adventures in the afterlife - tomslatin.combobby wakes up and finds himself blinded by a strong...

Adventures in the Afterlife

Chapter 1

Entering the Afterlife

Bobby wakes up and finds himself blinded by a strong white

translucent,glaring light, bathed by a dense white fog. There is a

strong sweet smell of flowers and the pleasant heady aroma pleases

him. When the sun burns away the fog, he sees he is in the cemetery

garden, but it is unlike the garden he saw when he was living. I know

I am dead yet I have a strange feeling of being alive. My body seems

weightless, and I still sense its mass. A disembodied voice spoke

out.

"Robert, you were recently buried, and you are thinking of your

former life. You are dead and in another universe."

"And who are you? Where are you?"

"I am your Guardian Angel. Yoi can't see me because you do not

remember what I look liked when you knew me. I can see you because I

remember what you looked like years ago. Search your memory bank

until you recall a time when you saw me. Then I will be visible to

you. I suggest a memorable occasion, your wedding day." After a few

minutes, The image of his angel appeared.

"You must rid yourself of the codes, rules, regulations,

standard of you former life: you are no longer a part of it: you are

in a new environment: a different universe with different laws,

rules, regulations and standards." Good thing my Guardian Angel is

here to guide me.

"Sorry, Bobby, I won't be here much longer. I am neither dead

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nor a human being. I will be with you just long enough to get you

admitted to the Afterlife. Then my service to you is ended and I will

leave you. Sorry old chap."

"The last thing I remember is my funeral, the burial, the nice

things people were saying about me... "

"That must have been another of your realistic dreams. They

can't see or hear you and you are unable to hear or see them. There

are no communication channels between the two worlds. You may have

glimpsed images in your dreams and believed such visions to be real.

They were not."

"My son, JJ, said if you can't touch, it ain't real. Yet some

images appear to have all the attributes of reality."

"In the universe that you came from there were many beliefs

inherited from parents, grandparents, teachers, books and published

writings as well as some concepts derived by personal experience or

experimentation. The societies, civilizations, governments and

nations are mostly patriarchal, with the notable exception of the

American Indian. The biblical notion of woman's inferiority to the

male is common in almost all religions. Nevertheless the procreation

of the specie is exclusively given to the woman. Once a tiny sperm

has enter the egg, the rest of the incubating process resides in the

care of the female. The maturing of the fetus through birth and

maturity to adulthood is long and slow, taking in some societies,

twenty-one years. In the afterlife, you already are an adult. These

are not two different stages of the same life. The first life is

gone: you will soon be in the beginning of another."

"Do you mean I can't rejoin Sarah in the afterlife?"

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"Not at all. You both have altered standards and your behavior

patterns are changed. The changes in your appearance would not be

known to Sarah nor any changes in her appearance known to you. But

you both could relate to a time when you both were alive. While you

could see and acknowledge living strangers, you can not do so in the

afterlife. In the afterlife you can see and communicate with other

spirits you knew while living.

attempts to shield the luminescence by placing both hands to his

face, he finds them to be transparent and ineffectual in cutting off

the glare. On looking down at his feet, he notices that he is bare-

ass naked. He quickly places his hands in front of his private parts

to conceal his exposed modesty, until he realizes that nobody is

around to observe him and also his hands are transparent. I need a

fig leaf. Of course there's never a fig leaf around when one is

needed. He is suddenly aware of the deadly silence around him. He

decides to call out to arouse somebody. But when he screams there is

no sound. He thinks perhaps the dense fog has altered the wavelength.

He reaches for his ears and can't find them. No wonder; I have no

ears, and no head. What is holding my eyes in place? I need a mirror.

There never is a mirror handy when you need one. It's probably with

that fig leaf and my head. Things were getting drastically unnerving.

He had a vague recollection of his funeral (but that memory was

rapidly fading), of the nice things people were saying about him, but

they were weeping. Why were they sad? Dying is a blessing; the end

of an old life and the beginning of a new one. At least, he hoped so.

3


He started to walk and then increased his pace bit by bit until he

was running, and yet he was rooted in one spot. Frustrated, irritated

and getting madder by the minute, he screeched as loud as he could,

"DAMN IT IS THERE ANYBODY AROUND? HELLO, HELLO!" This time he heard a

clear response, "Cool it! You're making enough noise to waken the

dead. I hear you."

