The Day Before Today ch 3 & 4

Hereafter


         Her eyes were closed, and she could feel the cold, crumbling sidewalk beneath a twisted hand. When she opened them, she glanced overhead, and saw the high balcony of a black building. People leaning over her gradually faded from view. The black building disappeared, and with it the image of a horrifed Vincent calling her name. In its place erected an enormous tan-colored wall.
         She sat up, amazed at how unharmed she felt. And even though she could hear the roar of the ambulence, and people leaning over her, shouting things to do and methods of revival and something about C.P.R., she couldn't see them. She was in a huge sunny room, with a shiny marble reception desk, on the cold floor. She glanced at her hand. It wasn't twisted, and had indentations of rocks chafing the skin. The hand healed itself right before her eyes, and she watched until the redness was all gone. She stood up very slowly, dizzy from the great fall. Aurora patted her face and arms and legs, to make sure she was all in one piece. No broken bones, no scars that she could tell, and no blood. ‘Odd,' she thought to herself.
         She could no longer hear the echoes of people on the city streets. Instead, she heard her own muffled echo as Aura's slippers made their way over to the reception desk. There were no doors in this room, no shadows, no positive source of light. And yet, light shone in from all four corners of the gigantic square area. A man at the reception desk tapped a pencil to his forehead, puzzled.
         "I wonder how that happened," he remarked. "You're not supposed to reappear in here. You're supposed to go straight to Paradise." He had an English accent.
         "Paradise?" Aura repeated. "Where am I?"
         "Well, I imagine that if I was a regular worker in Paradise, I would hear that question all the time, and I'd probably be tired of it. However, I've not been there in quite some time and I don't really have anything rehearsed to tell you. No words of comfort. But, really, this is odd. I must tell my boss of your strange coming."
         Aura stood there open-mouthed in her pajamas. She didn't say anything.
         "You look frightful," he mused. "But you probably don't want to stand here all day. Let me check your records...what is your name?"
         "Aurora Chassen."
         "Middle name?"
         "Rose."
         He lifted a yellow folder off his desk. "My," he remarked. "Lots of deaths today." He cracked a smile. "Plague going around?" 
         Aura didn't speak.
         "Well, then," he continued, talking to himself. "Where are you from? You're not the only Aurora, you know."
         "New York City." Her voice was barely audible, and she cleared her throat. "Is- is my name in there? Am I dead?"
         "Well, that's what I'm checking," he chuckled. "Now, is that with an ‘en' or an ‘in'? Because I have an ‘en' in here. New York City. 11:13 a.m.?"
         Aura nodded, stupefied.  "Well," his face brightened. "You're not dead, or at least not yet. They'll notify you if you die, but you won't feel any changes. I'll have to send you to the Recovery Room. Excuse me for one moment." He ripped a sheet of paper from a notepad and scribbled on it, then shoved it into an envelope. He went over to the wall behind him and opened the lid to a box in the wall- like a mailbox- and slipped it through. The lid clanged behind him.
         "If I'm not dead, then what am I?" she asked.
         "You're in the Unconscious," he answered. "Hold tight. The ladies will be here shortly to take you away." Then he resumed his post as a sort of clerk, standing with his head bowed over papers, hands clasped behind his back.
         A hidden door creaked, giving away from the wall left of her. Three older ladies in white nurse uniforms crossed over, smiling broadly. "Come with us, Aurora," they replied. "I'm sorry for the mistake. The Receiver accidentally sent you to the wrong place." The ladies gently pushed her through the opening, and the door behind her sealed up, then vanished. She was now in what seemed to be a hospital.
         "Did something happen to you in your sleep?" One of the ladies inquired, surveying Aura's attire.
         "I fell from a building." Aura felt dazed. "Not on purpose, though..."
