Afterlife In Limbo (Part Seven) - Many Questions, Some Answers (823 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: afterlife
Rating: 1.33 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Jason (View user info) at 2006-04-24 13:57:25 EDT
http://www.ubersite.com/m/85540 -- Part One
http://www.ubersite.com/m/85827 -- Part Two
http://www.ubersite.com/m/86062 -- Part Three
http://www.ubersite.com/m/86324 -- Part Four
http://www.ubersite.com/m/86510 -- Part Five
http://www.ubersite.com/m/86644 -- Part Six (Holy War)
--
It was obvious from the beginning of the meeting that the guests of Moses' Motel were a group divided, and tonight they were split three ways. The first group, and the largest I might add, was ready to take up the fight for Heaven, no questions asked. A smaller group was determined to fight for Hell, since they all seemed to have a pretty good idea that they were headed there after judgment, anyway. The final and smallest group wanted nothing to do with anything, and would wait for the outcome.
Question after question was thrown towards Saint Michael, yet he never grew tired of them. People repeated what others had said three or four times, yet the archangel always answered fully, with no malice, with no matter to which side the questioner stood.
"Why don't the people in Hell understand the point of the law?" asked a small meek man sitting in the front row.
The archangel walked to the man, and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Those cast into hell, understand, do not have the mental acumen that we in heaven possess. And to be honest, they don't possess the total knowledge they left Earth with. Part of the punishment for their deeds on Earth is diminished mental capabilities. They could not understand God's love on Earth, so they can not understand here."
"What's so wrong about sending a lot of people to Earth at the same time, St. Mike?" asked another. "Can't God just kind of go *poof*," he made an exploding gesture with his hands, "and make it bigger or more able to sustain the numbers?"
Again, calmly, St. Michael walked to the questioner and spoke. "He could, yes. In doing so though, would that not prove that God was wrong in his original creation? And would that not mean that God was fallible? It is an interesting paradox, to be sure. But ponder this. Why should someone who has broken the rules be allowed to immediately begin his quest for redemption again? Should their not be punishment?"
A stir began to ripple through the crowd, but Saint Michael was undeterred.
"Now please understand, Hell is not permanent, it never has been. Even the Morning Star, Satan himself might return to Earth if he wished. In his case, he simply does not appreciate that he *can* return, and in others, they do not think it would have an effect. Again, this is a case of ignorance, plain and simple."
That statement set off another explosion of anger from many people on both sides. Those who wished to support Hell cried out that living life again was punishment enough, while some of those who would follow the Flaming Sword of God were enraged that even with a length of punishment the condemned would still have infinite chances to regain grace.
During most of this time when others we hurling insults and spewing obscenities across the room, those of us who had opted for neutrality congregated on a small set of tables near the back of the room. Mary, Paula and Petey were there. As was I. And shockingly, Eric was sitting there, as well.
During the long spaces of time when we were sure the vitriol would not end for quite some time, we talked amongst ourselves, and hashed out one point that had not been addressed that we felt would be vitally important to our immediate futures. I was volunteered by the group to ask the question on the shaky grounds that I had happened to have the same name as the archangel. I tried to protest, but we'll just say I was less than successful.
"Um, Saint Michael! A bit of your time for us neutral folks, if you don't mind," I shouted above the argumentative roar after a question by the supporters of Hell about the sexual orientation of a few of the archangels.
Saint Michael turned to me for a second, nodded, and then with a word silenced the crowd.
"SILENCE!"
See, just like that.
"Ask your question, Michael of Lachish."
I kind of tilted my head a bit. I didn't even worry about how he knew my name or anything, since he seemed to know them all. But why did he think I was from wherever he said? "Um, I was told in Base Office I was in a coma in Bend, Oregon," I replied.
"Please ask your question."