There was nobody in sight. "Where are you? Who are you? Where am I

and where did everybody go?" His voice was now audible. "Am I in

Heaven or Hell?" He guessed, Does it make a difference?

"I've been waiting for you. You never were able to see me. I am

your Guardian Angel. My last job is to register you and prepare you

for the Afterlife. After registration you can enter the Afterlife and

my job with you will be ended. Occasionally, when you heeded me it

was a pleasure caring for you. No, really, no thanks is necessary."

"What if I need you to guide me through the afterlife? A fine

Guardian Angel you turned out to be?"

"But I'm not dead. I am not permitted to stay here. I can answer

some of your questions and someone else may be able to answer your

other questions." The voice he heard seemed to be coming out of the

fog.

"Be aware that communication of any sort between the world of

the living and the world of the departed is strictly prohibited and

forbidden. But you do have ears and a head and can hear me. It is

mandatory that the two universes, the land of the living and that of

the dead are kept separated. There cannot be any communication, or

contact or travel of any kind between them. They can't see or hear

you and you can't see or hear them. Shortly you will be established

in the appropriate universe of the departed. Your orientation and

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understanding of your new existence will not come easy, but others

have survived it and so will you.""

"But I heard them talking about me at the funeral."

"It probably was another one of your realistic dreams."

"This isn't what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I thought when I entered the Afterlife, I would be greeted by

my beloved wife and we would resume our blissful marriage. Where is

she?"

"It's not that simple. In any event, you cannot go back to your

former life. When did she die? Where was she interred? The pharaohs

in Egypt were buried with their wives, family, soldiers and servants

to insure they would all be together, but it doesn't work that way.

There must be a mutual agreement and consent to remain together.".

"Some East Indians were burned with their wife in a family pyre.

Are you implying that my wife, Sarah, had other plans? You must be

mad!"

"Not at all. Obviously she must have predeceased you. If you had

no children who predeceased her, she may have decided to unite with

her parents temporarily (if they predeceased her), but her parents

may have elected to rejoin their parents or grandparents in the

interim. Was your wife and her parents buried in the same place?"

"No they were not. I do believe Sarah and I are in the family

mausoleum in Connecticut."

"And her parents?"

"I have no idea where they were laid, possibly in Chicago or in

5


England. Darned if I know. Can one locate them?"

"It is possible, but it is not easy. It is preferable to have

the close members interred in the same or nearby locations. Then they

will speak the same language; will be in the same common familiar

surroundings; on a planet most hospitable to their evolution and the

evolution of their solar system. Not everyone comes from planet

earth."

"Is it that complicated?"

"Yes it is. Usually new entrants wish to see and talk to the

famous individual, but the illustrious one may not care to be

disturbed, hence an audience would be denied. Let's begin by

registering you and then finding some help for your search." Bobby

would be restored to the body shape he had at interment. After

registration. he was informed that his appearance would be

automatically altered to conform with that remembered appearance

familiar to his encountered observer and vice verse, else there could

be no meshing of recognition. Bobby' head was spinning, What is this

gibberish about?

He was disappointed that Sarah was not waiting patently for his

appearance, but it was understandable that she would not wait fifteen

years and she could hardly know how long they would be separated. He

could hopefully assume she was with her parents and also pray they

had opted to wait for her. Else it was going to be a long, difficult

and arduous task finding her. The first step was to get some advice

and help on the correct procedure for establishing a connection.

"Let's have you registered." The angel magically grabbed hold of

Bobby by his invisible left hand, leading him as the fog suddenly

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lifted. None of the surroundings were familiar to him. He could not

identify the street he was on nor the building that sprang up in

front of him. There were no cars, truck, buses in the street and no

pedestrians about. As they entered the building through the revolving

doors, Bobby's two dimensional hologram was replaced by his three

dimensional one he had at interment. They took a waiting elevator.

This time when the elevator door opened, they were in a large

community of people waiting to be served. He only had a fleeting

glimpse of people and had no recollection of recognizing any of them.

The angel ushered him into the large room and seated him in a small

cubicle that housed two chairs, a desk, a computer terminal and

several steel cabinets. Bobby had not recognized anybody in the

anteroom. He did see three or four soldiers in uniform surrounded by

people who seemed to know the soldiers. He asked if there was perhaps

a mirror handy. The disembodied voice was distractedly annoyed.

