Passage Beyond

Susie was eighty-three and she was tired. She was tired of the aliments, she was tired of the young, she was tired of life. 

Susie didn’t have many people left to converse with. Her daughter had died in a car accident in her twenties and Susie’s husband had passed away ten years ago due to a heart attack. All Susie had were a few friends who were still alive, of those, there were two. 

Susie shuffled around her house making a sandwich for lunch. She wandered into the pantry for potato chips when something caught her eye. There was a knot in the wood paneling that looked an awful lot like a doorknob. Susie reached out and touched it. The knot protruded like a doorknob too. That’s odd. Why had she never seen this before?

Susie tried to turn it and was surprised when it moved. She pulled her hand away like the knot had burned her. She clutched her hand to her chest, but she was curious now. Susie reached out again and turned the knob; pushing gently. A loud creak could be heard as though from a door that had grown used to staying put for way too long.

Susie continued to push until there was a six-inch gap. She leaned forward and stuck her head into the opening. 

Everything was green as far as she could see. There were trees and flowers, butterflies fluttering about, and small mammals chasing each other under and around bushes. 

Susie pulled her head out and looked around. It was the dead of winter in the midwest. Nothing was green and there weren’t any animals to be seen. It was a stark contrast to what she’d just seen. 

Susie stuck her head back into the gap. The view had not changed. Susie double-checked with her current surroundings versus the one behind the pantry door a few times before she was sure that she was seeing two different places. Now she was beyond curious to find out what this was in the pantry. Slowly she opened the door and shuffled through. Everything was so alive that Susie didn’t even notice right away that she was no longer shuffling around. 

Susie looked down and was startled to see the age spots on her arms were gone. In fact, all the loose skin that comes with age was gone as well. Her arms were toned like they used to be when she was younger. Susie touched her face which felt younger too. Again, her skin felt tighter and firmer. 

Oh, how she had missed being young and beautiful. She fell right back into her old strut, the one she’d had in her early twenties. She kicked off her slippers and walked around this wonderful place barefoot. 

Susie twirled in her nightgown enjoying the fresh warm air. This must have been a magical place where things went to be young and beautiful again. 

Susie was enjoying herself so much she almost didn’t hear the sound of galloping hooves. A great chocolate brown horse rode up to her with a handsome young man on her back. 

“Hello, Susie. Welcome.”

Susie squinted at him, “Harvey?”

The young man smiled at her, “Hello gorgeous. Welcome to paradise.”

Susie’s younger, deceased, husband threw his leg over the horse’s back and dropped to the ground. 

“Where are we?” Susie asked.

Harvey grabbed her hands, “Oh honey, you’ve passed on. This is heaven.”

Susie gasped, “But when? I was just making a sandwich when I saw this weird knob in the pantry-”

“That was it, darling. Once you peeked inside, you died. I’m sorry to have to tell you this disturbing news.”

Susie thought about it. There had been no pain, no fear; this wasn’t the worst way to go. Besides, she’d been old.

After the initial shock wore off, Susie smiled at Harvey, “You know, this isn’t so bad. Especially if I get to be with you again.”

Harvey smiled and kissed her. “Welcome to heaven, my love.”

Together, hand in hand, they moved on through heaven.