Looking Back

Chapter Three: The Room

"Hello Samantha. I'm Alice. This is the room. The room where all your questions about life and the meaning of it are answered."

"Um... so how many questions do I get?"

"However many you want to ask." Alice explains. "Take your time."

I think for a moment. Alice has short brown hair, but long legs. She is a little on the chubby side, but definitely not overweight. Her skin is perfect, not a blemish or pimple in sight. Considering this is heaven and she isn't a teenager anymore, it makes sense.

"Why were humans created in the first place?" I finally decide on a question.

"Well, the real reason is actually quite simple, yet long. You see, there is a god. But truly, no one on Earth worships this god. This god is not in any religion. But it was meant to be this way. God is like a king. He is immortal, like everyone else in his kingdom. He rules over this kingdom made of the dead who choose to be with him. He created humans to have a people to rule over. He wanted to be a king, a ruler, a god."

"So he created humans to be his people. But because he had to have people to be a god and only gods could create more people without payment, he had to make a deal. A deal with a devil. A devil is born a god. It is made when a child gets only good genes. A devil is not a bad person, like what you see on Earth. It is more of a salesperson. They will create people for you in exchange for something. A payment. With this god, the payment is giving his people a choice."

"When you die on Earth, you appear in this room. I, and others with this job, then explain the afterlife to the newly dead. So here's the choice they agreed on: you can either go live in the devil's world or in god's . You will have to journey to get to god's world, however it is happiness and there is no work to be done. You won't have to travel to be in the devil's world, but all the pain and sadness from your life will be re-experienced." She finishes her long explanation. It sounded practiced or spoken from memory. Probably because everyone asks the same questions, so she just answers everyone with the same response.

"Wait so he made a deal with a devil to create us and at the end of our life we get to chose to be with him or with the devil? Why was Earth created then? Why don't we just choose to be with god or the devil right away?" I question.

"Earth was created to give everyone a sense of what happiness and sadness are. If you choose right away, you wouldn't understand the options. Earth was also created for us to get to know you as a person. How kind you are, what you like- those kinds of things."

"But why do you need to know us first. Can't you use your powers or something to just know who we are?"

"We don't have that power... yet. You see, this is a power no god has, however some have theories that say that it is an undiscovered power. No one has it because no has unlocked it, so to speak. Earth gives us a sense of how good you are of a person. And that determines how far you have to travel to be with god."

"Each person who chooses to travel to god will be placed a certain distance away from him. The better person you were on Earth, the closer you will be to god. Considering you were only fourteen, you won't be too far away, but everyone is some distance away."

"How far away am I. Like one, two miles?" Right after I say that I feel guilty. That seemed selfish. Only a couple miles? That's definitely not it.

"I'm not allowed to answer that question until you've made a decision. Do you want to travel to god or be in the devil's world?"

The choice. The choice I never knew I would have to make is upon me. But the answer? It's not a hard decision.

"I want to travel. Travel to god." I respond almost immediately. She seems surprised by my fast response. I guess most people think a little longer to consider and weigh out the pros and cons. But I knew. I knew I had an opportunity to get back. Back to my old life.