"That is always the first thing the new arrival asks for. There

are no full length mirrors available and in any event, you would not

be able to see your reflected image."

"And why not?"

"You don't see me because you can't relate to any time when you

ever actually saw me. In your mind's eve you may have imagined what I

looked like, but it is not actually me. I probably am a creation of

your mind. If you try to connect with what you think you look like,

there will be a myriad of reflections fleeting in an out of focus and

no matter how hard you tried, it would be impossible to choose and to

focus on just one image, particularly your present appearance. Look

about you: you do not see anybody. Yet in fact there are hundreds of

phantoms like you milling about. You can't see them because you have

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no recollection of ever having met them. You can't relate to them nor

can they relate to you." Bobby tried to protest and interrupt.

"I know there are instances when you see someone you knew or

they think that you are someone familiar, but in that blink of an

eye, the realization of a mistaken identity causes the image to

vanish." There was much yet to be learned about the Afterlife. It was

not the same as his former life. The registration proceeded quickly

without fuss or difficulty. A nurse came in to take a saliva sample

for DNA identification; a man fingerprinted him; while the registrar

entered his pertinent data in the computer; he was tattooed on his

right wrist with an identity code number; and finally Booby was given

a handbook that detailed all the rules and regulations pertaining to

residing in the Afterlife. It was a formidable volume. He wondered,

Why is all this nonsense data necessary? I hope this Bible has the

answers!

"You should seriously read, study, and understand the laws of

the Hereafter before you take off to locate Sarah. Otherwise you may

end up in a situation you would not want. You are no longer a being

you have none of the attributes of your former body despite the

illusion that you do. You are invisible and transparent even though

your mind has other fantasies. The only function of your brain is to

house your memory. The library here is not the same as the library

you visited when you were alive. You will have many problem; you

should go to a library to find answers that are not in your manual.

The way you get to a library is to set the thought in your mind and

you will find yourself in front of one, just as I did in arriving

here. I urge you to be very careful in teleporting yourself from one

place to another. The manual has specific guidelines to protect you.

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Teleporting to the wrong or forbidden place can be an irrecoverable

disaster. Many transports are illegal and denied. Ask first if you

are not sure. Also remember that places in the afterlife are not the

same places of the other life. For example the library you visit in

this life is not the library of the other, nor have they identical

references. Do you have a photograph of Sarah?"

"No I don't but I can easily obtain one from my home. In life I

was an accomplished lawyer and understand the law quite well. I

graduated from Harvard law school."

"That may have been a big deal when you were alive, it carries

no weight here. No you can't enter the other world. Get used to it:

you're dead! You are banned forever for any reason, from going back

to the other world or communicating in any way, or contacting anybody

there. You are confined to this world and they are restricted to

theirs. Better study your manual. A photograph would have been

helpful, but it is not vital. All newcomers come up with the same

cute ideas for circumventing the rules and regulations, but those

schemes do not and will not work. Go to the library after you have

studied these laws that were designed to safeguard your stay in the

Afterlife."

"I get the message loud and clear, I'll give it my best shot. I

have another question. Am I in Heaven or that other place? Where am

I?"

"A common question. There isn't a Heaven nor an other place in

the Afterlife. Once you are settled in the Afterlife you continue

your mutually selected continuance of life, of course with some

modifications, since you are no longer a human being."

9


"Then why all this rigamarole and obstacles to my continuance

with Sarah?"

"There may be some objection to your desires and other parties

involved may espouse other plans. There must be unanimity and consent

of the desires of both parties. Besides there is no continuance in

the same sense as the other life. Read the manual."

"I know: Read the manual. I would hope there was common consent.

I am certain there will be."

"But it has to be demonstrated."

There were plenty of questions lingering in his mind, but

perhaps the manual would resolve them. Since the registration was now

complete, Bobby was escorted to a long tunnel in the basement of the

building, where the Guardian Angel bid him farewell telling him he

was now on his own in the Afterlife.

Bobby closed his eyes and conjured up a vision of the New York

Public Library, imagining the two stone lions prominently lying on

the front steps. But he found himself in front of a different lion

free edifice, not his favorite library.

When he entered the building he thought he recognized soldiers

he had seen momentarily at the registration, now working at computer

terminals. He approached the information desk complaining to the

librarian, "I opted for the New York Public Library, but here I am in

the Greenwich Library. How come?"

