Into The Wonderland - My Afterlife Experience (Chapter 2)
Welcome to the real world. Say goodbye to everything you think you know.
The magical realm of the ethereal beings, infinite realities, and unlimited possibilities
If you missed the previous episode of “Afterlife,” please read that first.
I was immediately awestruck when I opened my eyes! An infinite amount of colors, strange beings, and weird structures struck me like lightning. I felt instantly overwhelmed by all the sensory input. It was like the whole universe, along with all the parallel ones, was condensed into one perfect interdimensional omelet. Words cannot describe what my eyes were seeing.
Some beings were familiar. Men, women, children, and animals. As did the worlds they appeared to have been transversing. Others I was seeing for the first time, at least, that I could remember. If the Universe were full of billions of inhabitable planets, all with billions of unique inhabitants, they were all somehow here, in front of me. Represented in all shapes and sizes, just minding their own business, living their lives, utterly unaware of my presence as a shocked observer.
While certain environments seemed earthlike, others appeared to be from a fairytale or a science fiction novel. Anything anyone could possibly think of was real in some corner of this realm. The beings seemed to be completely unbothered by each other.
I saw large cities full of technologically advanced-looking machinery reaching into the sky. Wait, why is there a sky here? Never mind, I keep forgetting that I’m in Wonderland, and nothing is real in this apparently factual world. Nothing has to make sense as it’s all just some sort of an illusion, a projection of the mind, or so I’m told. I’m unsure I understood what that meant, but seeing it all in action, it almost made sense. Almost.
There were furry-looking humanoid creatures riding something resembling horses and funny six-legged beings flying over my head on freaking space whales. Nothing made sense, not from a physical perspective. On Earth, this wouldn’t have been possible. I was starting to understand that anything you can dream up includes the impossible!
Why would anyone ever leave such a place? For a mortal life or suffering and hardship, nonetheless!
“Is it coming back yet?” the woman, who wasn’t a woman, asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Who are all these beings? How is any of this possible? What am I even looking at?”
At that moment, a gigantic spaceship flew by and disappeared into the distance, with an echo of a black tail full of stars, interfering with the image of the city that appeared anchored in the clouds. It was all intertwined and overlapping. I felt like I was watching a billion movies on the same screen.
“I know this must all seem confusing. Don’t think too much and accept that what you see is real.”
“But it can’t be. Everything I know says this isn’t possible! It’s just not. I mean, look at that creature over there, with two heads smoking a pipe made of legs? Are those legs?”
“Understand that none of it is material, only a very convincing projection, a simulation, an illusion, a dream if you will. In dreams, there are no rules of nature. There is no gravity, time, or causation. Anything is possible, and you can dream up whatever you want.”
“So I’m sleeping, and this is all just a dream? I can get with that. That would explain things.”
“No, no. You misunderstood me. You’re the one awake; these worlds you’re observing are someone’s dreamed-up realities. They inhabit them, believing that is their reality, as you did in the Earth realm. Once they wake up, they end up here,” she explained.
“You’re breaking my brains, woman!”
“You don’t have brains. There’s nothing to break,” she replied.
“That was rude and uncalled for, lady!” I protested.
“You literally have no brains anymore. They were part of the whole human of the Earth experience. They’re not real. They don’t exist.”
“Then how am I thinking? No brains, no nothing!”
“This is true in the Earth realm. But that is not how your mind works.”
“I have no idea what you’re telling me. How can I even be alive without brains? How can I think and remember things? Where is all that data stored and processed, then?”
“Are you sure you want to go into that right now? I mean, we can…”
“Not really. I wouldn’t understand anyway. So, let me see if I understand this right. These people, these beings, are all just dreaming one over another? And what - their dreams are colliding and mixing somehow?”
“That is how it appears to you. From your perspective, they are fully immersed in their worlds and affairs. You’ve just come back and have a problem separating these projections apart. You’re overwhelmed with all the input and can’t recognize what is real from what is not. Don’t worry…”
“Yeah, yeah - it’ll come back. I heard you the first time. But when?”
