A Second Chance

Words 2,519

A Second Chance
By Lisa Noe


Kristen Yoman woke up after being in a car accident. She couldn't remember what had transpired. Things seemed different some how; the world looked and felt different, her pain was gone and she was energized. She felt as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes, and she was seeing more clearly. The sky seemed bluer with a trace of pink in the big white fluffy clouds. All around her things were brighter, more colorful. She looked down to herself, checking to see if she was hurt in any way, as she recalled the accident. There was no sign of any injury, and she felt so strong. Yes that was it, she had been in a car accident! she remembered now.
She was going home from her mother's house when she passed out at the wheel and hit a tree, flipping the car on it's side. She was thrown from the vehicle.

Where am I? and how did I get here? she wondered.

*****
He came from out of nowhere, wearing a long white robe. He was a handsome man with olive skin and piercing blue eyes, he appeared to be around thirty years old. He came over to her, making her feel uncomfortable. She didn’t know what was going on, where she was or who he was, she was afraid.

“Hello, do not feel afraid, you are safer than you have ever been. I am Simon, and I’ve come to welcome you to your new home.”

“My new home! Where am I? What happened to me? I thought I was in a car accident! What is this place? Where is my family?!”

“You will soon learn where you are, I am your guide, I will be teaching you of our ways here. Now first things first, you must go and remove those old torn clothes, Here is a robe you will wear, it is all you will need.”

“Why do I have to wear this old thing?”

“You will feel foolish if you are not dressed like everyone else, we all wear this here; you will find that it is much more comfortable than those old clothes.”

Kristen took the robe and saw a cavern she could go in to change. When she came out, She saw Simon overlooking a pool of water. She walked over to him and asked.

“Where am I, Mr. Simon?”

“Please dear, it’s just Simon, you do not use labels here.”

“Well Simon where is here?”

“I am not permitted to tell you yet, it is not clear if you will be staying or going back.”

“Why is it not clear?”

“You were prematurely taken.”

“What do you mean taken? Was I kidnapped?”

“No, it will become clear as the day wears on.
Now we walk to see the Master.”

Kristen thought she must be in England or some place, where they have butlers, who call their bosses Master. She had never been to England or anywhere outside the United States, perhaps that is where she was. She could be in Hawaii though, that is what it looked like with the beautiful water and white sands.
The great big blue sky with hues of pink and white puffy clouds. She noted that she had gone over this in her head earlier, but it did not answer where she was. Simon put his hand on her shoulder to help guide her where they were going, They walked past many strange variety of plants and flowers, things she had never dreamed existed, so beautiful was this place she could not believe her eyes. Everything looked so vibrant, so fresh.The sweet smell of honeysuckle, roses, and peony filled the air. She felt as if she were dreaming, this place could not be real she thought. After walking for what seemed like perhaps a mile or so. There were children playing, laughing and screaming in fun. There were women hanging wash out on a line of cable and gathering eggs from the nests. It was a small village it appeared. Filled with pretty little cottages, one just like the other lining both sides of a strangely paved street. It seemed to be built out of some kind of metal resembling gold. Each home had a garden, and each family had a cow, chickens, goats and horses. Sort of like little miniature farms. She recalled as they walked by the fields of food that grew for miles; corn, barley, wheat, and potatoes. This must be a farm community she thought. Each yard had trees filled with fruit, which also provided shade for their homes. As they walked through the village Simon spoke with each person he met; everybody knew Simon and he them. They offered him fruit as he walked past them and to Kristen as well. She graciously accepted it, she was very hungry, what ever it was happened to her made her hungry. It had been a while since she had food. Simon took her to the home of a woman, who was working in her garden picking flowers for her home. She raised roses mostly but she had a generous abundance of gladiolas too. Simon introduced Kristen to the woman.

“Kristen this is Victoria, she is the mother of these two little boys you see playing over here, and four girls who have not come over yet. It will be a while before she sees them again but she keeps tabs on them, for it is not their time.”

“Hello Victoria, that’s a pretty name, it was my grandmother’s name. I never got to meet her though, she died when I was very young, just a baby actually,” Kristen said.

“Well I’m sure she would be proud of what a lovely young woman you have grown into, If I had a grand daughter I would want her to be like you,” Said Victoria, as she looked over at Simon."

“My grandma, loved gladiolas, I think the orange ones were her favorite, it’s one of the few things I actually know about her.”

Victoria picked a gladiola and handed it to Kristen. Kristen put it up to her nose and sniffed it. A big smile came upon her face.

“Yes, the orange ones are my favorite as well,” Victoria revealed.
Do you like flowers dear,” added Victoria.

“Yes as a matter of fact I love them, I like the roses and the peony, I also like the hydrangea bushes. My favorite tree is the Dogwood. Because it is the tree that represents the death of Christ. If you look at the flower in the center of the petals there is a crown, and on the tip of each of the four petals there is a stain of blood and what appears to be a nail on the tip. I always thought that fact was very interesting.”

“Yes I recall the flower of which you speak, it does bring to mind the death of the Savior.”

“That’s enough. We have a long journey ahead of us, we are going to visit Peter. To find out if we are to send Kristen back home or to keep her. We have many more people to meet on our journey.” Simon said with a stern voice. He hugged Victoria and kissed her cheek, thanking her for her time.
Kristen ate the fruit that Victoria had given her, and it tasted like a delicacy, unlike anything she had ever tasted in her life. It was juicy and sweet, she ate it slowly to savor the taste and make it last as long as she could. The next few people Kristen met made her feel weird because there were so many coincidences of people having the same name and description of family members of hers that have passed on. There was a man with her great grandfather’s name, her grandfathers’ names, her other grandma’s name etc. and they looked similar to the people she remembered. Although it had been countless number of years since she had seen any of them. They came to the end of the village and there was one house left.

