: Finally updated! Should I get rid of the chapter before this? I wrote that three years and I can't look at it without cringing. :/

Nothing interesting had happened in the small town of Average since anyone could remember. The most exciting the town had gotten was 1954, when the Rileys boy had appendicitis and had to be taken to a hospital 40 miles away.

The inhabitants of Average weren’t special. They lied, cheated, and stole like other people, and they too kept it hidden with cheshire-cat smiles. However, like tiny towns are wont to do, the hate, jealousy, and debauchery was kept bottled up until it exploded like a shaken Coke.

When people were at work or school, the only sounds that could be heard on Lily Drive was a distant sprinkler and Mr. Horton’s dog in the front yard. Miss Maisie sat in her rocking chair and read a yellowed book, her lapdog by her side. Her porch offered ample shade from the terrible heat. She adjusted her reading glasses and looked up from her book.

“Hot as sin,” She muttered, feeling the sun beat down on her wrinkled face, and wiped away drops of sweat.

She drank from her cup of warm lemonade and was about to flip the page when a chill racked her small frame. A cool wind had whistled through the street. The dog across the street pricked its ears and it started to bark. Just as soon as she noticed it, the chill was gone, and Miss Maisie scratched her head and went back to her book.

A block away the wind materialized into a young man and woman. The man’s pallid face was set in a permanent frown and he stood at attention in his black sweatshirt, the hood covering most of his face. The woman’s light-brown skin and dark hair in a ponytail clashed with a white lacy sundress. She glanced at her watch, and shook her head in the direction of Miss Maisie’s house. He slumped and they started to stroll down the street.

*****

The sun had set long ago, giving way to the night. Almost everyone was asleep. A dusty gray car sped along the road to Average, blaring loud rock music. Nathan drank from a bottle of beer, half of it dripping onto his jacket. His friend Jeff sang along to the wailing vocals and the car veered to the left. Big Ed smoked pot in the back seat, the smell filling the inside of the car. Bailee-Anne and Mac made out passionately, oblivious to the rest of the world. Jeff continued to sing, downing a beer with one hand. The car drifted across another lane, and Nathan laughed and couldn’t stop.

“Welcome to the Hotel California, such a lovely place, such a lovely-”

There was a loud thump as the car flew off the road. Nathan heard the screams, the shattering glass, and the crack his skull made as it went through the windshield. And as the life ebbed from his body, Nathan tried to cry out, but his mouth would only gape uselessly as he watched Jeff get hit in the face with pieces of glass.

Suddenly, the terrible pain stopped and Nathan could hear everything around him, Bailee-Anne’s “Oh my god”, the dripping of dark blood, and his own gurgle. He felt trapped in his own body, and tried to escape. A sharp twang liberated him, and he soared above the trees, the clouds, everything, and just as he touched the heavens, he was pulled back down. He fell to Earth, grasping at the cold stars and yellow moon desperately, but instead of reaching infinity, he felt the slam of the hard ground.

Sirens were blaring as Nathan lay on the ground. A strong hand helped him up, but instead of seeing the face of a paramedic, he saw a strange duo of a boy and a girl.

He got up unsteadily, the boy supporting him.

“What…what happened,” Nathan mumbled, speaking through a mouth of blood.

The boy walked him over to a tree and set him down against it. Behind him, Nathan could see stretchers carrying bodies, one of which looked like his. Nathan gasped for breath and the world spinned like a maniacal merry-go-round. The boy stood in front of the stretchers and flopped down to the ground. Sharp gray eyes peeked out from under his hood.

“You’re no longer alive,” The boy said bluntly, and the girl, still standing, stiffened noticeably.

“You’re lying,” Nathan was breathless. His head felt like it was splitting open, and he clutched a hand to it.

“Of course not. My name is Peter.” He said and Nathan realized he was holding what looked like a tall scythe.

“I’m Mira.” The girl extended her hand, on it was a shiny white watch. Nathan shook it reluctantly.

“But, what is all of this about?”

“This is the Afterlife. We’re here to collect your soul.” Peter said.