My Afterlife

I was floating in the sky. There were only clouds around me. I saw something golden coming towards me. It stopped right beside me. It was a leaf made of gold. It was supposed to step on it. So, I did. The leaf took me to a high tower which was called the ‘Tower of Heaven’. That’s when I realized that I am dead. There was a window at the top of the tower and the leaf took me inside straightaway. There was an old man with a long white beard and mustache. He was fully dressed in white clothes. The leaf stopped in front of him, and I stepped down. The leaf then flew out.

The old man introduced himself. He called himself the Caretaker of Souls. I couldn’t believe the fact that I had become a soul and I was dead. When alive I always questioned, “Is there any afterlife?” If it is there, then what would it be like? Thoughts like these often crossed my mind. But I also feared death. The old man showed me how I died. I was walking on the footpath. A burglar was running away after thieving a shop, and police were trying to catch him. In his defense, the burglar shot a bullet toward the police. I was behind the running police going in the opposite direction. The police dodged the bullet, and it struck me in the nape of my neck. I got killed on the spot and there was a lot of blood pooling out of my body.

Seeing how I died, I was stuck. I couldn’t speak anything. I was feeling heaviness. My legs started to tremble, and I lost my balance and fell to the floor. The old man was watching me. He ordered me to get up. I was still trembling. So, I didn’t respond. He ordered again. This time in a stern voice. With effort, I had to follow him. I managed to hold my balance somehow. He clapped his hands and an eagle came outside the window. We stepped on its back, and it flew.

I was brought to the land. There were many other souls like me. Seeing the eagle, they joined their hands and bowed down. The Caretaker stepped off after me. He greeted the other souls, and everyone stood up. He introduced me to them and told me that I had to live with them from now on. Then he left. I was left there with the other souls.