The Simple Things

April

Oliver takes a deep breath. He closes his eyes, mentally preparing himself before entering through a prop door.
The bright lights shine on him as he walks across the stage. "Another letter? When will these people get it through their thick heads! I'm not interested!"
He glances at the audience, and notices the full house looks almost disappointed. He gets a bit scared and continues the scene. After a bit more, some people get up to leave. He is on the phone as more people leave. "Yeah, Jane...I'm on my way now...I don't know how I feel about Korean food though..."
He looks up again, and almost the entire audience is gone. 15 people remain. "Yeah...I'm on my...my way..."
He wipes some tears from his eyes before looking up again. Everyone is gone. Oliver falls on his knees, covering his eyes. "Oh man...they were right..." Suddenly, the roof starts collapsing.
He leaps of the stage frantically and runs outside. No one can be seen in either direction when suddenly, a car comes speeding down the street. Oliver, who is in the middle of the street, tries to avoid the car but gets hit. He goes flying over the car before hitting the street. When he hits the street however, it splits as he falls into a dark abyss.
He gets wrapped in total darkness for what seems like an eternity before plummeting into water. He opens his eyes and notices the vast ocean he is in. There are stars all around him that slowly begin to fade away. He spots a white bench and swims towards it.
Suddenly, like the water disappeared, he drifts onto the bench. He can breath again as he looks around. He is in an entirely white room with no walls anywhere in sight. He sits there patiently. "That's my garden." Oliver looks around and almost passes out. It's Paul Kowski.
"Paul..." Paul is dressed in a white shirt and white jeans. He lights a cigarette. "Did I stutter? You're standing on my garden."
Oliver looks down and notices his feet are in a flower bed. All kinds of flowers are being grown in more colors than Oliver could care to remember. He could've sworn they weren't there before. "Oh. Sorry." He swings his legs to the other side as Paul sits down.
Oliver just stares at him in wonder. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."
He puts out the cigarette before taking a deep breath. "How's my gal?" Oliver snaps back to attention. "Daisy? She's fine. Happy. Well not happy about you, I mean. I mean, she's happy in general. But not about you, I mean. I mean-" Paul stops him. "I just wanted a 'good' or 'bad.'" He says jokingly.
Oliver continues staring at him. "Paul...what...what's going on?" Paul shrugs. "I don't know. It's your damn dream, not mine." Oliver looks around. "This is my new place." Besides the bench and small garden, there isn't anything. "You don't have much." Paul shakes his head. "You just haven't seen the whole thing. The bigger picture, if you will. Now, did you need anything?"
Oliver thinks for a bit. "Paul...I have a show..." Paul smiles. "You got cast? Hey good for you." He gives him a playful punch. "Yeah...but I'm scared...I don't think I can do it...I might just quit."
Paul freezes and turns. "Now why the hell would you do that." Oliver shrugs. "I just...I can't handle more disappointment. I can't handle being let down again. And the fact that this is happening already is so far fetched, I just...if I mess up...I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'm scared." Paul thinks for a bit before replying.
"Oliver, I think it was William James who said 'It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all.' You say you're afraid to do this? Well damn, if you live your life only doing things you're comfortable with, you'll never discover what you're good at. Take risks, get your hands dirty, and move on. If it fails, oh well, shit happens. But at least you tried. Remember what I said at the party?" Oliver nods and repeats it out loud.
"The last thing you wanna do is look back on life and say 'Why didn't I do that?'"
Paul nods. "If you're not living your life with risks, you're not living. Do this show and kick ass. If you fail, you fail. If you succeed, you succeed. Either way, at least you tried it. I believe in you, man." Oliver nods. He feels kinda dizzy. "Paul...what was it like...dying." Paul shrugs. "Didn't feel like anything, really. I was in pain, and then it was like I got wrapped into an ocean of stars. And I was at peace." Oliver feels even more dizzy, trying to stay stable. "Paul...is there a heaven? Or some sort of afterlife?"
Paul smiles. "You'll just have to wait and see." Paul gives Oliver a small push as he falls backwards into the garden.
He hits the garden with a soft bounce. He slowly opens his eyes again and recognizes the roof to his bedroom. He sits up in his bed and rubs his eyes.
He checks his alarm clock that reads "2:37 A.M."
Oliver let's out a yawn before laying down and closing his eyes before eventually going to bed again.