Jesus Christ SUPERSTAR

A young man is killed while walking to pick up his date, when he's suddenly dropped off at the pearly gates...and comes face to face wth Him.

Jesus Christ Superstar

 

 

 

My left arm began to numb like it had been trying to wake up after falling asleep. My knees gave from under me, surrendering me to the grounds beckon call. I slouched back, hitting my head on the pavement. Fear ran through my veins with a thundering clap. What the hells going on? I tried to ask myself but all thoughts were lost through the pain. I felt my eyes roll back...and brain go limp. Suddenly the pain was gone, and I was able to lift my body from the floor. I wasn't standing though. When I looked back I could see the avenue soaring past me in a dark blur. I was going up, towards something. To what though? A mindless question I couldn't even answer. A seam in a sky full of clouds opened, and a burst of white hot light consumed me. I tried to block the rays but they didn't seem to bother my eyes. They were rather soothing. Relaxing. Comforting. Welcoming. With the light patter of my feet, I was now standing in front of a set of golden doors, width and length of unimaginable size. A man was standing at the foot of those doors, at a podium with a book in front of him. "Name please." The man spoke, his words gliding off the endless open space. I stepped forward, confused as hell, and asked him to repeat himself. He looked at me through the top of his thin wired frames like he was annoyed with the question. "Son, I can't let you into heaven without getting your name first." "Heaven?" I asked, now more scared than anything. Am I dead? What the hell happened to me? What's going on? "Give me your name and I'll answer all of those questions." My eyebrows crossed together in a questioning stare. With a comforting smile he said, "don't be alarmed son, we all have that ability up here. It's what brings order in His house. You know, in case we let in the wrong people like former Al Quada, rapists, murderers, Jews. People like that." I shook my head, still unsure of my surroundings. How the hell am I at the Pearly Gates at such a young age? Before the man could ask for my name again I blurted it out. "Ah yes, Mr. Colon. Please wait here for a moment. You've been summoned by Him." "Him? Why would the big guy wanna meet me so early?" The man signed and lowered his frames. "You're an unexpected guest. He meets those he knows deserve to still be on earth and if the circumstances are right, he'll send you back." "Send me back? But, isn't it up to the doctors to determine that?" The man laughed and shook his head. "Your catholic son. There's no real meaning behind science. It's all hypothetical mumbo jumbo He made up so people could hold onto their faiths. I've said too much already. Now, go on through that door behind you. He's waiting for you there. Go on." The man shooed me away while pointing towards the back. There couldn't possibly be a door there cause that would mean it was floating in mid-air. Sure enough when I turned around, there it was. A simple door it was; red with an aging paint job. I faced the door and began walking to it, looking back at the man who seemed too earger to see me off. I shrugged my shoulders and turned the knob. As the door opened, I expected to see another burst of bright white, but was greeted by nothing. I stepped into the door and as I closed it, I couldn't believe where I was. It was a place I hadn't been to in years; not since mom had gotten married. The room was still the same; white on white painted walls, single closet to the left of the entrance. No bunkbed stood to the left, but that's because we took it with us. Then, I saw Him. Not much taller than I am (5'6) but seemed to tower over me while standing idling in a corner. He put his hands on his clothed waist (docker pants and golf shirt with a pair of K-Swiss sneakers, not the rob the church puts him in) and said, "hello Anthony. I trust you know who I am?" "You look like that guy who used to do those paintings on channel thirteen. What's his face." He laughed and clapped his hands. "Yes lots of people tell me that. Ironically, we're tenth cousins. It's too complicated to say how at the moment but in due time you'll hear the story. We have pressing issues that need taking care of first." I shook my head. "How exactly did I get here? Sure I smoke cigarettes but not enough to kill me at sucha youing age. Jesus, you gotta explain yourself. I think you made a huge mistake!" He shook his head. "Yea, we sometimes do that up here. We bring people up when its not their time." "Like my father." I blurted out, not really wanting to but even if the thought entered my mind, Jesus would've heard it anyway. "Funny you should bring him up right now." I stared at him in confusion. "Why's that funny?" "Cause He never thought we'd meet this way." A voice from behind me said. My ribcage thumped with the beating of my heart. My eyes slowly looked toward the back and I began to make out a figure. The man wasn't more than two or three inches taller than me. He wore an afro like a black guy would've in the 70's. A thick moustache coated his upper lip. A glowing tan covered his skin. A smile crept along his face. I could see more of me in him than I ever could've imagined. My father was standing right in front of me. I didn't know if it was proper of me to run for him and cry for joy in his embrace, or drop to the floor and cry altogether. "I know this is a lot to take in, Anthony. But trust me, some answers will be given to you." He pointed at Jesus, who came from behind and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I need to show you a few things before we move along." I shook my head and let him direct me into my mothers old bedroom. The wallpaper was still a fading pink, and it smelled of her perfume; shalimar. A TV suddenly dropped from the spot where her bed used to be. Grabbing a remote seemingly from thin air, Jesus turned it on and a picture of me appeared. I looked the same but there was something different too. I was huntched over what appeared to be a desk with a computer screen off. "This is you taking a nap while working overtime to knock out your fourth novel." I immediately looked up at him. "My fourth?! You mean, I actually published a book." "With a good fanbase along the way too. Your first one sold enough for the company to publish your second. That one did better, as did your third one. After your second book you went back to Orlando and attended film school. Upon graduating from there you wrote and directed a movie with a young man you admired a