They say I was out for an hour. I don’t care anymore. The construct of time is so trivial.
Okay, let me explain. A few weeks ago, I died. Temporarily. Sudden cardiac arrest, caused by some rare medical phenomenon. That was the easy part. It was over in a second. One moment I was out on the town, wandering about, and the next, I was out.
Like many other people who have found themselves in my predicament, I saw the afterlife. My experience started out the way they all do. Floating above my own body, going to the light. I was overcome with a blanketing feeling of immense love. Then, my mother and best friend, who both tragically passed before their time, appeared to greet me. I ran towards them, and we all embraced. All the same old story, right? But this is where most people wake up. My stay was a bit longer than that. I saw what comes next. What actually happens in the afterlife.
It was just a glimpse. A mere flicker. But, all of a sudden, the warmth and light that surrounded me just vanished, replaced with an overwhelming feeling of weakness. I was in the presence of a power unlike anything ever known. As for the look of it all, it wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t light either. I can’t describe it. But, my mother and my friend…their embrace turned from loving to possessive. They grabbed my arms with hands that just felt unnatural. I don’t know how else to say it. Then, I saw their faces. Gone were the people I once knew. Their features were cold, lifeless, their eye sockets filled with pools of infinite darkness.
Then, they disappeared. But their grip did not, if that makes sense. I could now perceive the source of the immense power. There was no mistaking it. This was the supreme being. And it haunts me.
I can’t tell you what it looked like. It was far beyond anything a human mind could comprehend. Nor can I put into words what it was doing. But I knew. I could sense the dread, the anguish, from all those in its presence. Then, it observed me. Again, I can’t describe how. I just knew. All of its universal, cosmic might faced me. I felt its greed, its hunger, its lust. I felt its power begin to work its way over me, like tentacles, pulling me in.
And then, I was in the hospital. The doctors and nurses stood in shock, my friends were smiling with relief, my family was in tears. I had come back. Nobody ever survives being dead this long. They called it a miracle.
At first, I tried to deny it to myself. That it didn’t actually happen. It was such a brief moment; surely I was mistaken. One I could deny my experience no longer, I told myself that it was all just a dream, the ramblings of a dying mind. That couldn’t be God, or Heaven. God is good, right? But then I realized…says who? We have no way of knowing that. All the beliefs and religions from around the world that portray a kind and loving God, or even a neutral one, are all just assumptions. Human constructs, arbitrary classifications.
And, on top of that, my mind has forever been changed. I would like to say “expanded”, but that is far too happy of a term. I can sense its foreboding presence. I can see it without “seeing” it. It exists in every corner, down every street, in every home. I cannot go anywhere without seeing it, feeling it. When I turn on the TV and see major disasters around the world, it is there. When world leaders are speaking, it is behind them, calculating. Because it wants us gone. Its power is immeasurable, but we’re catching up. As can be seen with cases like my own. We’re playing God, and it’s tired of it.
At the top of its list, however, is me. It knows I know the truth, and it wants me gone. Take me back, I guess. I’ve spent the past couple weeks dodging speeding cars, narrowly avoiding falling objects, killing rabid animals, and much more. It will get me sooner or later. I can’t escape its power. Nor can any of us. Perhaps immortality is our only chance. For now, though, I need to rest. I have a headache, and I’m a little nauseous. All this anguish must be catching up with me. I’m going to sleep for a little while.