         "Oh," the lady said. She guided Aura into a light purple room with a fluffy white bed facing an oak desk. "This will be your room for the time being, until we know if you are going to live or die. Then either you'll be shipped back to Earth, or you'll be released to Paradise. For now we've put you in the Children's Ward. I know that where you're from, nineteen is considered a big deal, but here we still consider you to be a child."
         Aura was too confused to be offended. "I'm not dead?" she asked.
         "Not according to my papers, you're not." The woman stopped and smiled sympathetically down at her. "Don't worry, Aurora. You're in excellent hands here. All's you need to do is wait and see how everything goes on Earth. It might be in the paper, if you look under the Residents section." She pointed to an inky newspaper on Aura's new desk. "I believe you're currently undergoing surgery of some sort. A coma, they are saying."
         "I'm in a coma? So this is all just my imagination?" Aura exclaimed.
         "No, no, no," Another woman corrected. "You've just passed on to the next level, that's all. Most people go straight to Paradise- others are in here for awhile. You might be in a coma for two minutes or two years- we don't decide that. But as long as you're in a coma, you can't go back to Earth."
         Aurora had stop and think, to process all this new information. "And what if I'm in a coma for thirty years? I've heard about that happening before to people. They're like vegetables, zombies...so I could still live?"
         "Lots of questions," a nurse answered. "Yes, it is possible that you could go back to Earth and regain full use of your body. However, your brain cannot process this part of your unconscious very well, and you won't have any recollection of having been here. You can call me Nancy. I'll be your personal nurse while you're in here, to make sure you stay unharmed."
         "If I'm not in my body, how can I be harmed?" Aura wondered out loud. "Shouldn't I be invincible here or something?"
         Nancy laughed. "That's the idea everyone seems to have. But, you see, you're not completely separated from your Earth self quite yet. You're not dead- only unconscious. So if you're hurt here, it will put a damper on your chances of survival back on Earth. Right now, we're counting on your mind to be healthy and stable to get you through." Aurora's thoughts turned to her bouts of depression and suicide attempts. Clearly her mind wasn't very strong. "So," Nancy went on, "We've got to be very careful. You have to rest and sit and clear your mind, and concentrate on getting better. No visitors- must maintain a peaceful environment." She left, closing the door behind her.
         Aura climbed into bed and closed her eyes, trying to make her mind blank, like washing her slate clean. She pictured a large gray slate in her mind, and in her mind she picked up a chalk board eraser and cleaned off her imaginary slate. But she couldn't get rid of her busy thoughts. "It's a wonder," she said to her desk, "That anyone makes it out of a coma at all. There's so much to bother a person's mind when they're in limbo." She envisioned a switch to her brain, and imagined it flicking off. But her mind continued stirring up thoughts of Humphrey, and Vincent, and Felicity.
         She sat straight up in bed. "Mom and Dad..." she murmured. Aura started to sob, for the eightieth time that week. Before she'd wished to be dead, and now she wanted more than anything to be alive again. There was so much she hadn't done. She'd wanted to get married, and have babies, and become an old lady. Well, maybe not the old part so much. She buried her face into a pillow and cried until her nurse came in and gave her some calming medicine, which put her to sleep.
         Aurora spent most of that week asleep, thanks to medicine that Nancy repeatedly had to make her swallow. "Miss," the woman spat, frowning. "I understand that this is upsetting to you, but if you're constantly crying and making a mess of yourself, the chances of your survival are very dim." They had to set her up with an IV, and the medicine was set to a very slow drip, so that most of the time Aurora never felt anything. Eight days after she'd been living this way in the Recovery Rooms, Nancy came in with her clipboard. Carefully, Nancy removed the IV and clicked off the machine.
         "What are you doing?" Aura mumbled drowsily. She glanced up at her nurse. Nancy smoothed Aura's hair with her fingers, and smiled warily. Her eyes warned of bad news.
         "I'm very sorry," she replied. "But it seems like there's been an overflow of comatose patients scheduled for this coming week. I'm not sure why there are so many- we've never had that much before- but unfortunately we can't take you in here anymore."