The lady smiled and with the indulgence of a mother advising a

young child asked, "Were you interred in Manhattan?"

"No, I was buried here in Greenwich."

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"So you were sent here where the information you are seeking is

most likely to be. Any way, you are barred from that library" She

entered his code number in her computer and shortly acknowledged

that indeed he had been inhumed in Greenwich and furthermore his

father and mother were still residing in Greenwich."

"And my wife, Sarah?" The librarian shook her head "There was no

Sarah Babcock residing in Greenwich although she had been interred

here. No, there was no record to indicate where she may have gone. Do

you have a photograph of your wife?" He shook his head.

"No, however I recently danced with her and have an excellent

recollection of what she looked like." The librarian took a step or

two backward, "Your wife passed on fifteen years ago and you recently

anced with her? Do you do this sort of thing often?" She kept her

distance, eying him warily.

"It is only lately that I started to dream I was dancing with

her." Breathing a sigh of relief, but keeping her distance, she

suggested he might find help at the cemetery and quickly turned to

assist another client.

As he entered the Greenwich cemetery he saw his parents

approaching. His father was holding a bourbon old fashion in one hand

and a cigarette in his other hand. His mother was sipping a Manhattan

cocktail and smoking a cigarette. "Hello Bobby, we heard you were

about. You must tell us what is new in the family." His father

interrupted explaining that they elected not to go with their biased

parents and grandparents, "They are against the use of alcoholic

beverages and your mother's feminist views distressed them. In

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addition I am still devoting time to studying art. We are quite

contented staying here. I suppose you still are off hard liquor?"

Bobby nodded and asked his parents if they had seen Sarah. They had.

Martha said, "She was wearing that exquisite dress she wore on that

first visit to our house." His father nodded. "She didn't tarry long.

She told us she wanted to join her parents in Chicago. Before she

left, she reported on the family back home. What is new back home?"

There was no other pertinent information they could give him. He had

to try to find Sarah somewhere in Illinois, possibly in the Chicago

area, assuming she was not in England. He had a faint memory of a

visit to Chicago with Sarah, but could not remember a cemetery visit.

They stayed in her house, which he believed was outside the city. At

the moment, he had no idea where the house was. He thought it was a

large white stone building set in a spacious garden: All very vague.

He spent several hours carefully rereading the manual regarding

his responsibilities and function in the Afterlife: the consequences

of being caught crossing over into the world of the living: the Rules

and Regulations affecting behavior and other activities: it was quite

different from his former life. He was particularly bothered by the

absence of a clear statement of punishment, but the ominous reference

of being set in limbo was frightening enough. He had no other option.

He promised himself I'll be extra careful and watch for the gendarmes

if I can identify them. If he stumbled he was destined to be in limbo

until Gabriel blew his horn. It was a most unsavory and horrendous

thought. Oh, if only Sarah were here to advise me. That's a thought:

perhaps she did leave a message. He began to think of a plan of

action similar to one Sarah might have devised. God knows how many

12


cemeteries there are in the Chicago area and if Jeremy and Emily

Grayson are buried in Chicago. Rather than hunt in each and every

cemetery, why not visit the archives of a newspaper that reported the

event of the interment. Then, knowing where their burial plot was....

He compiled a list of Chicago newspapers and their addresses. Now to

inspect the archives and secure maps. He was about to cross the

Rubicon.

He entered the Greenwich library and found a remote computer to

work on. His attempts to bring up any newspapers, magazines or

records of burials in Chicago failed. Of course, no contact with the

living world. He tried another tact, entering Sarah Babcock, then

Sarah Grayson Babcock, and finally Sarah Grayson, but there was no

additional information available to him. He had no idea what her next

step had been except that she had gone back into the registration

building. It took several hours before he could find the building and

on further inspection he could not locate an entrance except the one

by way of the long tunnel. For God's sake she returned to the other

world? I can't believe it! What urgency caused her to take such a

desperate risk? Why am I not astonished that Sarah had figured out

how a way of safely reentering the living world? I hope she left the

formula or equation some where handy for me to follow her? Other

questions: where did she go? Who on earth did she have to see? What

was the message she had to reveal? When did she leave? Are we coming

back here to claim our Reward? If so, when and where? And I thought

life was tough!

