Dave McGregor could stand it no longer. Life, pressures, marriage! All were driving him mad! There was one alternative to his dilemma. Suicide! He had all the proper reasons for it. His son was in a gang. His daughter was sexually promiscuous and was pregnant at 16. He was some $800,000 dollars in debt, and he had reason to believe his his wife was having an affair with his brother's best friend.
Dave took his head up off his desk. He swivelled about in his chair to the wall size window. A Virgin Atlantic plane was off in the horizon. He reflected on it. It was so delicate, so wonderful, so amazing. McGregor wanted to be a pilot. His family would not fund his college tuition if he did. He said he would, for his father did not think he would take that initiative. McGregor was a lawyer just like the rest of his family. He hated it.
Dave took out the revolver he had bought. It would be so easy to kill himself. What else did he have to live for? For a sec he thought it was wrong. He would prefer to die by falling. But the gun would have to do!
The next thing McGregor knew was that he was in a big long narrow room. About 20 chairs were lined on either side of this, which were filled with the weirdest creatures you can imagine. The carpet was green, with red overlaying the center of the room, which stretched to each door at the end of the room. He was at the door on the south side The north door opened, and out stepped one of the weirdest creatures he had ever seen. It was somewhat human in appearance and anatomy, save it had way too mny appendages (at least six arms and four legs!) It had stalks from what would have been human eye sockets. At the end of these were his/her/it's (who's to say different species have the same genders we do?) stalks were big black oval eyes. "Next!" came a voice from the north door. The creature nearest entered, and "Stalky" went to the south door. He opened it, and what appeared before him were many inanimate objects with grey light moving all about it. The best way to describe it is when there is a thunder storm at night, with lightning lighting up the clouds. The only difference was that this light was constant and always moving.
"What on hell --?" started McGregor. He was interrupted by the creature sitting next to him. "Mook sicum darthe, barinth keylar!" McGregor looked over in astonishment. He had understood him perfectly! Loosely translated, it means, "Please don't say hell, Stupid!" After he got over his initial shock of his ability to comprehend this foreign tongue, Dave took stock of the creature. He was a short humanized toad, but with more pronounced ridges above his eyes than the toads of out world have "Karakum merentheun?" [Translation: Why are you bewildered? Ed.]
"How can I understand you?" asked McGregor.
"The same way I can understand you! In the Halls youcan understand anybody and anything said to you in a foreign tongue. It's just a superatural happening, that's all."
"Oh, that's all. That's like saying Romeo and Juliet is just another play by some weird dude who likes obscuring his meaning. What did you mean when you said `the Hall?'" Dave asked.
"Why, the Halls of the Dead, of course! Jenik is the Commander of this particular Hall or maybe of this whole building. I don't really know. This hall is in a building, with seven floors. This building is in a town. You can't get to it when you're waiting to get judged." explained the toad thing.
Then another toad appeared in the seat opposite or McGregor. "My brother! Menecar, how were you killed?" asked the toad.
"That war goin' on in Bosnikrinkar," said Menecar.
"Didn't even know there was one goin' on there!" said the toad thing.
McGregor was too caught up in his thoughts to pay the brothers any mind. The Halls of the Dead! He did it! He really killed himself. Oh God what have I done? he thought. He never was the religious type,though he was a Christian. But he was not close to God, and had not been in several years. He knew he should be, but he did not take this initiative and convert it to action. He was lost in his thoughts when the North door opened. The creature was tall, thin, and brown. Its spindly legs gave it the appearance of almost toppling over any second, and it look tipsy. Its head was elongated, with two long tubes at the end of it. Dave thought that they were the creature's noses, but it turned out to serve the gastronomical purposes of biological life. One mouth was for solid, the other for liquid, each leading to separate stomachs. Three large oval eyes were set deep in the blackish brown fur. For some reason, this memory always stuck out to McGregor. The creature went to the South door and it opened for him. He beheld a large golden ocean set against a beautiful purple horizon. Many island were dotted the landscape. Birds were chit-chattering, and an occasional dragon lumbered here and there. What he perceived to be a female of the species was there. It had breasts, so at least McGregor thought it female.
"Sir, what is you're name?" Dave asked the toad.
"Zuram Zuramum. Ranmum for short, though," said the toad.