         "There's not enough room for me?" Aurora asked, suddenly perking up.
         "I'm sorry, dear." Nancy laid a simple green dress over the bed, and laid two simple brown sandals over top. "I hate this part of my job, I really do."
         "What if I am in a coma for two months and then come out of it just fine, like nothing happened?" Aura cried. "You're not even going to give me a chance? Why don't you just send me back to Earth?"
         "We have no control over you going to Earth," Nancy explained. "But we can send you on to Paradise."
         "I'm going to be officially dead, then?" Aurora inquired, dazed. She glanced down at the pleated cotton garment at her feet.
         "If you've not been revived in four days, then we'll have to induce your death, yes."
         Aurora stared at Nancy, pleading. "There must be something you can do. That isn't fair at all, to make me die just so that there is room for other people."
         "I'm sorry," Nancy told her again. "But really, this is just how it all has to work. If we make an exception for you, then we'll have to do it for someone else. Then that means the next person who needs a chance won't get one because all the rooms are filled up. Dying is like a big machine." She patted her knee. "There's still that chance you'll pull through before we'd have to induce you. Just hope, I suppose. But for now, you should go ahead and prepare yourself for some big changes."
         As she turned to leave, Aura grabbed her by the wrist. "Please," she said. "At least tell me what Paradise is like."
         "It's been awhile since I've been through there, because of this job I got here at Recovery, but it's beautiful." She paused. "The most beautiful place you've ever been- or rather- never been. Everything you could ever dream of is right there."
         "Except Vincent."
         Nancy tapped her clipboard as if in agreement, and then left again. "Alright, doctors," Aura spoke. "Come on, wake me up. Please, please, please wake me up."






Four


         Aura painstakingly endured the following two days, praying with every breath that she could pull through and make it. She shut her eyes, willing herself to heal, trying to fix herself physically by using her mind.
         "Get yourself dressed," Nancy sang on the third morning, lifting back Aura's comforter. "Here's a brush- might want to run it through your hair. There, that's a girl."
         Aura sat up, the blood racing quickly through her veins. Or really, it could have been that she had no blood at all. If her body was on Earth, what kind of shell was she in now? A temporary look-a-like body? She hadn't yet seen any mirrors. For all she knew, she could have disheveled purple hair and orange eyes. "Am I going back home?"
         Nancy held up the green dress and shoes. "Come on, Aurora, you can't be going on to Paradise in your pajamas. You'll be the only one dressed out of occasion."
         Aura let that sink in. "I'm getting induced early."
         "No need, you've already died on your own." Nancy patted her arm. "At 3:11 a.m. this morning, my dear. You've been a good patient. Don't worry, I hear your service is going to be quite lavish."
         Aurora began dry-heaving. "There, now, don't be starting that up again," Nancy sighed, helping her dress. "Don't be so dramatic about all this. I looked at your charts, and from what it says, your death was confirmed to be suicide. Why would you want to go back if you wanted to die? Paradise is where you need to be. Paradise is where you belong."
         Aura shook her head, her vision blurred from tears. "No, I was going to jump, but then I changed my mind. And I slipped."
         "Fate," Nancy decided. "Come along, you don't want to spend more time here than need be, now, do you?" She acted as though Aurora was preparing for a vacation or wedding.
         "Wedding," Aura groaned. "I will never have my own wedding."
         "And why is that?" Nancy gave her a puzzled look as they walked through a long, slender hallway down to a set of double-doors. "You know, a lot of people prefer Paradise. Almost all stay."
         "Almost?" Aurora stopped and stared at her. "I have a choice?"
         "Only two people have ever left. I'm not sure how, but they did."
         "Where'd they go?"
         Nancy shrugged. "I haven't the slightest idea." She turned to Aura, her eyes sharp. "But it would be better for you not to try. As I said, Paradise is where you belong. In Paradise, you will learn to forget Earthly troubles." She sounded as though she recited this all the time, but didn't believe it herself.