“Look at that world over there, the orange one,” she said, pointing to my right.
“I see it. What of it?”
“This is a realm much like the Earth realm you had just come from.”
“It looks nothing like my Earth, woman!”
“No, I suppose it doesn’t. My point is that it is a world, a persistent illusion, a simulation created about the same time as the Earth's realm. We’ve been playing with stories within that world for an eternity. In fact, you and I have met there, in another life.”
“Let me guess, you were a man, and I was a goat?”
“Ha ha ha! That’s the (something unpronounceable and undefinable; my name perhaps) I know!”
“What were you doing with that goat?” I asked insinuatingly.
“Don’t be silly. We had some fun adventures together, you and I. Good times.”
“Let me guess - I’ll remember them all?”
“Yes. It shouldn’t take long now.”
“Why is it taking so long, anyway? Is something wrong?”
“No, no. Don’t worry. You were in there a long time, which sometimes means the memory recovery process can take longer.”
“I did live a long life. Maybe you’re right. I don’t know.”
“Was it a good life? Are you happy with it?”
“I suppose.” I had to think about it. “Yes! It was a good life. I have no regrets.”
“I’m glad to hear it. So, do you want to visit the orange realm? To see how it feels?”
“I can do that?”
“Of course. You can do anything you want. You can play in these existing realms or create your own. Most don’t bother, as it is a lot more work, but you can if you want to.”
“The Earth has a creator? I was right. There is a God!”
“Please don’t call him that. His ego is overinflated as it is. The Earth realm is a big hit, and he’s a sort of celebrity around here. I’ll admit, it was a nice idea, and it is mighty fun to play around with. Still, he’s no God in the way you imagine a God to be.”
“He created all that is. The Earth, the whole Universe as we knew it from our point of view. Along with all the living beings that inhabit it. That makes him a God in my book.”
“From the perspective of a human, maybe. But that also makes you a God then, too.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious,” she replied.
“What do you mean?” I was intrigued.
“We all have the same abilities. We are all creators. Some just have a better imagination and are more passionate about their projects than others. He just had a good idea and knew how to sell it to the rest of us. I mean, he’s good, don’t get me wrong. But he’s not God, or else we all are.”
“To me, he is God. End of debate.”
“You’re hopeless.”
“Can I meet him?”
“If you can find him. He’s always running around and playing with his worlds. A restless soul, that one. Something of an overachiever.”
“Awesome. I want to ask you something else. Could I visit Earth again?”
“You could. I just don’t think that’s a good idea. Not yet, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“You need to spend some time in the real world or some expeditions on other worlds. Your mind has to readjust to this reality and get over the Earth's realm. If you just went back, it would complicate things.”
“But I can go back and visit my kids?”
“Soon, they won’t feel like your kids anymore, old friend. Being a father was just a role you were playing. We enter into these roles, and the fullest, most immersive experience is when we jump into an unborn baby. That gives us the whole human adventure, from start to finish. We completely lose ourselves in the game.”
“Let me see if I get this right. My wife, my kids were people, beings like us, from here, who …”
“Yes. Who chose to play in the Earth realm and go all the way. They wanted to experience being a human in a certain period and location. It’s a narrative thing, but we only dictate the beginning, the entry point. The rest of the adventure develops on its own, with a billion possible outcomes, depending on your choices and other players. That’s what makes it fun.”
“I don’t like that you keep calling people - players.”
“What would you prefer I call them?”
“People are people! Real human beings. My kids are real. They live, think, feel, and have a soul, goddammit!”
“And that soul is us. We are ethereal beings without a body, remember? You are just a soul in this ultimate reality. Then, you enter a body on Earth. You completely merge with it and the world around you. From your perspective, you are that body, that person. When you die as a mortal human, you return here into this ethereal form.”
“This is where I am at the moment?”
“Yes. Your kids are real. Of course, they are. Just not as the human bodies you know them to be, but as ethereal beings playing in those bodies, as were you. Souls is actually a decent description, albeit colored by religious beliefs.”
“I’m worried about my kids? Are they going to be okay?”
