Episode Two

“I couldn’t possibly-.” He stuttered and looked down at his watch again. “I’m on a very strict schedule. The next person can arrive at any second. Please just sign your name and then you can be off the rest of your eternity.” He wiggled the pen closer to my face. His eyes bulged out of his perfect face, creating a disturbing vision of angelic beauty and terrifying panic.

            Before I knew what I was doing I had turned away from Maurice. I ran as quickly as I could across the seamlessly never ending plain of white tile. I could hear his shouts behind me.

            “What are you doing? Come back!” He shouted to me, his voice echoing across the emptiness between us. I looked over my shoulder and he seemed to be debating whether he should chase after me and chance missing his next appointment or to let me go.

            “I’m going to get Alice!” I shouted back over my shoulder. I knew he wouldn’t come after me, he would have been running by now.

            “You can’t do that!” I heard him shout. “If you give up your chance at heaven now, you will never be allowed in!” I dismissed this and picked up speed. I was running quickly now, my breath coming easily and without labor of any kind. Heaven had turned me into an athlete.

            I ran full force for what seemed like forever. I turned back at some point and could no longer see Maurice. The only thing around me was the same expanse of never ending gleaming tile. I had no idea how long I had been running. I was not winded but if knew I had ran longer and harder then what was ever possible before. Time seemed to hold no importance in this place.

            I didn’t know if this would be considered heaven since from what I knew Heaven was beyond the great golden gates in which I had fled from. What could be this place?

            I looked up to see where I had been running to. I had not been paying attention to since there had been nothing to look out for. I stopped just in time to not run into a small man, who was squatted down in the middle of the expanse. I skidded to a stop the heels of my feet squeaking against the tile. I took a step back to get a better look. He did not look up.

            The man wore a long gray beard and a long gray robe to match. He seemed about the size of a young child. He sat cross legged with his hands folded in his lap. His head was bent down and his long beard seemed to wrap around himself in silver streams.

            “Excuse me.” I whispered. I didn’t want to frighten the old man. Though surely he had heard me running towards him. “What are you doing out here?” I asked cautiously. The man did not look up from his lap. He did not acknowledge my presence at all. I stood a moment longer as I wondered what I should do. I could go past him and keep searching, but what exactly was I searching for? For all I knew I would end up running for the rest of eternity and never meet another soul out here. I had to get this man to speak with me. Maybe he knew how I could find Hell. Maybe he could help me find Alice.

            I gently reached my hand towards the old man. Slowly I prepared to give him a small tap. Just enough to let him know I was there. My hand was now a mere two inches away from his body. I swallowed deeply. At that moment the old man’s chin jerked away from his chest. His face turned to me and his clear blue eyes looked up at me out from under thick grey eyebrows. My hand jerked away from him and I stood up straight.

            “What are you doing?” I asked, not sure of what else I could say. The old man continued to study me.

            “Waiting,” He spoke softly, his voice cracking from disuse. “What else can you do here?” He said and smiled through a mouth that was almost barren. Only a few yellowing and crooked teeth filled the gaps in his grin. With this he chuckled under his breath and shook his head as wise men often do at the ignorance of youth.

            “Where is here?” I asked and looked around. I held my arms out to my sides. The only thins I could see was the same white tile that had filled this place. I looked up and could see nothing but white. I had the feeling that there was a ceiling but I didn’t know that for certain.

            “We are where many find themselves after death.” The old man crackled to me. “Only the lucky few find themselves in the sight of the golden gates of heaven. Few still wake up on the brimstone floor of Hell.” His eyes penetrated me. He looked up at me as if he knew my fate and that I had ran from it.

            “Most of us wake up here, after the life has been sucked from us. Purgatory, we have been taught to call this land. The middle region between Heaven and Hell. We are all looking for something, but what is it? So we sit and wait. Until one day we find it.” His grin washed away then and they bright clearness of his eyes turned dark.

            “The fewest of them all are the poor souls who have been lucky enough to draw the fate card on the first pick. Their fate seemed sealed but they turned away from it, they ran.” He crossed his arms into his lap again and looked from himself to me.

            “You are not waiting as most do here, so what fate are you running from?” He asked. I gulped and with a shaky breath explained my situation to him.

            “I have to find Alice.” I said at last with the little remaining breath in my lungs. I stood there staring at the old man as he stared back at me in silence. After a painful slow eternity of waiting, he spoke up in a slow thoughtful tone.

            “You know, the last angel who turned his back on Heaven and ran from paradise, only had one destination in mind.” He twirled a finger through the end of his beard. “Do you find yourself seeking the entrance to Hell as well son?” His eyebrow cocked towards me with interest.

            “Well, I guess-“I stuttered. “If you put it that way-” I dint like the way this sounded but he was right after all. I did want to go to hell, but not permanently. Just long enough to find Alice. My mind drifted to what Maurice had said. I wouldn’t be allowed back in once I give up my chance at heaven. Was it too late? Could I go back and still get in? Did I want to without Alice? I didn’t even have to ask myself that question. I knew without a doubt that I did not want an eternity of happiness if Alice was not there at my side. I looked down at the old man and held my back straight.

            “Yes, I want to find the entrance to Hell.” I said clearly. The old man shook his head sadly and looked down to his lap again.

            “The thing about purgatory is that you have to wait.” He said in a whisper. “You have to wait for what it is you wish to find. You can’t run after it.” With that he folded his hands in his lap and sat motionless.

            “How do I wait for Hell to find me?” I asked incredulously. The old man said nothing. “How can I just sit here and do nothing?” I asked louder then before. The old man still did not move or say a word. He was waiting.

            My hands dropped to my sides as I stood there with my mouth open. I felt helpless. In submission, I sighed and flopped down on the cold tile. My hands in my lap and my head bent down just like the old man. He seemed to be an expert on waiting so I might as well learn from the best.

Reviews

[.quan.011.]

That's cute she gave up her ticket into heaven for Alice. Awesome story with some great detail.

[Zachary_James]

Yet again i am stunned silent, i love this.

[gombeggar]

interesting as i go along here

[Craig2591]

Great imagination. I really like weird stories like this. I wonder if this is the same land that Chrissy found herself in. But hers was dark. To reflect her dark personality? Perhaps it is different for each of us.

[Tabitha t]

I would think it would be a diffrent experience for each of us. our own personal heaven or hell, I suppose. thanks for the review!