         She opened the door, which led to a about three flights of stairs. With every step, she was reminded of the tall black building and its staircase which she trodded on the last day of her living. "So, one day two people just disappeared?" Aura asked.
         Nancy obvously wasn't fond of the subject, but replied anyway. "Don't give it any thought, Aurora. It happened fifteen years ago. Friends noticed they were missing. Everyone looked for them. The entire island- and they weren't to be found. We've not seen hide nor hair of the two of them."
         "So they left together? Who were they?"
         "A man named Mr. Hayden, and his son, Edrie."
         "That is sad...a father and son both dead."
         "Yes," Nancy remarked thoughtfully as they reached the final landing. "But they didn't arrive in Paradise together. Edrie was stillborn, and his father was killed shortly after in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles.  But that doesn't matter, because you are here, and this is where you'll be for the rest of eternity." She spanned her arms and gestured to nothing but water outside the door, with a little canoe tied to the foundation of Recovery. The sky was bright and clear and high, and off in the distance, Aura spotted a strip of green- an island.
         "Welcome to Paradise." Nancy helped her into the canoe. "Don't worry about rowing. The wind knows exactly which direction to take you. Not like you could end up anywhere else, though. That island is the only thing in this abyss of water. Just go straight on through." She untied Aura's ropes. "Goodbye, Aurora Chassen, and good luck!"
         Aurora gripped the boat's edges, surprised at how smoothly yet rapidly it managed to sail- and in a straight, perfect line. Before long, she could see the waves rolling into a beautiful, glittering harbor against the part of the island facing her. "That little island...fits so many people?" She said out loud. Aura decided it must be magical, because nothing was as it seemed anymore. Maybe it only looked small. She turned around to face the wind and saw the Recovery Room, which was a sagging mountain of a building, high up off the water on wooden stilts. Rows and rows of canoes trimmed the edges of Recovery.  No land surrounded it- just a building in the middle of nowhere. The eerie sight gave Aura goosebumps on her neck and arms.
         When she swiveled to see ahead of her again, she found that she'd already made it to shore, and was inches away from pulling successfully into the harbor. The space was rectangular- just long and slim enough for her little boat to slide into. No one stood there to greet her, and when she looked about, she saw that other little rowboats were also pulling in alongside her. An elderly Asian woman stepped awkwardly out of hers and onto the wooden boards of a dock, peering all around. Aurora raised her hand. "Do you know where to go?" she asked.
         The woman just stood in place and stared at her, as though unsure of who she was.
         "Probably doesn't speak English..." Aura murmured. Now that she had reached her destiny of eternal placement, she has absolutely no idea where to go. As far as she could see, the village beyond the shore seemed normal, like one out of pictures of Atlantic beaches. People mingled in the streets, smiling at one another as they passed. Aurora noticed, as she went on, that all the women wore simple dresses and either donned sandals or went barefoot.
         Aura surveyed the green dress Nancy had made her put on, and frowned uneasily. What is this place? As she came closer, she saw a large white sign with black engraved writing: ALL NEWCOMERS MUST REPORT TO OFFICE AT ONCE.
         "Excuse me?" Aurora asked a little girl with long red hair and a yellow dress. "Where is this office I'm supposed to go to?"
         "Are you new?"
         "Yes."
         The little girl pointed a stubby finger to a pebbled path leading to a small brick house. "That is Office. You have to go there and check in. They'll tell you your new position."
         Aurora nodded as though she understood, and thanked her. Then she briskly advanced toward the house, which, to her surprise, did not have normal housing décor inside but office furnishings. And for what seemed like the eight thousandth time in her life, Aura approached a clerk's desk. "My name is Aurora Chassen," she told the lady. "I'm supposed to report here?"
