In the Afterlife

 “Tim, I wish I could just tell you everything I already know. I can’t. Please, don’t be offended when I say this... You are not ready. You would just get utterly confused. Besides, I can’t because there is a lot to know, I couldn’t just give it to you in a nutshell. Patience. Everything in due time. And time, we have plenty.”

“That was my next question.” Tim said.

“I know my love, and the answer is yes. Yes, we’ll be together. I’ll be guiding you… just as I did in the past.”

“In the past?” Tim asked puzzled.

“You want to hear more about that, right?”

“Yes, of course, please tell me!”

Mag paused. “All right,” she said then. “For example, remember that car accident of yours on the Nevada highway one Thanksgiving night?”

“The one where my car started spinning and sliding on the wet asphalt, changing direction twice, first to get out of the way of that speeding big rig, and then not to slide off the road and start rolling which would have surely been fatal not having the seat belt on?”

“Why did you have to drive at hundred miles an hour in the rain?”

“Well,” Tim replied, “that was really something! After the accident, the only conclusion I could come to was that a tractor beam controlled the motion of my car.”

“Exactly,” Mag said, “and I was the one controlling that beam.”

“You were my Guardian Angel?!” Tim shouted with excitement.

“You could put it that way,” Mag said quietly. “Now, let me add that I was not your only Guardian Angel. It works a little differently. Those who had hurt you in some ways before they passed away and arrived here also joined in guarding you, and guarding others as well, of course. They did not join because they loved you, they did it out of obligation. You’ll understand later.”

“I’m already overwhelmed.” Tim said shaking his head.

“A lot more coming,” Mag added with a smile.

“Now, you talked about the Supremes,” Tim continued. “Do you know them well?”

“We don’t… In fact, we just believe that they exist. I have never seen any of them, and I don’t think anybody else has, either. However, their effect is all around us. For example, we feel we receive directives. These directives don’t just pop out of nothing. Besides, this Island must be controlled, managed and navigated. We have no idea how it functions. Of course, we don’t think it’s just an intelligent mechanism that controls itself.”

“Wait!” Tim interrupted. “Let’s talk about this… this Island.”

“Well, we call it the Island but it could be called this world, this home of ours or... we could call it this place, this vessel. Whatever this chamber we stand in is a part of.”

“All right,” Tim said, “how about this chamber?”

“Nothing special,” Mag replied. “It’s just one of the many reception chambers. This is where newcomers arrive.”

“So, does everyone who dies on Earth arrive here?”

“No, as far as I know only a fraction of them come. Mainly those who want to come, those who believe they can come, mainly those who can free themselves from their material possessions.”

“What happens to the rest?”

“Not sure,” Mag replied, “but we think they perish without a trace. I mean their soul, their mind, their identity.”

“Oh, so is that what survived my earthy life, too, my soul, my mind, my identity?”

“That’s about it. Although, here we do get a new almost invisible body. We don’t fully understand how it works. We only think it’s some kind of an energy body. Your person lives on not in organic flesh but rather in a bunch of photons and who knows what else. We think the Supremes made this possible.”

“Sounds very high tech,” Tim said. “I wonder how much more evolved the Supremes are.”

“Much more than we are, I’d bet,” Mag replied. “We think…”

“Wait!” Tim interrupted. “You keep saying we. How many of you are you referring to?”

“Quite a few. Of course, I don’t know everyone here, so I wouldn’t know the number, either. And there must be a lot more of us than what I’m aware of. As time goes on, you’ll get to meet more and more of us.”

“Another question about our soul, mind and identity,” Tim said. “Did all my knowledge come with me during this transition? I mean… will I remember everything I used to know on Earth?”

“As far as I know, yes,” replied Mag. “At least that seems to be the case with me. Of course, I can’t talk for you or for anybody else when it comes to memory. I think if some of your memories did not arrive with you here, you won’t miss them because you won’t know they are missing.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Tim nodded. “Now, back to this Island, this place or whatever we call it. Can you tell me more?”

“I will eventually tell you everything I know. Of course, if you have specific questions, go ahead and ask. I’ll answer if I can.”

“For example, where are we? I mean where is this place, this… this Island? Are we out somewhere in space?”

“That’s exactly where we are. And you might be glad to know that we are not that far from where we came from.”

“Not far from Earth?!” Tim asked in surprise.

“That’s right.” Mag extended her arm or whatever it was that Tim could see. “Come,” she said. “It’s time to leave this chamber anyway.”

Tim followed the woman who then stopped when they reached the door.

“As you can see,” Mag explained, “this door is now closed. It closed after I entered. Every door functions the same way, they are all sliding doors and they all close automatically. However, they don’t open unless you give a mental command. If you have no intention of passing through or if you don’t think it should open for you, you may stand here forever and it will remain closed… So, go ahead, open it.”

Tim had no difficulty giving that mental command.

After they passed through, the door silently closed behind them.

“Wow!” Tim said. “It looks like now we’re in some kind of a corridor.”

“That’s exactly what it is, a corridor. A very, very long corridor. A circular one. It goes around the Island.”

“The walls…Are the walls the same everywhere?” Tim asked.

“Yes, exactly the same.”

“And no difference if I look down or look up? Floor, ceiling, all the same?”

“Exactly.”

“Wait a second!” Tim said. He stepped closer to the wall. “May I touch it?”

“Of course,” Mag replied.

Tim expected his hand to go through the wall but that did not happen.

Mag laughed. “Why do you think we had to use the door? Those walls are impenetrable. So is everything else in the Island.”

“Except us,” added Tim. “Right?”

Mag nodded. “Except us, and I mean all the rest of us as well.”

“I'm wondering what the walls are made of,” Tim said after a short pause.

“That we don’t know.”

“And what color would you say they are? I think they are gray but perhaps you perceive it differently.”

“Good word you used Tim. Yes, we perceive things here. If you think it is gray, then it is gray. Basically, there are no colors in the Island, and there is no light, either.”

“No light?! How can I see you then? How can I see everything around me? True, right now I can only see walls but it appears to me that we are in a well lit corridor.”

“Perception, Tim, perception. However, pretty soon you’ll see real colors as well as real light, and that will be more than just perception.”

Mag stopped close to the wall.

Tim thought he saw the outline of a frame that did not reach down to the floor.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a window,” he said.

“You got it. Now, open it.”

“You mean…”

“Exactly, just like the door.”

Tim’s thought activated the window and it began to slide open.

“No way,” Tim whispered in amazement. “Our home, planet Earth.”

“Our previous home you mean,” Mag corrected.