13


Chapter 2

Playing with Fire

The manual had been a puzzle: the rules and regulations were

obscure and ill defined. He surmised that they had been compiled by a

lawyer and therefore he would be in a position to modify and change

them. There were no courts to overturn them and building loopholes

was a simple practice for a legal beagle. "That's what you think."

Another disembodied voice. "Okay, Buster, who are you, my Guardian

Angel returning?"

"Not a chance. I am you in many different guises, mostly the way

other people see you, and occasionally the way you see yourself, but

I am still you in different poses. I am your alter ego, the dreamy

you. And other times I am your doppelganger, your Avatar, the real

McCoy." After a few attempts to focus on a single apparition, he was

able to clearly identify himself: they were now visible, pointing at

and laughing at each others image.

"Are you my conscience? What is your multiple functions? Are you

spirit versions going to be my nemisis or an asset to me? Am I

schizophrenic here in the afterlife?" Don't everybody talk at once!

"Hardly, at least I don't think so and obviously, neither do

you. Whatever my functions are, we are one with the same goals, so we

are supportive. We are a just born baby here in a new dimension, a

new world. We still retain the codes and principles of that other

place. We haven't even gotten our feet wet and there must be so much

14


to learn and so much more to forget."

"But the assumption was that we would be in paradise: the land

of milk and honey: a true Utopia, the land of Bliss?"

"Maybe we are. Our eyes are still closed. We don't have a clue

where we are or what our destiny is." I am reminded of the teenager

who was asked what his life's ambition was? Puzzled for a moment, he

answered: to be involved in a whore house fight at the age of one

hundred. The doppelganger interposed: But that is not our perception?

No indeed. We held women in high esteem, on a pedestal, if given

equal training and education, she was equal and occasionally superior

to the male. We revere her and her exclusive power of regenerating

the species. We may be an adjunct to the species.

You are still thinking like a living body. We have different

standards now. We entered the other wotld as a fetus. But we came

here as an adult. There is a big difference. We must be patient and

see what develops. There was a long silence.

"So what is our next step? Finding Sarah must be our number one

priority!" So it was agreed. They cautiously entered the tunnel to

the registration building, keeping close to the right hand wall for

no particular reason except trying not to accidentally bump into

exiting wraiths and also took the stairs rather than the elevator to

the main lobby.

"I'll go first and if I am not back in fifteen minutes, you can

safely assume I made it and can follow me. I will wait for you on the

other side." Bobby slowly meandered over to the revolving door. After

several failed timing errors, he succeeded in jumping in when the

15


opportunity presented itself. The door did not stop its rotation at

the entrance: it continued rotating. Bobby stayed on, looking for

buttons to press. There were none. The next time around, he braced

himself and as the door passed the point where the entranced should

have been, he vigorously bounced against the imagined opening. He was

unable to crash through the solid closed wall. On another occasion,

he was bumped by an apologetic hologram, who exited. After a few more

unsuccessful attempts at accessing the elusive universe, he conceded

defeat and grumblingly exited the revolving door.

"There is no exit that way. Charon, the Gatekeeper never showed

up. We'll have to locate the exit my Guardian Angel took to return."

Back down to the basement they scurried. They were astonished that no

attempt had been made to conceal or hide the tetrahedron shaped

miniature pyramid. It stood in an open circular atrium, brilliantly

illuminated by klieg lights. He could not imagine how he could have

missed seeing it before. The pyramid was made of a highly polished

substance as to be reflective as a metallic mirror. As they slowly

strolled around it, they saw reflections of the area around them

slowly passing by. It was a remarkable structure. But where is the

entrance? There were no visible seams, splits, knobs, edges, or

cracks, no doors or windows , nothing to indicate an entrance to the

edifice. It was a magnificent sculpture, beautiful, impressive, and

inspiring. Not knowing the password, or having the key or the Open

Sesame code, or the sacred song to be sung, no ladder or staircase or

gate appeared. There was no need for a Chimera monster guard.

"We are not going back through that way ether."

"Obviously. What is plan B, Master?"

"Are we to assume that Sarah did not return to the living from

16


here?"

"That's a valid assumption. But what did she do?""

"I guess we will have to see which way the wind blows in

Chicago." Before they could continue planning or reconsidering their

options, they were accosted by a deep sonorous and loudly booming

unfamiliar voice. Bobby exclaimed, "What's that? No? Not another

annoying disembodied voice?"