         "Yes, Aurora Chassen," the lady with a swirly gray beehive and sunglasses told her. "Sign here." She shoved a pad and pencil at her, which she shakily scrawled her signature onto. The lady snatched her pad back, and flipped open a datebook. "You're going to live on West Bead Street, in a little red house with green plants out front. The place is called Scarlet Cottage. And you're new occupation..." she paused, scrolling down the paper with a long painted fingernail. "You're going to be a waitress at the Terrion Inn. They've got a little restaurant in there."
         Aura slumped her shoulders, smiling a little at the irony. Even when she was dead, she still had to be a waitress. "So, do people work have to work here, too? To make a living?" Aurora asked.
         The lady gave her one of those you're-bothering-me-with-pesky-questions-looks. "Of course. You don't think people sit around and did nothing just because they're dead, do you?"
         Aurora shifted her feet miserably. No, she didn't think that. But really, she didn't know what to think anymore. The woman stared on at her. "Well, why are you just standing there? Go on- you've got to settle yourself in." Aura glared at the woman's rudeness and gladly complied, leaving the door wide open behind her.
         With the exception of that one lady, Aura soon found that all the others she encountered in Paradise were actually quite friendly, in the most unnatural way. It seemed all their faces had smiles cemented onto them. Twelve ladies already had twelve pies cooling in woven baskets on her table, before she'd even opened the door to her cottage.
         "Would you like us to show you around the island?" One of them asked. "There is no land more wonderful than ours, I can assure you." She wore a full, frilly pink dress tied at the waist with a white bow, and her platinum blonde hair stood out at the roots, and then curled under just below her cheekbones.  Pearls rimmed a tidy, conservative neckline. She was the vision of a 1950's housewife, which is probably what she had been before she died.
         "No, that won't be necessary," Aurora told her, looking from one lady to the next. All twelve women seemed to be the same age, but she could tell their generations were spread very far apart. One of them women had long, jet black hair that fell in braids all around her waist. Her skin was deep brown, and on her feet she'd adorned moccasins. "I do have a question, however."
         "My name is Mrs. Bonne," The platinum blonde announced. "I'm your next-door-neighbor, and I can answer all your questions. You other ladies are permitted to leave." She gestured to the door, and the other women left, still smiling.
         "Mrs. Bonne, how did you die?"
         Her eyes darted around the kitchen, and she seemed confused. "Well, dear, that's a very personal inquiry. I meant that I could help you with other questions- typical of newcomers. You must know, Miss Chassen, that we here in Paradise are not about how you died. Your death doesn't matter, nor does your past memories of Earth. How can we establish such a fine way of life if we can't get over the old life?"
         Aurora pursed her lips, leaning up against a counter. "But you see, who you are doesn't change when you die. You don't become someone else."
         "Oh, yes you do." Mrs. Bonne solemnly replied. She didn't even blink.
         "I was a waitress on Earth, and I'll be a waitress here. Is that not the same?" Aura pointed out.
         "Did you ever miss work on Earth? A sick day? Vacation?"
         "Yes, I missed a few days," Aurora admitted.
         "That won't happen in Paradise," Mrs. Bonne stated. "You don't get sick. You don't go on vacation because there is no where to go. There are no other reasons to stay home because there will be nothing to do at home. There are no such things as television and radio and the telephone to get in the way of happiness. Happiness is having purpose. I am a housewife. I have five children."
         Five children dead, Aurora thought to herself.
         "If you are Mrs. Bonne, then where is Mr. Bonne?"
         "There is no Mr. Bonne."
         Aurora stared. "Then you are not married?" She glanced at the giant diamond glistening from the woman's ring finger.
         "When my husband arrives in Paradise, I will serve him, regardless of my knowledge of him."
         "You've forgotten your own husband?" Aura asked increduously. "Jeez. What about your old friends?"
         She showed no signs of recognition.
         "Do you remember where you lived?"
         "There is no need to remember such things."
         "I can't believe you don't know who you were," Aura said.
         "So will you," Mrs. Bonne warned. "When you are in Paradise, you learn to forget all of your Earthly troubles."
         She left, dropping a calling card into a golden dish on the coffee table.