Heaven

Heaven is a person, for a place would be lonely without company.

     I could only see a vast, endless canvas of white. The skies and land were equally barren, equally pure, all devoid of colour. Is it snow? Is it an oblivion? Absence of darkness? What is it?

     Questions plagued my restless mind. I decided to take a slow hike through the barren lands. Slowly, I got my legs to move and tried to gain control of them. One foot forward, steady, next foot forward, steady... The process was repeated over and over again until it became natural and I stopped walking with an awkard gait. I made small little footprints in the ground, it must be snow, and it sounded wet. Up ahead, I could see a tree, a willow tree, like the one I had in my backyard. As I made my way to it, the scene slowly bled into another. The snow seemed to disappate, as if being sucked by an invisible but powerful vacuum.

     I stared at the ground and watched the snow disappear, replaced by leaves. Orange leaves were blown into place, the wet sounds changed to the crisp crunching sounds of dead leaves. The sky seemed to change in colour too, from a pure white to a light shade of cinnamon. I stared at it for a moment, soaking in all the warm colours with my eyes. After a few moments of sight-seeing, I resumed my walk to the willow tree. The leaves were of the same shade as the leaves scattered on the ground, a rich brown and maroon colour. A carving on the tree caught my eye, it was of a heart with a arrow going through it. The initials, V.R. and O.B. were carved within the boundaries of the heart. I traced my fingers over it and felt a flash of a memory pierce through my foggy mind.

     "I don't understand why you insist on carving our names on the tree, Orpheus. It seems trivial." I said.

     "You don't have to understand," he replied with a mischievious grin, "I just want to tell the world about our love."

     I rolled my eyes playfully and watched him finish his work. When Orpheus was done, he gave me a sweet peck on my cheek, with a smile hidden behind it. I felt a warm feeling grow from my toes. I sat in his lap, in his strong and protective embrace as I stared up at the clouds. What is Heaven? I felt myself murmur. It must be such a wonderful place, because I feel like I'm already there. Orpheus gave a quiet chuckle.

     "I think Heaven is a person," he said, his voice seeming faraway, "for a place would be lonely , without company."

    I felt myself being whisked away and back to the place of oblivion and endless Autumn. As I felt the indentations in the wood, my eyes started to water. The world swam as I tried to hold back this awkward feeling. My heart felt heavy and slow, like it had been thrust upon with extra weight. It was painful. When the water spilled from my eyes, the scene changed again. It bled like waters, flowing from place to another. The leaves were swept away. I closed my eyes and smelled a slight change in the air. It was filled with the aroma of lavender and fresh grass. Spring.

     The willow tree seemed to have changed, slightly. There was a small swing attached to one of the stronger branches. The seat was swinging, low and close to the ground. It must belong to a small child. I edged my way towards the swing, careful not to crush the lavender and grass. Life, was precious, a memory echoed. When I sat on the swings and stared up at the clouds, I felt strangely at peace, but lonely. Then I was whisked away to my memories again.

     "Mummy, mummy!" I giggled, "Where are you? Daddy says dinner is ready."

     As I opened the door to Mummy's sitting room, I gasped. Mummy looked very frail and weak. Her arms were like sticks, thin and fragile. Daddy says that Mummy has blood cancer and sooner or later, Mummy will have to leave us because He wants her back. Mummy is in a lot of pain, but He will make her feel all better.

     "Valentine," she cooed sweetly, her voice papery thin and hoarse, like she had been crying, "Tell Daddy that I have to go. Somebody wants me elsewhere. I won't be able to be with you anymore. I'll be in Heaven. But I'll always be watching you."

     "Mummy, where is Heaven? Will I see you there?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

     She smiled, a smile that crushed my heart and squeezed tightly, pulling on the heartstrings tautly. Then she nodded her head slightly before going limp in the wheelchair. She had been liberated from her painful prison.

     As I opened my eyes, I felt my hands being clasped in a pair of warm ones. When I lifted my head, I found myself staring into the face of my beautiful mother, before her body had been ravished by cancer.

     I'm here for you, she said, Let's go wait for that handsome beau of yours in our little Heaven, Daddy is already waiting.

     I felt her tug at my arms and I let myself go.

Author's Note

It was a dream I had the other day. Instead of my mother being there, my piano teacher was waiting for me. Heaven, I believe is a barren wasteland without your loved ones. Treasure them.

Reviews

[James Watts]

I could only see a vast, endless canvas of white. (I love this opening line)

I saw a missing comma or two, but in my opinion those are typos as you have fleshed this piece out nice and have done a fine job penning it. I liked this a lot. Very well written.

[♥(heatherawesome..]

this is awesome and i love it keeeep it up