"You never met me when you were alive and you can't see me now

Can you guess who I am?" Bobby never did care for p;laying guessing

games, but the imposing voice was commanding ho, to play along.

"If I can't see you, but can hear you and you can see us, then

you are not dead or one of us. Also you are not one of the living,

else you could not be here among the dead."

"You are doing fine. Who am I?"

"You must be my Guardian Angel returned to help me."

"Wrong, but you are warm."

"Wow! Then you could be god. What now?"

God: "Very good, Bobby, Your ancient ancestors created me in

their image, ranting me power and attributes not available to

themselves. The creation legend, the myth, the story, is common to

all religions, cultures, and ethnic groups all over the world. All

religions have prophets and prophetesses (some self anointed)

forecasting the appearance of the Son of God."

Bobby: "Am going back to spread the word?"

God: "Not at all. You are not the brightest star in the galaxy

and besides, you are dead and I do not intend to resurrect you. Get

17


used to your present state. Humans believe themselves to be

important, essential, a reason for the creation of the universe. They

prefer to believe that God created them in his image instead of the

other way around. Robert Dawkiin, a self professed and affirmed

atheist, has postulated a meme (pronounced rhyming with cream or

gene) as the selfishness gene. This gene is not inherited as the

normal gene, but acquired through experience, word of mouth, learning

from teachers and authority and the printed word. Humans promoted the

big I, the ME ME of which Greed is a large component of selfishness."

Bobby: "But I believe in you. I always have. I was baptized a

Presbyterian Christian and confirmed Believer."

God: "Follow the Golden Rule? The Ten Commandments? Thou shall

not covet thy neighbor's wife..."

Bobby: "Yes, yes I was a decent person. What if the neighbor's

wife had coveted me?"

God: "You would have a choice and that could mean trouble."

Bobby: "Not for me. We lived in a rural area and had no

neighbors. Besides I fell fell in love wit my wife the moment I laid

eyes on her and I kept my marital vows sacred all my life."

God: "Then you believe I am your Savior and Redeemer?"

Bobby: "Yes sir, indeed I do!"

God: "Did you know that science has not and can not prove that I

exist."

Bobby: "That is their problem, not mine. I believe God can

squeeze the universe into an unimaginable tiny dot and then cause the

Big Bang to create the universe some fifteen billion years ago. Some

18


ten billion years later our solar system with all nine planets

arranged in order came into existence. So I read. May be so. In my

belief,only God could have the power and abilities to manage such

creations. I am comfortable with that belief."

God: "I don't belong here: I have no business here."

Bobby: "And what is your business, if I may ask?"

God: "Why, I am a fisher of men. I belong with the living, not

the dead."

Bobby: "Is this another one of my super realistic fantasy

dreams?"

God: "Probably!" Bobby shrugs his shoulders, sighs and turns to

his phantom representatives.

They reconsulted the manual to learn how to travel large and

unknown distances to unfamiliar places, and secondly how to obtain an

audience with unfamiliar residents of the afterlife. Bobby had not

met with his in-laws. They had perished in an airplane accident long

before he had married Sarah and it was unlikely Sarah had retained

any photographs to show her parents. Hopefully she had discussed her

marriage when she met with them in the Afterlife. If she had not

mentioned the union, it was going to be a rough hoe, as welcome as a

toothache. Fortunately there was a possible means for making contact

with unfamiliar or unmet persons in the afterlife. One could file an

Application for an Audience at the respective grave site and if the

recipient thereof acknowledged permission, a meeting could be

amicably arranged. That was worth a try. There was still the question

of where the Jeremy and Emily Greyson were buried.

19


The manual came in handy once again. It was helpful if one had a

photograph or visited the area while living and could therefore

construct an image of the area. Bobby had a vague recollection of

visiting Chicago and in fact he had been with Sarah. Hopefully they

would manage to piece together a way of connecting with his in-laws.

"That is a lot of What ifs and wishful thinking."

"Okay, smarty, do you have any other ideas?" They discussed

plans on how to get to Chicago and how one might find the in-laws.

The library associated with the cemetery where the Greyson were

interred might yield sufficient clues to contacting their daughter.

