The Void? What's that?

“Right… All I needed to do was... “ You paused, trying to remember what your mother had told you before you left, “What as I supposed to do?”

And as always, you can’t remember. You take your phone out of your pocket and dialed your mother’s number, waiting for her to pick up. There was no response, only the sound of the phone ringing endlessly. You sighed, put your phone away, and ran a hand through your hair. As you head further into the station with your belongings in your suitcase, you walked past people with weird and peculiar looks. Some freaked you out enough that you ran. There were people who were extremely pale, others missing an ear or an eye, and then there were those who were really old, or really young. Not to mention, the station itself was fairly quiet, except for the occasional muttering and chatter. And… there were also animals roaming around.

You tried to shake off the strangeness of this train station. As you walked, you kept thinking about what you were supposed to do… until you find a ticket in your pocket. 

“Right… That’s obvious. Since I’m here, I should take a train somewhere,” You told yourself, looking up at the vast station. You looked back down at the ticket to find the station number and where you’re heading to. 

“The Void? Is that where I’m going?” You said aloud unconsciously, “It sounds terrible.”

You scrunch up your face in confusion and mild concern before heading towards the station number on your ticket. 

‘I probably need to get there’ You think as you walk, ‘I have a ticket after all…’

You arrive. In less than a minute, the train pulled up. The train was nicely made and cleaned as well. There was not a spot of dust. It was an old steam train, but beautiful nonetheless. It was strange that such a train could still look nice when it was probably much older than you are. Either way, you and others who were heading to the same destination all got in and settled in your seats before the train started moving again. You could feel the thrum of the engine and bumps underneath you as the train continued to chug along the railway. 

Just when you were about to drift off, the train came to a sudden halt and someone shouted for everyone to get off.

“We’re at the void! Please leave the train with your belongings! Make sure to leave nothing behind!”

You sat up abruptly with a wake and stood up, grabbed your suitcase, and got off the train. Outside… well, it was what you might imagine a void to look like. There was just black and darkness everywhere. Looking down at your feet made you feel queasy too. There seemed to be no floor. When you turned back around, the train was already gone without making a sound. The others started to mutter quietly to each other or to themselves.

That’s when a large white building popped into the corner of your eye. And it wasn’t just you who saw it. Everyone rushed towards it, joyed to see something other than black and oblivion. Standing up in front of the building, you realized how much bigger it was than what you thought it would be. It towered over everyone many times over. Not even when everyone was standing on top of each other’s shoulders, would you reach the top. 

“Welcome to the Void.” 

You look around you to see who was talking. Everyone else was doing the same.

“Welcome to the void,” The voice repeated, “Please enter the building according to the smallest number on your tickets.”

With that, chatter began. 

“Who has the number one?”  Someone shouted.

“Go! Get in before we have to stay here any longer!”

The first guy got pushed towards the building. He looked back with worry before heading inside. And… he never came back out. 

“Next.” The voice boomed again.

The second person went and it repeated again and again, each time with a different person. When it was your turn you stepped into the building carefully, peering into the darkly lit room. 

“Hello?”

With a loud clap, the lights turned on, making you blink and squint at the sudden change of brightness.

“Hello?” You called out again.

“Come over here, number three hundred and four. To the end of the hall,” The voice said. You followed the instructions and started walking. At the end, sat an old man, his body weak and frail.

“Welcome to the void.” The man repeated for the third time, “Otherwise known as limbo. Here you will await judgment.”

“What judgment?”

“Whether you head to heaven or to hell.”

“Am I… dead?” You ask. 

“Come.” The man said, ignoring your question. If he was dead, everything would make sense. How there were people back at the station, missing an ear or an eye, and how they arrived at a void, where… ‘this’ building appeared.

“Come.” The man repeated again. You follow him up a few steps onto a platform. And on it, there was a scale.

“Sit on one side.” The old man commanded. You did and sat down. On the other side, he put himself on the scale. It balanced. Both sides were equal. Neither heavier than the other.

“You…” You said aloud, pointing at the man.

“Yes.” He said, without hearing the rest of your question, “Yes I am.”

The old man got off and you got off too.

“You are heading to heaven now. So get ready to leave.” The old man said. You said nothing but followed him as he walked towards the right wall. There, there was a lock and door. The old man opened the door and waited for you to walk inside. 

“Farewell. I hope I’ll never see you again.”

“W-What do you mean? I’m already dead once. I can’t die again-”

The old man shoved you into the doorway and you get enveloped in blinding lights. When you opened your eyes, you’re in the middle of the city of Manhattan. All around you? Well, everything seemed normal, but people flying through the air, was not.