Neither Heaven nor Hell

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“Wake up.” Slap. “Wake up!”
The world just jolted into existence as a bright flash. I told myself to try to remember what was happening. Close your eyes, Vern. Close your eyes and try to remember. I was lying on a bed. It was dark. There was loud humming noise. Think, Vern. Then it all came back to me. I was on the bed for a …
“Process reboot complete. Mind uploading success. Terminate process ignored. Unique Individual Identity Code UIIC2500001 allocated temporarily to one Vern B. Ross. Welcome to Utopia.” announced a charming female voice.
This voice caused me to lose concentration, but it was of no consequence. I remembered why I was here. Right in front of me was a lad (probably the person slapping me just seconds before).
“Delightful! Awake at last.” said a young man gleefully. “I had to wait so long for you. I presume you’ll be entertaining company. I do hope you do not think me rude, but I so wish that you follow me now. We’ll have plenty of time to exchange pleasantries soon.”
The lad helped me up, and stood there expectantly. I knew it would only be polite to start walking, but this was the brave new world. I wanted to soak it in. So what if I kept one boy waiting? I was standing in a Sakura orchard in full bloom and every flower was a perfect shade of pink. Petals danced upon the light breeze. The lake next to me was as clear and blue, and stretched as far as the eye could see. The young man (boy? looked about 17) was dressed far too formally for his age. A sharp charcoal suit was cut into his figure on a background of white. Brown belt, brown Oxford Troy shoes, and a pair of tapered pants. It was then all topped off with a flamboyant smokey-gray Mozart bow tie. I stepped forward. “So where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” ...

... middle of paper ...

...s neither heaven nor hell, merely purgatory. We are forever trying to supersede ourselves, and ‘purify’ ourselves, but here we are forever. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps on, but for eternity I remain. I long to know whether or not I made the right choice, and whether someone would still be willing to make the same choice I made. Before you submit your article for publication, tell me what you choice is. Infinity is a long length of time to regret a decision.”
He left, and I was all alone. The sakura petals flowed freely among the breeze, over the clearest, bluest lake I had ever seen. I had the ability to live for all eternity in a world of my creation. I could do anything I wanted, and I would make a difference in the lives of every single human being. This world seemed fantastical, perfect, flawless, and beautiful. So why was it such a difficult choice?

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