They Found Me on Reddit

Unapologetic Sap

Prompt: Heaven is notoriously difficult to get into. Not because of strict entry requirement, but because the pearly gates are packed with millions of pets waiting to meet their owners. 

From r/Kaleon. 

A little more dangerous to diabetics than I would normally go, but I gave up sugar for Lent.

You died quietly, in your sleep, not a lot of warning. Well, aside from your age.

Your grandchildren came to your funeral, you just know that. There are horribly quiet as they carry your casket. You know, also, that the church was full, and your daughter couldn't take the day off work but cried in the bathroom at lunch, and your son had to ask his husband to help him read eulogy. You told them every chance you could how proud you are of them, but it doesn't feel like enough.

It's quiet for a long while after your death, not exactly silent, not exactly dark, just the kind of quiet and dim that's comforting. Like your partner making you a cup of tea, or watching your children sleep before you go to bed. You don't experience, you're just aware of it all.

When there are surroundings again, it isn't quiet. It's large and bright, with golden gates in the distance that reach so high they scrape the sky. Except the sky doesn't exist, not high above. Instead it seems to twist around so that it curves above the gates and winds down over them like a ribbon.

You take a step forward, slowly. There's a peace settled into your bones, completely different from the horrible ache that had stained them for months. The gate becomes a little clearer, and you take step after step until you can make out a man standing next to them.

For a moment, somewhere around the halfway mark, you take a break. Your eyes search the landscape the best that they can. Little dots, close to the man, begin to appear to you. Some of them are still and static, and some move at almost frightening speeds, back and forth. Energised by your curiosity, you continue.

Eventually you come close enough that you recognise what they are. Pets, so many pets that they swarm the gates. Cats and dogs and rats and ferrets and snakes and hamsters. They remind you of the pets your grandchildren used to have as children.

As you come closer and closer, the sheer amount overwhelms you. There seems to be no way through them. You come close enough that they can see you, and immediately it's like a mini-stampede is upon you. A kitten hops onto your shoulders, a hamster burrows itself into your pocket, a dog races underfoot. Ferrets wind their way around your leg, a rat tries to climb into your shoe, a bird lands on your arm.

"What," you try to yell to the man at the gate, who has the same eyes as your mother-in-law, "What are these animals doing here?"

He calls back, his long white robs flopping about as he brings his hands to his mouth. The cat meows in your ear, and you cock your head to motion him to re-explain it.

"They're waiting for their owners."

That shocks you, and all the pets grab onto you even further as you stop. "All of them? For how long?"

"As long as it takes!"

You stare at them all, again, trying to take that in. This wasn't in your Bible. They all continue to squirm into you, and now you look at their eyes, wide and pleading. Like little Sadie when she'd first been adopted. You re-classify them in your head, not savage or feral, just love-starved.

"Can I stay with them?" You ask, your gaze falling on and holding with the bird on your arm. It flaps its wings once, twice, then turns its head to rub into your skin between your elbow and your shoulder.

"What?" He asks, "You want to stay with them?"

"Yes, I, yes. Someone needs to be there for them and look after them."

The man begins nodding. "No, yes, you're right. You're right. If I could leave my post... but you understand you would be choosing this over Heaven? The chance to see those you've lost?"

That gives you pause. You imagine your mother, your father, your cousins, your siblings, your love. Then the cat sinks its claws into your shoulders and nuzzles your hair, and the dog sits on your feet, and you know.

You sit down resolutely, turning away from the gates, and one by one, you love every pet that comes to you.

Your children join you, decades later. And then their children, and their children. And you make the time to tell each and every one of them how proud you are.