Chapter 2

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Chapter two, section one:

Just after I was told I’d arrived in Heaven, I passed out again.

When my eyes opened the second time in this strange place, the first thing I saw was the man in jeans and the black t-shirt. He was sleeping on a chair pulled up beside my bed; his hair messy and his clothes wrinkled. He looked about eighteen or nineteen, only a couple years older than me, with brown hair that fell in curls around a handsome face. His t-shirt was fitted and his jeans had a clean dark wash; on his feet were a pair of leather flip-flops.

I lay on the bed quietly, not wanting to wake him, enjoying the peace and quiet; not allowing my thoughts to drift too far into the thinking or analyzing stage.

*~*~*~*

I dozed off again. When I woke for the third time, the young man was awake, doing a crossword puzzle in a newspaper.

‘They have crossword puzzles in newspapers in Heaven?’ was my first thought, then what had happened the first time I’d woken up hit me.

I sat up and reached behind my back to find my wings. I twisted and tried to see them, but couldn’t.

“Here,” the man said suddenly, getting up from his chair, “Just a second.”

He got up and left the room, returning a moment later with a hand mirror. He held it up behind me, so I was able to see the white feathers on my back. They were like over-sized dove wings; white feathers folded neatly behind me. They immerged from slits in the hospital nightie, folded like a birds, and were so light I wouldn’t guess they were there if I weren’t staring right at them. I tried to move them, but they wouldn’t budge; they were attached yet detached, just a burden to carry.

“Why can’t I open them?”

“Do you really believe you’re in Heaven?” He replied.

My brain was a jumble of thoughts, but nothing would become clear. What happened to me? I thought.

“Umm...” I said into his green eyes. “I don’t know.”

“No one does when they first get here. No one remembers.”

“Remembers what?” I asked.

“Their death.”

My death. My death. What happened to me? My thoughts refused to stay in order, instead jumping from place to place. Who am I? What happened to me before I was here? How did I come here?

I didn’t realize I’d said the last question out loud until the young man said, “I can’t answer that.”

My head was too thick to think. Instead I lay back down and let my bangs fall in my face.

I heard a nurse’s high heeled shoes enter the room. She paused, and then in an Australian accent I heard, “Jake! You’re overwhelming her!”

“I’ve never done this before...,” he mumbled, his voice unsure, as I heard him get up.

I listened to her lead him away, saying something about Guiders and responsibility.

Why am I so tired?