Reunion in the Sky City - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 4)
My wife looks better on the orange planet, than she ever did on Earth. Younger too. Her warmth was always my heaven.
If this is all just a dream, may I never wake up!
If you missed the previous “Afterlife” episode, please read that first. If you’re new, start at the beginning of the story in chapter one.
It’s funny how the fear of everything being taken away from us creeps in these perfect moments we never want to end. This was no different. I held on so tight I feared I would break this magical being, presenting itself as my young wife who couldn’t possibly be here. Could she? Do I care?
If she’s here, doesn’t that mean that she died on Earth? Shouldn’t I feel sad about it? But she was here. She felt real and firm and wonderful, and she smelled so damn good. It was right. I deserve to be happy. Real or not, she was always my happy place. Here, though, there is no word to describe what I felt other than heavenly.
“It’s okay, darling,” she said but never pushed away. “You’re home.”
“Are you real?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“It’s me.”
“But how,” I asked, sobbing like a wounded child. “How is this possible? Any of it?”
“If you let me breathe, I’ll explain everything to you, my love,” she replied.
I let go of the hug, but not her hands. I wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. I couldn’t risk her flying away and not being able to follow. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her again.
“You really don’t remember? (something unpronounceable and undefinable; my guide’s name perhaps) wasn’t kidding. You poor thing. You’re suffering.”
“Not anymore, I’m not. You have no idea how good it is to see you. Oh, how I’ve missed you!”
“It’s good to see you too. So tell me, how’s the transition going? Have you remembered anything yet?”
“I remember everything… from our life together on Earth. Every single detail,” I was being honest and a bit cheeky.
“You know that’s not what I meant. It’s time to leave your life on Earth in the past.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“You have to. That life is over. It was fun, but it wasn’t real. This is. You need to snap out of it. You need to remember who you really are.”
Her words were like a dagger to my heart. It meant nothing? It wasn’t real? My whole life? What we had? Nothing? I thought.
“How can you be so calm about this? Didn’t our life mean anything to you? How was that not real?”
“I know (something unpronounceable and undefinable; my guide’s name perhaps) already explained everything to you. We met in the Earth's realm and had a wonderful adventure together. It was lovely. It was fun. But it wasn’t real. None of it is. Just like this planet. It’s all an illusion.”
“But I can touch you. I feel you. I smell this coffee. I’m sitting on this chair. How is this not real?”
“Perhaps I used the wrong word, darling. Our thoughts and imagination are real, and they are running this world. We create things, and then we get to enjoy them. Play in them. Sometimes, we can even get lost in that play. Like you have.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard all this before. It doesn’t help. How are you here, wife? What happened on Earth? What happened to our children?”
“Time…”
“Flows differently. Yes, yes!” I interrupted here, “I’ve heard all that before. But I still don’t understand.”
“I see your impatience hasn’t changed, has it?”
“I guess not. I’m sorry. Please, help me understand.”
“Time in these realms, Earth or the Orange plane we’re on right now, isn’t linear for us. We can enter and exit at any point in time we choose. Our real existence here hardly notices that we’re gone, while lifetimes can happen in our exploration of the lesser realms. How long do you feel you’ve been here?”
“Two days, maybe three. I don’t know.”
“How do you count days when there is no sun around which to orbit? That was Earthly thinking, darling. You need to let that go.”
“I see a sun. It’s right there,” I explained, pointing at the sky's bright light.
“On this planet, in this realm, yes. But up there, in the real world, no. There are no days, as such, out there. There is just the eternal now, and our memories giving us a sense of time progression.”
There are no days, as such, out here. There is just the eternal now, and our memories giving us a sense of time progression.”
“I don’t understand. How can time be anything other than flowing forward? Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That makes time flow forward, doesn’t it?”
“You know how, when you watch a movie, it lasts for two hours, but decades can transpire on screen?”
“Sure,” I said carefully.
“You also know that you can use the remote control and rewind the movie and, with it, the time for the onscreen characters.”
“Aha?”
“Something similar is happening here.”
“But a movie isn’t real.”
“What is real?”
“I honestly don’t know anymore. But some things have to be! I’m real. Our love is real. My memories are real.”
“Yes, they are, but what created them is not.”
“My head hurts.”
“No, it doesn’t. That too, is an illusion, an expectation...”
“Woman! Get to your point please,” I interrupted her again.
“You remember seeing a movie, but the movie doesn’t have to be real. You remember the characters and their stories, struggles, and victories, but they’re just scripted actors playing their part. Your memories of those stories are real, but the stories themselves are not. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
“I do. I just can’t accept it.”
“You will. Your rational mind can’t accept this change in perspective. Right now, all it knows is the Earth's realm and all of its laws. It still thinks that the Earth’s reality is real.”
“Yes. Of course, it does. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
“Not true, my darling. It’s just a blip in the scope of your whole existence. You only need to remember who you are. The real you, not the part you played in the Earth's realm.”
“Help me remember, but please don’t let me forget anything from my life.”
After moments of silent contemplation, she said, “I think I know now what the problem is. You’re afraid that you’ll lose your memories of your life on Earth by embracing this reality. You won’t accept this until you are certain you’ll get to keep those memories intact. Your truth. Your life.”
“Maybe. What if I am? Will I lose them?”
“No. Our memories are infinite. We remember everything like it was yesterday, and we can mentally always go back and replay the best parts again in our imagination. We can even recreate them and relive them if we want.”
“We can?”
“Yes, and it will feel almost as real as the first time. You’ll just know that it’s only in your imagination. But it will feel real, I promise you. So don’t worry. Let that fear go. By remembering who you really are, you’re not losing anything. You’re gaining everything. I promise. It’s safe. You can let that life go and access every little detail of it, whenever you want.”
I felt a large boulder roll off my chest. Maybe I was resisting the change for fear of losing my memories. She always was wise, my wife.
“Thank you. I think that helps.”
“I’m glad.”
“Can I see our children?”
“You can. But first, we’re going to be husband and wife once again. Take me, like the first time we made love, husband!” she said, guiding me inside the palace to which the terrace was attached.
“I’m afraid I was a young man back then, my love. I’m not sure I still can,” I answered with a heavy heart. It’s been years since we’ve made love. More, in fact.
“Are you?” she asked with a smile on her luscious lips, and as I looked down, I noticed I was suddenly naked. Not only that, I was young and muscular. I felt young, too. Strong, excited, full of vigor for life, and lust for my wife.
“Now, this is a neat trick. I could get used to this. I can tell you that, woman!” I exclaimed.
“Don’t tell me - show me!” she whispered and stripped naked as we entered a large bedroom with the most comfortable-looking bed I have ever seen. I wasn’t interested in rest, though. I was a young man again in the company of a young woman.
“With pleasure,” I replied, and we made love like it was our first time and a millionth at the same time. We connected on a deeper level, but it was still a pleasure of the flesh. Real or not, this was nirvana. I could stay the eternity right here and be completely content. If this is what follows, then death is not so bad after all. It might just be the best thing that ever happened to me.
To be continued…
The whole series thus far:
Flying on the Orange Planet - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 3)
Reunion in the Sky City - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 4)
I Can Be Whoever I Want? - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 5)
The Shock and the Happy Ending, or Was It? - My Afterlife Experience (Chapters 6&7)
I Made a Grave Mistake! - My Afterlife Experience (Bonus Chapter)
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