“Of course. No matter what happens in the Earth realm, they will be okay. It’s all just a game, a simulation, an illusion. The fates of their characters are irrelevant. This is their real life, and there is no suffering, pain, or death here.”
“I wish I could understand. I really do, but…”
“Imagine they were movie actors or video game characters. They live their onscreen virtual lives, and even if they get brutally murdered on screen, they all walk away laughing and return to their real homes safely after the show is over.”
“They are going to get brutality murdered? What? By who’s hand?” I angrily inquired. “I have to help them!”
“No. That’s not what I’m saying at all! Are you not listening to me? They’re just playing a character in a game. Nothing down there matters. Nothing!”
“So, they’re not going to get murdered?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. It doesn’t matter what happens to them down there!”
“It’s still weird when you talk about my family that way, but I guess I could find some comfort in it if I actually believed you. What will happen to them when they die?”
“The same thing that happened to you.”
“Will I see them again?” I felt an emptiness in my heart. The one I apparently left on Earth.
“If you want to, sure. But it won’t feel the same. You have to understand that. You were playing a game, representing different characters in that world. That wasn’t the real you, nor was it the real world. This is, and here we are all connected in a different way.”
“In what way?”
“I can’t explain it to you just yet. It’s a sense of oneness, but you have to experience it for yourself. Don’t worry. You will. I promise!”
“How will I know when they’ve died?”
“Time moves differently here than in the Earthly realm. You can enter at any point in time like you would choose a chapter of a video game or rewind a movie. Just wait a while before you do. Get settled back into this world first, please. I don’t want to go through all of this with you again.”
“But if I return to Earth into a baby, as you say, I won’t remember any of this. I won’t even know them. We’ll miss each other completely.”
“Not necessarily. You don’t have to go back into the fully immersive storyline. You can just jump into one of the simulated vessels and browse for a while. Have a little fun.”
“What? What do you mean? What are empty vessels? Woman, you’re confusing the hell out of me!”
“NPC’s? Non-playing characters? Doesn’t ring a bell?” It didn’t.
“No. I’m an old man. I never played games. It wasn’t my thing.”
“Well, it is definitely your thing here, my friend. Non-playing characters are empty beings, like people or animals, enabling us to enter them at will. Think of it as renting a car and taking it for a spin. Soulless bodies, if you prefer. Biological robots that you control.”
“Mighty insensitive of you, lady. Who are these people then? What happens to them when no one is, am, renting or controlling them? They stay parked in a garage?”
“Don’t be silly. They go about their day doing what they were programmed to do. Humans tend not to notice them unless something goes wrong in their programming. To humans, they look normal. They go to work, raise families, live their lives. They just do it in a more scripted way, I suppose. Besides, they’re rarely empty for long. What else will we do here but mess around with them?”
“So heaven is a bunch of grown-ass children playing games in made-up worlds all the time? Am I getting that right? Kind of disappointing, if I’m honest.”
“Let me ask you this. What were Gods doing in your stories on Earth?”
“They created the Universe and ruled over their subjects.”
“And? Anything else in those stories of old? What do the myths and folklore say about Gods visiting the mortal world?”
“I see what you’re saying.”
“Spell it out for me, please. I want you to hear yourself saying it.”
“Fine. They would observe people, guide them, fight wars, fornicate with women, interfere with our destines...”
“So, play games and mess about, then?” she interrupted me.
“I suppose you could say that,” I reluctantly admitted. “But…”
“Shall we then?” she interrupted me. “Swing down to the orange world and mess with some locals? I think it will help you remember who you truly are. We’re sort of hitting a dead end here. We’ve got to mix it up. What do you say? Feeling up for it?”
“To hell with it! Why not. Lead the way,” I agreed. I had nothing to lose, and apparently, this is what my new, old life was all about anyway.
Honestly, I was warming up to an eternity of playing different roles, creating new worlds, and adventuring around the Universe without a body to care for. After all, being a kid is the best. How bad can it be to be an eternal child with no worries or needs, possessing unlimited power?
“No, not hell. This Orange plane is something special. You’ll see.”
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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