"Um, right, okay. Anyway, I... I mean we. We were just wondering, with the entire motel kind of divided now and all. Um, what I mean is, you're going to obviously have the big group going with you, and the other group going into the slums to help out them and all, but where do we go, you know? You see, obviously we're neutral since we haven't added much to this festivus of insults or anything. And I assume Moses will be going with you since he's a prophet of God and all. And if he goes, the motel won't be able to run itself. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, um... How do I put this..."
"You wish to know if running the motel could be left up to the undecided, correct?"
"Well, to put it one way, yeah."
I looked around the small merry band of neutrals at our table, and each one of them, save Paula, looked at me with a bit of what seemed to be either awe or shock. I was pretty sure it wasn't awe, though, but not totally. Of course, Paula was looking at me the way a puppy looks at a seven year old kid after wrestling in the backyard. He had taken a liking to being considered a sort of sidekick since we moved into the Motel.
Saint Michael stared at me intently and said, "Michael, the Motel is yours. You and your group shall play an important part of this war before it is finished, even though at this time, even I do not know how or why. But be assured of one thing; at a point in the future, God or Satan may call upon your clan to assist their causes. You and you alone will be able to make the choice that may well change the course of the war."
I sat stunned for a moment. That was rather heavy news that I wasn't expecting. To be honest, I was hoping for a smidge more than a "yes" or "no". Not a shockingly disturbing look into my future.
I looked around and no one else in the room was speaking, almost as if they were waiting for me to reply. Even the others at the table were still and silent. In fact, they were still staring at me in the same shocked way. And they... They didn't seem to be blinking or breathing or moving in any manner...
"Um, Saint Michael, what the deuce is going on?" I asked.
"You will understand in the future," he returned.
And as he finished his sentence, the noise of the crowd erupted once again, right where it had stopped before. I sat still, transfixed on the archangel, until I was rudely punched in the arm by Petey.
"OY, mate. Ask ye damn question," whispered Petey. "Stand'n theh withcha mouth popped like a trout ain't doin' us no good."
"I already did, damnit," I replied as I rubbed my shoulder. "I'll explain later."
As I looked from Petey to Paula to Mary, I saw that the crowd was beginning to break up. I stood and turned back towards the front of the room, where I saw Moses leaning against the wall, and Saint Michael was nowhere to be found.
Paula and Mary started to get up from the table. I tried to do the same, but I felt a bit bolted into place.
"C'mon, Mikey. I'm tired as all get out," yawned Paula.
I looked up at him. "I can't. I'm just going to venture a guess and say that I'm supposed to stay here for something."
"What do you mean?" asked Mary.
I grabbed my pants leg and lifted, trying to show that my legs were stuck in place. "I mean I can not get up. Something is going real weird now. I'll see you guys when I see you, and I'll explain everything I can. Oh, Mary. I forgot my key, so can you leave the door latch open?"
"Sure thing. Just don't be so loud this time walking in, alright?"
"Har-dee-har-har. See ya guys in the morning, most likely."
Paula, Petey and Mary all got up and walked away, leaving me to sit and wait. And that's just what I did. I sat. And I waited.
A LOOOOOOOOONG time. I actually started to fiend for my puzzle book.
After a while, I had given up the fact that I would have to wait for the entire cafeteria to empty, so I laid my head down on the table to rest a bit. Sure, time outside the room hadn't moved, but inside we'd be knocking about for nearly 12 hours.
I must have been pretty damn tired though, because I don't remember much laying there trying to sleep, but I *do* remember being woken up with a shot in the back from Moses' staff.
"Sleeping on the job, I see." *tsk* *tsk* "You young folk never learn, never learn."
I rubbed my eyes a bit and sat up. Moses was standing behind me, tapping the toe of his sandal on the linoleum floor.
"C'mon Mike. I haven't got all day."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sleep, I was just a bit ti..."
Another shot from the staff. "Don't lie to me! You're generation, I don't understand it. You lie and lie when telling the truth would work just fine. That's what's wrong with everything now. All you punk kids, going down to Earth, learning all these new ways to piss off God, bringing them up here to the afterlife. Next thing you know you'll be listening to that rapscallion Englebert Humperdink and talking about the latest gal in that new bunny magazine. Now get up on follow me."
