The Afterlife, Lianna Salva [best books for 7th graders TXT] 📗

True, George never thought much about promotion in his work or a need for change. He was content with his life, even if it wasn’t exciting or unique. And as for knowledge, he lived, he died, what more was there to know?
Damian took out a pen and a pad of paper from the desk drawer and started to write. When he was finished, he turned the pad of paper around so George could see. He pointed to the numbers and symbols as he talked. “In numerology, numbers are considered symbols for all matters in the universe. The number 4 means that a person is in need of stability in their life (he pointed to a picture of a tree). He is in need of finding his roots and seeing where he came from. The number 1 means that you need ambition, some sort of drive to get you to your goal (he then pointed to an arrow). Your goal, in particular George, is to obtain the knowledge of your future.” The last picture was of a sun with long, flaming rays.
“But I’m dead. How can I have a future if I’m dead?” This made no sense, and George was only getting a headache from trying to understand.
“Just because you are no longer breathing it does not mean that your soul is gone.” Damian seemed to be getting frustrated himself. He marveled at how little humans knew about the world. “Because you are here, because you had a number in these files and because you chose the right door, you have been given the opportunity to make a very important decision: to move on to the next world or to go back to the physical world in which you will live a new life, one in which you can start over and hopefully reach your goal.”
So this is what it came to? Being reborn or moving on?
“Where is the next world?” George felt like he already knew, but of course he was constantly unsure in this place and with these strange people.
“Heaven or Hell, either one,” Damian said with a wave of his hand, “But it is not for any one of us - not even you - to decide which one you will go to if you decide to move on. The life you left behind can only prove that.” He went to the chair and sat down in it, leaning back with his hands behind his head.
George nodded. That part made enough sense where he didn’t argue. The only thing now was to make a decision.
“What would you do?” he asked. At this, Damian smiled, like he had a rehearsed answer ready and waiting.
“If I were you, I would take the chance. I mean, you already lived once right? And only while living can you experience pain, so why would you want to live another life full of pain and misery, one in which has the possibility of being worse than the life you left behind. And, no offense, but yours was a pathetic existence.” He got up then, and walked around the desk. He put his arm around George’s shoulders and started to lead him out of the office, back towards the direction they came from. “Yeah, I would take the chance of moving on. I mean, so far as I know, you never committed any crimes or did any hateful things. There’s a pretty good, maybe even definite, chance that you would be going to Heaven. So, really, there’s nothing to lose.” He turned to him then, and made a wide smile. George only looked at Damian in the same, serious way. The offer sounded very tempting, and very reasonable. Of course, it was a pretty big risk; pain on earth was one thing, but the possibility of being in eternal agony wasn’t something George wanted to think about. At that moment, Lucy’s words came back to him. She was waiting for him and she had something to tell him, too.
“I still have to think about it,” George told him.
The smile fell fast, but then Damian laughed and said, “What’s to think about?”
“Just give me some time.” George then walked past Damian, leaving him standing with his back turned. Damian straightened his jacket, and walked in the opposite direction. Only faintly, and maybe even out of his imagination, George thought he heard Damian say, “You’ll come back.”

.........................................................................

George kept on walking. He didn’t exactly know if he was going in the right direction, but he knew as long as it was away from Damian, it was the right way to be going. After walking for some time, he came back to the sign posts. Lucy was sitting on the ground, waiting for him just like she said. When George approached, she looked up and smiled.
“I’m glad you came back,” she said.
“I’m glad you waited,” said George.
As she didn’t get up, George sat down next to her.
“So, answer me one question, before we talk about what happens next.”
She nodded and smiled.
“Why don’t you have the same choices as me? Why can’t you move on?”
She was surprised that he asked this, but only because no one else ever cared to hear about her story. Lucy didn’t know if she should, but she decided to tell him anyway.
“Like I said before, I died when I was little, so I didn’t really live a completed life. Because I was young, I had more unanswered questions than most who came here. I didn’t have a number, I wasn’t ready to have one yet, but I was still meant to. I had a life all planned out, but died before I could see it happen.”
George was listening intently, saddened by her story, but still curious. She continued.
“When I cam here, I saw the line of doors, like you did. I walked down the row until I came to a plain, white one. There wasn’t a number on it, like the others, and I was intrigued by the break in the pattern. Naturally I went through that door, as I should have, and I ended up right here at the sign posts. I wasn’t met by anybody, but I knew that I wasn’t in Heaven. I sat here for quite some time, wondering what to do next. After a while, I heard someone coming. I stood up and saw Damian walking toward me, eating an apple and not looking up from the book he was reading. He was on his way to meet someone who had just come from another door. When he saw me, he was surprised because I wasn’t expected to be there. He explained to me where I was and what his job was. Because of the unusual circumstance, he told me that if I wanted, I could stay here and help him meet people who came from the doors. I agreed, but only if I could look older, the way I do now. And I’ve had this job ever since.”
She ended her story and while George was still thinking about what she just said, Lucy asked him, “I suppose Damian told you what 417 meant?”
George, startled by such a quick change of subject, nodded and said, “He told me that my goal was to find out what’s to become of my future. The way I see it, if I choose to move on, then I don’t have a future. At least not one that’s on earth. So, if I’m to find out what my future is, I might as well go back to earth, and not to the next world, wherever that might be.”
She stared at him in amazement and smiled. “Well, then I guess I don’t have much explaining to do if you’ve already chosen what you wanted.” She got up then. George did too, and before Lucy could start walking away, he grabbed her arm.
“Hold on, I haven’t made a decision yet,” he told her.
She looked around, with confusion on her face and questions in her eyes.
“But you just said...”
“I said that it would make sense for me to go back to earth, but not that I wanted to.”
“But I don’t understand,” said Lucy, with disappointment in her voice, “Why wouldn’t you want to go back to earth? Why would you deny the opportunity to start a new life?”
George looked at her and said quietly, “I don’t want a new life.”
“Well why not? You don’t understand, I would love to have this opportunity, and your throwing it away!”
It was the first time he had seen her frustrated like this. She had seemed so calm all this time, but she was human once, after all. Maybe she was still. Maybe they still kept their humanity even after they were dead. George understood why she was angry; she was only a child when she died, so the opportunity to live a full life was the only thing she wanted.
“If thats what you really want, we better get you back to Damian.” She walked quickly past him in the direction of Damian’s office. George ran up to her and blocked her path.
“I may not want to go back to earth, but I definitely don’t want to take Damian’s offer. I don’t really like taking risks,” he said.
Lucy only looked at him, more confused than ever. “So what is it that you want to do?” she said.
“Well,” said George, “I was thinking about just staying here.”
Lucy laughed and said, “You can’t do that.”
“Why not? I don’t see any better option.”
“The better option is for you to go back to earth, where you belong, where you can live,” said Lucy. She walked away from him, but then stopped and turned around. She looked on the verge of tears; she was more frustrated than before. She didn’t understand.
“Tell me, are you happy that you’re dead?”
George couldn’t form the words for an answer. The reason for this was because he didn’t know what the right answer was to give. If he said yes, he would be asked why a thousand times. If he said no, he wouldn’t feel that his answer would be completely truthful. He would have rather lived, but only to see if his life could get better. For him, that was a good reason to live, it meant that he had hope. And whatever and wherever this place was, and no matter where he went from here, he didn’t feel that he was missing anything back in the living world. He was never afraid of death, and he still wasn’t.
“No matter how bad my life seemed, I never would have chosen to die. But I’m here now and I can’t do anything about it. I’m sorry that your dead.” He truly was. If there was a way... “I’m