"What just happened? That was what happened to the last creature!" exclaimed McGregor.
"No, I reckon not. But don't you know about the afterlife?" asked Ranmum. "There's a book underneath each seat that informs you of the facts. Basically, God sends you to either one of three places. These are Purato [Pur-a-to], Heaven, or Hell." With help from Menecar, Ranmum explained Purato. Basically, it was the same as Purgatory, but in design it differs only slightly. Ranmum was surprised that the concept of Purgatory existed in McGregor's world. He thought about it, and said that if it existed in theafterlife, Then the idea would exist in the different worlds.
McGregor never thought to ask how Ranmum died. He did this presently.
"Well, I had an affair. Then I was caught. I realized it was wrong, but the huma's life partner [Huma being a close equivalent of wife], went off on some irrelevant tangent and killed me. He had to pay for that. Only one had to pay out of this situation, me. But now he has to pay too."
They waited in that room for what seemed like hours. All of their conversations would fill up a small volume, so I will not bore you with the details. Some of it is irrelevant to this story, and I have included the parts that were needed for this narration of these events. Rama, as McGregor fondly nicknamed Ranmum, finally got to go into whatever laid behind the North Door. After the usual time it took to be in the Inner Room and out, Rama went to the South Door. A gust of wind blew open the South Door, and what lay beyond it was a vast expanse of sea on the left, and on the right was plains. After the plains there was a forest, and then the forest gave way to Mountains. Light seemed to be emanating from a city hidden in the mountains. Angel-like apparitions were waiting for Rama to step forward, so they could take him home. "See ya, McGregor!" Without looking back he step forward boldly. The South Door shut. McGregor had seen this many times, and he had taken it to be Heaven, or at least one plane of it. It seemed that whenever the wind blew open the door or the door opened by itself, it was a beautiful place. Whenever it was opened by the creature, it was what McGregor took to be Purato, or it was a truly hellish place.
"Next!" exclaimed the voice. Oh, God, help! It was McGregor's turn. He got out of his seat and went to the North Door. On the glass part read "Jenik: Star Master." He had great expectations for that room, and also great fear and dread. When he entered, McGregor couldn't help but feel disappointed. He expected it to be something like the South Door. But it was not at all like the South Door. All that was in the Inner Room was a desk in the center with a computer on top. On McGregor's right (which was east) was a water cooler in the corner, and on his left was a file cabinet, and a giant one at that. The only thing even remotely unusual about the room's contents was the angel sitting behind the desk. Dave took the angel to be about 14 ft. tall. He was dressed in a business suit with a Loony Toons tie on. His hair was a dark brown. There was a strange quality about his eyes, but McGregor never could place his finger on it. Also he had three pairs of wings on his back. If not for his eyes and his wings, McGregor would have thought him just a regular businessman.
"State your name, please," said the angel Jenik. McGregor complied. Jenik swivelled around to the file cabinet and pulled the info. he had on Dave. The file was about 4000 pages long. It was entitled Dave McGregor, His Life, His Story.
"What's that?" McGregor asked in horror.
"Oh this? It's your file. Everything you've ever done is in this little thingy. We are not going to go through the whole thing, though. There's a cross reference at the back we can refer to."
"Great, just great!" said McGregor. They then went through his life. This guy knew everything. The file had all of Dave's motives for everything he'd ever done of major consequence. That doesn't mean that the biography dealt with just the big things. Everything was in there. They talked about the time when McGregor and his brother and their friends broke into the gym and played basketball. Also worth mentioning was they talked about the extreme difficulty he had in proposing marriage to Ellen Katherine, his wife. He still felt a love for her, but their relationship was on the rocks. They talked about that, too. He had shirked his responsibilities as a husband and a father. That was one on the reasons his life was the way it was before he killed himself. They ended the overview of this mortal man's life.
"Now what?" asked McGregor.
"Well, your actions decide where you are going. You can't go to hell. I am thinking Purato would be a good place for you."
"You make the decision? I thought God did that!" exclaimed McGregor.
"Well," said Jenik, "God has several divisions in his Kingdom to help run it. This building is on Salvation & Stars Way. This building is for the New Arrivals."
"You mean we're already in heaven?" asked McGregor.