They hoped there was a cemetery connected with the university and if

so, possibly the Greyson clan would be there. It was worth a gamble

and an easy first choice since Bobby vaguely remembered visiting the

university grounds. It was a likely good shot in the dark. He spent

the next few days contemplating the situation.

20


Chapter 3

Understanding the Afterlife

Bobby took Occam's razor on its face value, namely, if

there is more than one explanation or theory or solution of a

problem, select the simplest one as being the correct answer. As far

as he was concerned, God was the acceptable answer. Albert Einstein

affirmed, "Make it simple, but not simpler." He agreed with the

scientist. There are more than one hundred religions in practice on

earth and all have similar beliefs and procedures in worship. The

concepts of the afterlife vary little from each other and may easily

be identified according to the writings, the quoted statements of

their adherents, priests, or advocates. The most well-known are:

Dante's Divine Comedy, John Milton's Paradise Lost, Virgil's Aeneid,

and Orpheus in Hades. Bobby had conceived of his own interpretation

of the afterlife while still among the living. He found no reason to

abandon his original simple belief. The proposition of a

reincarnation or resurrection indicated to him an opportunity to

correct any sinful acts carelessly made during his former existence.

Not that he could recall any transgressions, but if such were

inadvertently made, there was a chance to make amends. No one, after

all was Simon pure. He believed he had been a decent human being, had

respected his fellow man. If there was to be a reckoning, he was

adequately qualified and prepared to defend and argue his case. He

preferred to enter the afterlife as a continuance of his former life.

21


He was sorely disappointed that Sarah was not breathlessly there

awaiting his arrival. Any way he was prepared to find his loving

bride. The affirmed atheist, professor James Campbell held that

science could not prove the existence of God, that none of the

Bible's gospels were consistent and were at best opinions made long

after the actual event. Science had adequately shown that statements

made in the Scriptures were inaccurate, false, or fabricated. The

Bible postulated the earth was five or six thousand years old,

whereas there was ample confirmed evidence that the universe was

about fifteen billions years old: our solar system and earth was

about five billion years old: that homo sapiens had first appeared on

our planet some sixty thousand years ago: Bobby was not prepared to

accept such conclusions. After all, science was a relatively new

concept and subject to changes in basic principles and our

understanding of nature. Mark Twain wrote a humorous shot story

depicting an afterlife wherein the departed were on a non-ending

voyage and the proposition suited Bobby perfectly. The reader is free

to choose whatever form of afterlife that pleases or can construct

something different. If opting for the presented version, the reader

should understand that there is no guarantee as to the correctness of

this depiction. However should it turn out to be quite accurate, the

author would appreciate hearing complements as to his remarkable

foresight and insights.

"It occurred to me that the three imposters purporting

to represent me were in fact nonexistent, never having been alive. I

noticed many time when I was talking, these phantoms were not

listening and their attentions were directed else where. In fact,

22


they often faded in and out, many times simply vanishing. They were

always two dimensional hologram playing cards but I was always three

dimensional. When dancing with Sarah, I could sense the fullness of

her and she could feel mine. it was an unforgettable sensation. On

further reflection it occurred to me that many clubs, organizations ,

and such often barred nonmembers from attending and did open their

doors under special conditions. Perhaps Sarah, the mathematician, had

been granted special dispensation and been granted access. Women

could always accomplish to do things that men could not strive to.

They were endowed with a unique intuition that insured their

superiority and Sarah had it in abundance. To make it in the

restricted field of mathematics required something extraordinary. The

science of topology had been started by a woman and it was surely

right to have been furthered by the fair sex. Professor James

Campbell did not believe man was created for a mission, a purpose, a

need. Man's existence had been an accident, a fortuitous sequence of

events and happenstances, unlikely to be repeated here or elsewhere.

On the other hand, Bobby took John Calvin's message of the Christian

work ethic to mean man was meant to do his share in helping God to

fulfill his `````````plan. Otherwise man was a zombie, a somewhat

superior organic computer, programed to behave in a prescribed manner

and bereft of free will. The creator of a faulty son made in his

image would imply fallibility hardly possible in a Divine. Sarah had

her own religious preferences which she did not convey to her

husband. She subscribed to the Buddhist pronouncement: knowing others

is wisdom, knowing one's self is enlightenment.

23

adventures in the afterlife - tomslatin.combobby wakes up and finds himself blinded by a strong...

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