I sat, wide eyed and just oozing dumbfoundedness. "Yeah, you see. Small problem here," I said. "I can't get up right now. Legs are pretty much clamped to the seat and all, so I really kind of apologize for not zipping to my feet."
A small look of surprise whisked across his face, before it returned to its stony normalcy. "Oh. Sorry kid," he said as he nodded a bit.
Taking this to be some sort of magical act or something, I tried to stand. And still couldn't.
"You're an idiot sometimes, and I don't see in you what they do," he said as he turned. "You know when someone gives you that nudging kind of nod that means bump yourself in a certain direction? That was one of those times."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I push my butt a little bit in the direction he had alluded to, and lo, I was free. So I got up and jogged after him.
"Hey, where are we going? Some sort of special meeting?"
"No, Batman," he pointed down the hallway. "We're going to my office?"
"Oh. So, uh... Why are we doing that, then?"
Moses stopped dead in his tracks. "If you're going to be in charge of the Motel, you're going to want to *know* how to run it, aren't you? And if you want to know how to run it, you're going to need to *learn* how. And if you want to learn how, you need to go to my office. Is that plain enough?"
"Like a bagel, no lox."
"Don't start, punk."
User Reviews
Submitted by foster (user info) at 2006-11-11 12:02:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/95651
Submitted by phuzzygish (user info) at 2006-05-10 08:06:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Personally, I *HATE* the phrase 'what the deauce', but I'm not going to hold it against you...
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2006-05-08 05:24:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Missed this.
-Dave
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-05-05 17:45:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Working on it, working on it...
I've had a lot going on IRL, writing has taken a back seat.
I'm about 850 words into part8.
Submitted by rockdocc (user info) at 2006-05-04 23:25:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
wheres the rest?
Submitted by rockdocc (user info) at 2006-04-30 07:04:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
hey....I'm just going to rate this again. Because...well...I want to...
¥ h@£0 th€r€ bµtt§€çk§?
Submitted by georgemichael (user info) at 2006-04-30 02:17:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-04-30 01:39:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You came by just to say that?
Love you too, Sphag.
Submitted by Sphagnum (user info) at 2006-04-29 15:44:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
FUCK OFF
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-04-29 09:13:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You seem to be the only one to think so, Brad.
You take away your ratings, and your ratings alone, all 7 of these posts is over 1.6.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2006-04-29 08:08:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Retaliation? What retaliation? This post was absolute dogshit. And this series is about as entertaining as watching paint dry.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-04-29 06:18:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
HOLY SHIT THERE'S THE ETS RETALIATION -2 I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
YAY!
Submitted by Vengance (user info) at 2006-04-29 05:51:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
If you really believed in your work, you'd carry that passion with you wherever you went. That includes ubersite.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2006-04-29 05:50:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
How did I miss this?
Submitted by tarnation (user info) at 2006-04-26 07:52:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
is gooder make more nice story for fun read
Submitted by Confuzitron (user info) at 2006-04-26 00:34:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'M SO SORRY!!!! I R TEH APOLOGIES!
Once again, great job. This is a great series. And once again, no constructive criticism. Just a read, a +2, and a pat on the back. Mommy told me that real friends don't point out your short-comings. Then again, my mommy also told me when I was little that there was a little man living under my bed that would try biting my toes off if they weren't under the covers.
Submitted by rockdocc (user info) at 2006-04-25 20:07:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-04-25 14:01:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
SIX?
Oh man, did this get swept off the board in a hurry...
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-04-25 04:38:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-04-25 00:16:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-04-24 18:36:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-24 16:48:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
troot
Submitted by Massey (user info) at 2006-04-24 14:40:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice series
Submitted by simple_catalyst (user info) at 2006-04-24 14:07:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
interesting stuff, and enjoyable.