Test

Prologue

Prologue

‘Dying? Not at all. Quicker and easier than falling asleep.’ - Sirius Black

You spend your whole life fretting over exams and assessments. You’re always striving for the first place, the best position and the top score. Little do you realize that none of your achievements really matter. Your A+ may as well have been a C or a D. There is one, and only one, test that you will take that actually counts for something. It’s the last test you will ever take but certainly not the least important. 

Sirius Black is right in saying that dying is quick and easy. One minute you are trapped in the cage of your body and the next you are free. It’s really as simple as that. What’s devastatingly hard is the part that comes right after. That’s what makes us so afraid of death. It isn’t actually the process of dying that makes the sickness rise from the pits of our stomachs. It’s about about what comes after death. The fear of ambiguity is enough to drive some of us insane. 

We fools on Earth believe that the transition between Earth and Heaven is immediate and seamless. As long as you are  good and proper, you are guaranteed a ticket to St. Peter’s Gate. The fact of the matter is, humans weren’t made solely to do good things. We are created out of both dark and light, a blend of good and bad. None of is are the shining example of perfection and no one will ever be. Not even St. Peter, a man who thrice denied knowing his beloved teacher, is perfect. 

Heaven is not a place for perfect people, or else it would be empty. Nor is it a place that can be directly entered. If it was, then it would have just been called another Earth. It isn’t easy to enter Heaven. To do so, we must perform one final task. We must write the Test. 

The Test is to be written by every person immediately after they die. Don’t ask me about what happens to animals and plants; I don’t know. No matter whether you were rich or poor, smart or severely academically challenged, pretty or ugly, an atheist or a theist, you must write the Test. Well technically, its our spirits who do the writing. 

Now you’re probably wondering why you had to suffer so much on this damned planet with its never ending stream of tests, a place riddled beyond belief with horrors and insecurities just to face one more assessment. The thing is, the Test is unlike any other test you’ve ever done before. You cannot study for it. There are no practice papers. There is only one question, but it’s the most daunting question that you will ever have to face. The question keeps changing for every attempt and there is no way you’ll ever get to know it before the Test begins. All you have is a pen, the question paper and a lifetime supply of memories.

If you manage to pass the Test by answering the question correctly, you are immediately allowed to enter Heaven. If you fail, you will be forced to begin a new life on Earth. The cycle of rebirth continues for you until you manage to pass the Test. A few lucky people ace the Test on their first try, a task that’s crazily difficult to do. However, the test wasn’t designed for you to fail. Most people only end up having to take the Test for a second or third time before they manage to get it right, but it’s never more than that. 

Unless, of course, you’re me.