“I must warn you ahead of time, this next person you are going to meet may be unsettling for you. However, it is important for you to be as calm as you can, you are in a place that is very sacred, and there are many very blessed people here, so try and remain calm.”

At that moment a man came from his house and when he walked over to the two of them, he had tears in his eyes, but they were tears of joy. Kristen looked up to the man and could not believe her eyes. What was happening? This could not be. he had died thirty years ago. Yet he was standing in front of her.
She grabbed his hand to see if it was real, and she could feel it, flesh and bone, it was her father.

“It can’t be, is it really you? What is going on? Am I dreaming?”

“No, I am real, this place really exists, and you must go to visit Peter to see if you too are going to stay here with us, or go back down.”

“Where is this place?”

“You are in Heaven, you were in a automobile accident and now you’ve ended up here. They do not know yet whether or not to keep you. You must be judged worthy then they will decide whether to give you a second chance on earth; Or to send you either to Heaven or Hell. What you have been seeing since your arrival is just a limbo, the real Heaven is even nicer and it can not be described; it is too sacred but it puts the paradise you saw to shame,” Said her father, John.

“You mean I’m dead?”

“No, not yet any way. Your body is in a coma on earth; the Master is deciding whether to give you a second chance, they are in question of your destination. Apparently you have done things that have been deemed unsatisfactory to the Master. But he does not feel that you are entirely bad, so he is deciding to give you a second chance,” explained Simon.

“You mean I might go to Hell!?”

“We’ll just wait and see, you must stand and be judged by Peter and Michael, you will not be meeting the Master, you are deemed unfit at this point. I am going to allow you to stay with your father for a time while they are deciding,” Simon said.

“Oh daddy I am so frightened, you must be disappointed in me, for the bad that I have done to get myself in this shape, I don’t even know what I did that needs improving.”

“I have watched you from Heaven over the years, you have been selfish with your time; when you should have been donating your free time to sit with your elders and our family who were sick. Instead you spent your time trying to get attention for yourself. You have taken the Lord’s name in vain on many occasions.
You did not keep the Sabbath day Holy, instead you spent time having fun, and you were greedy many times as well. These are just, to name a few of the things that I noted you did wrong. They will be itemizing as if it where a grocery list to determine if you will be given a second chance on earth to live. If you will go to Hell, or if you will remain with us in Heaven.”

Simon, Who had left Kristen to spend time with her father, now returned to retrieve Kristen.

“It’s time,” said Simon

Kristen hugged her father and bid him farewell. She and Simon were again set out to take a meeting with Peter and Michael. They walked another mile up the road, while she admired the pretty flowers, which were so unique and different.

“We are here.”

“I’m afraid,” Kristen said.

They came upon a large building, which looked like a castle, it had golden gates at the entrance of it. Before going in through the gates there was an auditorium, which had seats and she was seated and Simon sat in the seat beside of her. In a few moments two men in white robes came out and onto the stage like podium that was built out of what looked like pure gold. They had a big book and they looked at her sternly. She could feel herself shudder, she just knew they would send her to Hell. She dreaded them reading the verdict to her, she began trembling with fear.

“Kristen Yoman, you have come to us prematurely, it seems you were joining in behavior that we consider to be risky, as it risks you losing your soul. We do not like to lose a soul, but you have free choice, we decided if you continue on the path you have been on for the past several years, you will lose your immortal soul and be sentenced to an eternity in Hell,” said Peter the Angel.

“Watch the screen as we replay your life for you and you will see as we saw every little sin you have ever committed played out before your very eyes,” said Michael.

Kristen watched and sure enough there she was on a big screen doing unspeakable things, shoplifting, having an adulterous affair, not showing compassion to a sick relative, who needed her. And on and on.

“We have watched you and have been there during all of your wicked acts, we have bared witness to your thievery, you adultery, your lies, and countless other things which I find here on my list. Yet you have a good and pure heart that seeks only love and gives only kindness. It has been so determined by our Lord and Master that you shall be placed back on earth with your free will still in tact. You will not recall what you have seen here, but will remember the good feeling you experienced. Your body is in a coma on earth. Therefore, it is our recommendation, your soul be reunited with your body.

Kristen turned to Simon and asked if it was over. Simon nodded yes it had been decided. She would not be sent to Hell at this time, She had been given a second chance because she had a good and meek heart. However, the next time she would not be given a reprieve.

“ Was that woman I met my grandma?” Kristen asked.

“Yes," said Simon.

“What about the other people I met, who were they?”

“They too were relatives of yours, all of them wanted you to have a second chance.
Also many people on earth have filled Heaven full of prayers on your behalf. Now you must come with me, we must get you ready to go back home.”

Simon took Kristen and followed Peter and Michael into another little room off of the auditorium. They took Kristen and lay her into a chamber of some sort. Simon told her, she would never remember the confrontation, but would recall the good feeling. The next thing she knew she was waking up in the ICU of Central North Hospital, her family all gathered around her. Her family was all loving on her and celebrating the fact she awoke from a coma.

Although she did not remember what happened she knew she felt lucky she did not die in the accident.

“I feel better than I’ve ever felt in my life, I’m going to give my life to God and spend my spare time helping others because that is what life is all about,” she told her family.


Author's Note: This is a complete work of fiction anyone resembling the characters are unreal. However I do believe in Heaven and for all we know it could work this sort of way.


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