"Well yes, in a sense. This building is in Heaven. You can't get outside this building, or even out of this hall unless God so wills it. And this is a thing He very rarely does. The South Door usually sets you wherever God wants you. I am in charge of this building. Star Master is the title one gets when he is in charge of a major division like unto this. We try to illuminate Christ like stars do Light. That is the source or origin of the Title. I usually don't do this type of work. Migthor wanted a vacation so we moved the chairs in from his Hall and set them up in mine, and so with them, the mortals too. Usually I oversee the operations in this building, not actually doing the interviewing myself. But with this I chose the fate of mortals. Well, actually I take all the facts and put them in accordance with God and let them decide."
"And what fate do my actions demand?"
"The Second type of Purato." At McGregor's questioning glance, Jenik went on to explain the three types of Purato. "The first type deals with those who are good morally but do not have the grace of God on their lives. The second deals with the ones that, when they died, they left things in a real bad shape because they had not been walking in God's will. The third and last type is when a human returns to earth to help other people. They don't have to do this. They want to do this. This is before they reach Heaven. Now, since I am Jenik and God has vested this power in me, I am going to do something I do not usually do. Now, off with you." With a wave of his hand, McGregor was gone. This all transpired without the help of the South Door.
McGregor was cold. He drew his coat close to his body. He was standing on a railway depot. It was a dreary day, drab and grey with no warmth penetrating it. He did not know what he was doing there, for he was just there. A large crowd of people were there awaiting the train. An old lady in a grey coat that went down to her feet, almost like a robe, with a grey hat on, stood shivering. She had a long baggy purse stuffed with many things. Then the train came to a stop. A young teenager was getting off the train. He saw the old lady. He ran over to her and grabbed her purse, and ran off down the street. McGregor ran after him. He caught him by the arm.
"By Jove, what are you doing?" asked Dave.
"Just let me go! I gotta take this to Mama!" The boy continued to walk down the street. It was going downhill and looked like it was making its way down to the river. McGregor went down with him.
"What's wrong? Why did you steal that purse?" asked Dave to the teenager. "By the way, what is you're name?"
"Gregory, Greg for short. I stole that purse so we could get some money. I was goin' to the bank to see if we had any money, but it has ran dry." Greg then stopped and dumped out the contents of the purse. It had the usual feminine things that purses do. Greg got all the valuables and stuck them in his pocket. He then threw the red purse away and continued walking. Presently, they reached the end of that street. It gave way to a broadway running along the course of the river. They turned left down the lane. On this lane were apartments on the south side. On the north were wharfs for boats and fishing tackle stores and the such. They reached a battered old apartment. Dave and Greg entered the apartment. The went up three flights of stairs. Three doors down was where Greg and his family were staying. Greg got out the key and opened the door. The room McGregor found himself in was shabbily furnished. There was a couch and two or three chairs. These were positioned to face a fairly large window. The view was of nothing but the back on the building behind theirs. A girl of about 18 lay on the couch with a baby in her arms. McGregor could tell she was pregnant. An older lady of about 60 sat in one of the chairs. Another woman was in the other. The middle- aged one turned about to face Greg.
"Did the money finally give out on us?" the lady asked.
"No Mom. It didn't." The boy threw the money he had stolen to her. "This is -- uh -- one of my friends. Kenny's his name," said the boy.
"Nice to meet you, Kenny." said the mother. She then said to Greg, "Honey, we're gonna get out of here. Remember? What is he doing here?"
"He's got a car we can use. Right Kenny?" Greg asked.
McGregor was dumbfounded. He mumbled a yeah.
"I'm glad you're a gettin' away from that creep husband of your's. I'm glad ya finally took my advice. 'Bout time." said the old lady, who was the landlord.
"Yeah, I would probably never have left him if not for you, Lana!" said Greg's Mother. "I thought he was goin' change, but I was wrong."
"What did he do?" asked McGregor.
"What didn't he do? He lies, cheats, steals. I am only leaving him out of desperation. I don't want my kids to have a father like that!" she said. They then got their stuff together, which wasn't much. The little group went down the flight of stairs and out. Parked on the opposite side of the street was a nice silver car with a black top. It had not been there before. McGregor checked in his pockets. He had the keys! He unlocked the door for them and they climbed in. To his surprise Lana got in too.
"Ain't you the Landlord?" McGregor asked.