lot." "You don't mean," he shook his head. "J.J Abrams? Yes. The movie did quite well and while this book was under production you were directing another film. This time your girlfriend was in it." "My girlfriend?" My father shook his head. "She's a looker son, I can assure you that. We can't show you a photo of her for obvious reasons. But trust us, your life with her was going to be legendary." All I could do was shake my head and ask Jesus to continue. He switched the image, and a young man appeared. "Angelo here is seen at that ComicCon thing signing autographs for his hit comic book. It's his first of many to come. Bright future ahead for that little guy." The image changed quickly before I could react. "Miguel here is drowing in his sorrows. The loss of your mother hit him harder than anyone expected. Two days after this picture was taken, he was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. The police force had no choice but to kick him out. Wanna know how many days he was sentenced to?" I shook my head. "223 years." Oh the irony! I thought, trying immediately to take it back but saw Jesus smile down at me. The image changed right back to me. "Upon your thirtyfifth birthday you suffered a mental breakdown. Your wife left you for another woman, and you were being sued by those people from GLAAD for something unrelated to gays you wrote in your twelveth book. You committed suicide a week later." The TV went blank and retracted back into the ceiling. Jesus turned to me and placed both hands on my shoulders. "We brought you here because the date you were heading to tonight would have ended badly. She cried rape and you were convicted for a crime you didn't commit. A heart attack was the most subtle way of ending your life without seeming suspisious to those on earth." "Personally, I think we should've done it the night before while you were asleep." Dad said. "None of this makes sense guys." I chimed in. "The dude at the gate said you could send me back if it called for it." "Yes that's true. It's been our intention all along." Jesus said. "So why fill my head with nonesense about what my future could've been instead of getting down to business? Church is just that isn't it, a business." "Of course. We collect money so things like this could be possible. Medicine is only a ruse to restore peoples faith in the catholic church." "So Martin Luther was right all along then." I said. "Yes, and that man was personally denounced by me. He's never going to be allowed in heaven, not on my watch. He's probably in Hell right now sucking Hitlers c**k." The comment shocked me. I had no choice but to brush it off though. "Here's what I'm proposing; instead of going back before this date tonight, I could send you back to the beginning of 8th grade. You stop yourself from getting left back but still go to Gompers and graduate on time. Then we put you in another college but doing something towards writing and film. Of course, your memory would be wiped completely of all things to this point and replaced with the times. Before you agree, don't ask me to change what happened on 9/11. For some reason my fathers taken that out of my jurisdiction. You know how many folks up here want that changed? I think it has something to do with it being a terrorist act that has my hands tied. The disciples and I wanna veto the decision but we can't." I shook my head, contemplating the options presented to me. What a strange thing to be thinking anyway, but I just went with it. I came up with something else. "How about you give me all of that...but include my father in it. To my understanding we were gonna move upstate after I was born. Scratch that idea completely. Keep us in the city but a different neighborhood in the Bronx." Jesus thought about it for a moment. Turning to my father he said, "well Juan I have owed you one for a while now. Not just for the wrongfull death but for braiding my hair that time." I turned to dad, stunned and wanting to laugh, while watching him nod in agreeance. "If your willing to do it I'll go. You know its what I've wanted this entire time." "Yea I know. I'm sorry the paperwork has been so slow. Its like the waiting process your sons family and all those people on that welfare garbage go through. Can you believe how much milk is costing you guys right now. Its scandelous!" My father and I agreed. With the shrug of his shoulders Jesus said, "what the hell. I'm feeling holy tonight." He reached into his back pocket and revealed what appeared to be an iphone. "Francine, give those people from Blessed Sacrament Church in the Bronx a call. Its time they ponyied up their 'savior' funds. Also get those people from Apple on the line too. This damn phone is giving me problems when I try and log on to myspace." He put the phone back in his pocket, clapped his hands, then faced us. "Okay the both of you are ready to go. Sorry it took so long for you to leave Juan. But look on the bright side, you got to meet one of your sons. By the way Anthony, I heard in your mind just now about your curiosity on Angelo; what's gonna happen to him and all. Don't worry, I'll take care of him. Be safe you too. Remember, I see you when your sleeping and know when your awake. Haha, I'm just kidding. That's saint nicks job. Be safe!" With the snap of his fingers a bright light surrounded me and my father. I grabbed a hold of him in case Jesus was actually the devil in disguise, and my father would vanish from next to me. He didn't. Before I knew it the bright light had vanished, replaced by a speeding baseball. I put my hand up in defense, and it fell into my gloved hand. "Good f****n' catch son. A little late in the reaction time but way to keep your head up." "Thanks dad." I said, and tossed the ball back to him. My father.

Author's Note

This was a projct I started when I was 17. It began as an emotional short story because I tried to imagine meting my father (who passed away) and having the opportunity to bring him back to the world of the living (yes I stole that term from bleach). Most of what you see isn't what was written in the original draft. As I got older I began to play around with the types of topics to write on. As a fan of family guy and a roman catholic, I decided to go with the shows approach and sorta make fun of my faith but tried to keep it light and respectable. That's an ironic statement once you get towards the end of it. I also wanted to make fun of the turning generation with the two most notable icons. Well that's all for now. I sincerely hope you all enjoy it, and have a great laugh and just remember it's just a story, like I did.