Life/Afterlife

Take a minute and think of someone. Anyone at all. Think of someone that you love; someone that when you see or think about him, you feel that little spark of happiness in the pit of your stomach ignite into a fire. Think of the moment he came into your life and you felt the exact moment your life changed. How gloomy, dreadful, sorrowful days would disappear when you thought of him. How memories blossomed and flourished around him. How you saw a world of color when he was around.

Now imagine if the person you just thought of...disappeared. And how the world would fade to grey as you sank deeper and deeper into the abyss you knew you would never escape. How you would sit down there, surrounded by a world of nothing, with no one but yourself to talk to. Days, weeks, years even, would go by of you sitting in a world of black and white.

And then, one day, you see a spot, a park bench maybe that explodes into color. You feel an invisible force pulling you towards the color you've been lacking for so long. Then you feel a tap on your shoulder. And suddenly the world is filled with color, once again. Shades of blues, greens, reds, and yellows fill the space around you and that little spark of happiness that had lay dormant for so long, stirred. Then second after second, the flame grew bigger and bigger until you could practically feel the warmth spreading throughout your mind, body, and soul. Angels dance and spin in the street, singing a song so sweet and clear you can't help but sing along.

And suddenly you're dancing. Spinning and twirling around and around, so perfectly in sync you feel as though you have wings. The angels take your hands and spin you around the once sad, grey world. The sight of how beautiful and alive the world is over joys you. You feel the angels lift you into the air and you laugh; something you haven't done in years.

They set you down on a white cloud that's silk against your skin and you sigh happily. You're glad you left that cold, dead world for this white, beautiful one. You look down below you and you see hundreds of angels flying up from the black chunk of rock that used to be your home, carrying people just like you up and away to surrounding clouds. They see you and wave but one soul catches your eye.

He's brighter than the rest and when he sees you he breaks into a smile for he too, feels the flame ignite in him. Years had passed since you had seen that smile, but it was worth the wait to see him now. With the flame growing bigger, angels lift him off of his cloud and set him down on your own. "He's with you now," they say, " and forever will you walk, hand in hand, down the streets of gold."