"Yeah, but I sold that place this afternoon. I felt a conviction to go with this family and help them out. I got the money for it, too. Let's get outa here." They then drove off, following wherever the road took them. About 60 miles out of the big city they came upon a small town. McGregor pulled into a motel, and helped them unload. Somehow he felt his work done.
"Come on. I drive you back to the city. The General has a message for you," said Lana in a mysteriously ominous tone.
"Who's the General?" asked Greg before McGregor had a chance to put the question himself to Lana.
"A mutual acquaintance of your friend and I's. I be back in a little while." With this, Lana got in the car with McGregor. As they drove off, McGregor questioned who this "mutual acquaintance" was. She said "You'll see," and that was all he could get out of the mysterious old lady,
They got back to the city. She dropped McGregor off by the river side just a few blocks from the Boarding House. Lana said that the General would be there shortly. She then drove off, saying that he would not need the car any more. McGregor felt that she was right and did not try to stop her.
He faced the water. It was roaring this way and that, never ceasing to get to its ultimate goal, which, of course, was the sea. McGregor observed a little puddle on the shore. This would not get to its goal. McGregor realized that his life was the puddle. He would have to be thrown back into the river.
As he was watching, something began to happen. A wall of water arose, and a face began to appear in the water. It was like a hologram. The hurried actions of the water were in the face, though the face was itself not contorting. The waves gave it that appearance. The face looked familiar, but he could not place it. He felt it to be almost an obscenity that he could not remember who this was.
"You have seen what happens when you mess with God's plan, don't you?" said the face. McGregor nodded. "What I did there does not usually happen to someone in your position. I let you observe, but you did not play an active part in restoring that family back to as near the right place as it should be. Also, you did not go through the South Door. There are some unpleasant sequence of events that happen when you go through the South Door to get to the second type of Purato. I spared you this. Because of my position and the authority I have as Star Master, I spared you this. Also, I supplied the car."
"But how could you get a car that fast?" McGregor asked.
"By God's hand alone. If God lets me assume a face in this river, and the Halls of the Dead exist in heaven while having doorways to different places, how hard do you think it would be for Him to secure a vehicle? Lana will take care of them and help guide them," the face in the water said.
"Who is Lana?" asked McGregor.
"She is who I am. We are the servants of God. She and I share the same common purpose. We live in order to obey God and follow His rules and commandments, and to help you humans."
"Who was that family I helped out?" asked McGregor.
"Your own. Kathy remarried. It was not a good marriage, as you can see. When God is not in a marriage, it is easy to foresee what will happen to it. Come, let me show you something." On the water came up images that are comprehendible to our holgrams but they are not the same things. On it was what looked liked a theatre screen. On the screen was Gregg. He was muscular and smoking a joint. He was in a parking lot. There was a black limousine. Three or four men were dressed in black. On the back of the car was a briefcase filled with money. He had gotten into the Mob, and was accepting money for killing one of the Mob's enemies. He would be killed in a fire in a fight for the Mob. Then it changed. The screen was on his daughter. She was taking drugs. Her child had been killed in a car accident a few years back. Her other child was in a foster home in the Bronx.In a few years she would O.D. on heroine. Then the screen changed again. This time it was Kathy. She was in an insane asylum. She was completely crazy, and she lived under the delusion that the North Wall in her room was always fighting with the South Wall, thus causing her to lose sleep. [Actually, too her it was the North, but in reality the directions were reversed. Ed.] She would die a shattered and disillusioned woman, the reason was because of his death. That was why she was crazy. That was why their lives had taken the course they had taken. That was why ....
Dave awoke with a start. He shook his head. It had all been a dream. Oh thank God Dave awoke with a start. He shook his head. It had all been a dream. Oh thank God it wasn't real! McGregor thought. He took his head up off his desk. He reached for the phone which was to his right. He quickly punched in a number. It rang awhile. Oh God, let her pick up. Please!
"Hello?" Finally!
"Kathy, this is Dave. Honey, send the kids out. It's been a long time since we had a night to ourselves. I need to go over some stuff with you. Alright?"
"Alright, dear. Whatever you say," came the voice at the other end.
Copyright 1997
M. A. Clark If you have any comments on this story, please do not hesitate to tell me thru email.