Short stories

Eternity

Today, I died.

Well, I wasn't sure until I saw the people around me ; I mean, there's Michael Jackson sitting on some kind of transparent tree trunk, holding his head between his hands while he sobs (and nobody seems to care about him ?), my aunt, who died years ago, speaking with my great grandfather, and a bit further, floating between two clouds, my idol, Jimmy Hendrix, also in a state of advanced depression.

When I saw that, I thought right away : " What a dumb dream ! ", but I waited and pinched myself, I wouldn't wake up.

And slowly, I began remembering what put me to sleep : a car coming at me at full speed.

I think it's when I realized : I was lost, alone , dead, and had no idea what I could do next. At this moment, a man, probably in his thirties, came to me and asked : 

"You're new here, right ? It's always strange, in the begining, but you'll soon get used to it, don't worry. Want me to explain ?"

Of course, I answered yes. He began telling me the true nature of this paradise :

"As you may have guessed, you are dead, said the man while examining my reaction. We are now in a place at the crossroad of worlds. It has many names, but you must know it under the name of Paradise. At least it is the closest concept. It is some kind of waiting area before... Before something. Nobody nows what, but for lots of people, this thing is reincarnation."

I interrupted him :

"Excuse me, you say waiting area, but... How long do we wait ? And how do we get out of there ? We take a ticket and wait to be called to some strange office ? I say ironically."

"No, he answers, smiling, there's no strange office. You just disappear, like that, the appointed time."

"The appointed time ?"

"Yeah, we stay in this place a set time : the time we spent alive. And..."

He paused, and I changed of subject :

"Then... There's no god ?"

He looked elsewhere before carrying on :

"Well, it's... Some kind of taboo here... There's another rule : you add to your lifetime the time people spend thinking about you. If someone was well known during his lifetime, lots of people will think about him and he will stay here for a long time."

He designed Michael Jackson before adding :

"Him for exemple..."

I looked at the king of pop before turning my eyes to my idol. I realized I was one of the -numerous- causes of his misery.

He stopped speaking for a while, and, seeing as I was waiting for the continuation, carried on, umcomfortable :

"That's how gods are created. When I say god, I speak of a being that is how people ( the ones that are still alive, that is ) think it is, of a being that will stay an endless time in this paradise, a being that will know eternity."

This last word sounded strange, but I didn't bother. I looked at the direction his eyes turned to.

A tall man was siting, looking pensive, between two clouds. At his feet was some mist, lit up by the light he emited. It was soft and warm, so bright I asked myself how I could not have seen him before. I tried to distinguish his face, but my view began going misty, and a shiver got down my spine ; I quickly looked away, driven by something, inside of me, that told me I wasn't worthy of looking at him.

The man next to me was staring at my face. He said :

"It's no use trying to look at him. People, here even more than on the other side, are influenced by what other people think of them. So him... I'm sure he doesn't even know his name ( at least the one his parents gave him ). People think god is all-powerful, that he is way too great for simple humans to look at him or even picture him. That is why you cannot look at him or get near him."

Indeed, in a huge perimeter, he was alone. Nobody got too near him, and without even realizing.

I tried to ask a question about this subject, even if it seemed taboo :

"But, since he's god, he's almighty, right ? Couldn't he get rid of the bad effects of being god, like staying alone ?"

The man looked at me sadly before answering :

"He isn't almighty. And even if he was, there are some rules in this world that are unchangeable. He whispered : Poor guy... an eternity..."

I looked at him, intrigued, and asked him :

"But you said... That we became what people thought we were... Then... How did this man end up like this ? Did he have anything special ?"

"To tell the truth, nobody knows. He was probably someone who did something awesome, or a king. Afterward he must have begun to be worshipped, and then all the thoughts about god must have been redirected to him... Regardless, this man is ( or has been ) every god that has ever existed. He has been the first, became the next ones and will become the forthcoming... And to answer your question, even if he lives an eternity, he will never have the time to become all-powerful."

"The time... ?"

It sure is strange... How can not having enough time when you have an eternity can be possible ?

"Yes, the time. Being all-powerful means having every power, every capacity ever. Since he changes so slowly he hasn't shown any sighs of having any kind of power yet ( and still he's been here for quite a while... ), imagine how long it would take to have them all... Especially since nobody even knows if having powers is possible, even in here. And I think that even if he could, he wouldn't change anything. Us, mere mortals, aren't worthy of looking at Him, after all..."

I turned towards this god, unable to look at him.I didn't understand why people were feeling sorry for him...

It must be nice, to be able to live an eternity... Mustn't it ?

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 Well...

It sure was strange...

And I'm not really satisfied... Well, I did the best I could, but still... TT_TT

Aaaaaaanyway... Hope you liked it ;)

If so, please vote, share, and leave a comment tell me... Would you like to live for an eternity ?

( I just specify ; of course this isn't what I think of god and this kind of things... It would be some reeeally strange religion... :/ )