“Finally!!!

One last stop and I can rest in peace.” I thought to myself while holding the file of the very last soul I must dispatch, so I can at long last escape my eternal damnation. This moment made me think back on the first day I got here, to the afterlife. The last thing I could remember before being transported to the afterlife was trying to numb my pain. That is all I had been doing for years after...

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. Let’s just say, it was not a shocking revelation when I was told that I was being condemned to hell. However, the people in charge of the afterlife took pity on my situation me. They gave me an ultimatum that if I work for them for a whole century as a Grim reaper, transporting souls to the afterlife, they will retract my judgment and allow me to rest in peace instead. I remember finding it very intriguing as I was always into paranormal shows. However, as it turns out, real life is definitely not how we see it in the movies. My century in this job has been an emotional rollercoaster, being responsible for tearing families apart, taking people away too early, or causing lots of heartbreak. To think I spent years on earth trying to numb that pain, but then having to relive it constantly for a whole century here in the afterlife. Regardless, this was the job, the only way to save my soul, and if that meant sucking all the emotions in and grabbing this last person so that everything I have been doing this past century could be worth it, then so be it.

With a determined mind, I charged out of the office where I got my new task and as I was about to enter the elevator that will take me to the exact location of whoever was on that file - I decided not to waste my time reading details, he was dead, I would only cause myself more devastation if I saw exactly how he died – I was stopped.

“Going somewhere so soon?” The person who stopped me said.

Ah yes, the last person I wanted to see on my way to secure my eternal peace. The one in charge sure has a way of making me rethink my decision to end the contract. The thing is, I could decide to keep going if I want but that’s the key word, IF I WANT. And there is nothing they could do, not even her, to make me want to stay and continue this emotional and mental torture.

“Yes, going to retrieve a soul. I’m sorry Jane, but this is going to have to be goodbye” I told her. “What we have shared for the past few months has been amazing. I feel sad about ending this, but you know how I feel about this job and how much I want to end it and also avoid hell. This is finally the time”

Jane sighed. I could see her eyes were starting to tear up. I couldn’t blame her, mine was too. “There is nothing I can say except I will miss you and I will see you there in a few years” She closed the distance between us, and I could feel her lips lock with mine. This was not a goodbye kiss, this was more of a promise, a promise of a peaceful future together.

I jumped into the elevator and before the door closed, I cleared my teary eyes and smiled at her, she nodded and smiled back. The image of her standing there remained in my mind as the elevator transported me, and even when the door opened and disappeared. However, that image immediately disappeared from my mind when my eyes met with a familiar but confused gaze.

“No, no, no... this can’t be” I kept saying as I opened the file. I took staggered steps back as I saw the name on the file. Drew Wilson. The same name, the same face, the same eyes.

“D-dad?” Drew called out. The voice brought back memories. Memories I had been trying to bury while alive and even here in the afterlife. His scream... the last thing that came out of his mouth before...

I rushed to him and hugged him, not caring that he reeked of booze or that he was sitting on the toilet seat, or that I was actually hugging his soul and not his body.

“I am so sorry, it was my fault, it was all my fault” I kept saying through tears. It was indeed my fault. I had a huge fight with my wife and because of the distractions, I got into a car accident that killed my wife and left my son in a coma. I wanted to escape from everything including myself and I ended up overdosing which led me to the afterlife. “Wait... overdosing,” I thought, remembering I saw those words in his file. I opened them again and saw that he died from a drug overdose.

“You woke up?” I asked but was also sad that he died the same way I did. Maybe he felt the same pains I felt or even worse. It led me to do crazy things, some illegal, and seeing that his file had big red words that spelled hell, it meant he shared the same fate I did or worse.

“Yes. You and Mom were gone when I woke up. I should not have forced you guys to take me back to school to watch my stupid rock and roll performance, it was all my fault” he said crying into my shoulders

“No, you did nothing wrong. I am so sorry I left you so soon son” I responded hugging him tight

“So... Why are you here? Am I dead?” he asked, releasing me from the hug I wanted to go back to so badly, but his question brought me back to reality.

He was my last soul, my only chance to go to peace. I cannot do that to him, not my son. I also cannot just leave his soul hanging here because another grim reaper will come and just finish the job. This left me one last option, an option that can send me to the place that I have spent a whole century fighting not to go to, hell. But he was my son, he deserves a real shot at redemption. I took a deep breath and made my decision.

“No, son. You are not dead. This is only a dream. But listen to me, you have to live a good life from now on, for both of us. Make your family proud and I love you so much” I said, hoping he believes that this was a dream. And with a last look at how much my son has grown and how handsome he had become; I shoved his soul back into his body.

“Finally!!!

One last stop and I can rest in peace.” I thought to myself while holding the file of the very last soul I must dispatch, so I can at long last escape my eternal damnation. This moment made me think back on the first day I got here, to the afterlife. The last thing I could remember before being transported to the afterlife was trying to numb my pain. That is all I had been doing for years after...

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. Let’s just say, it was not a shocking revelation when I was told that I was being condemned to hell. However, the people in charge of the afterlife took pity on my situation me. They gave me an ultimatum that if I work for them for a whole century as a Grim reaper, transporting souls to the afterlife, they will retract my judgment and allow me to rest in peace instead. I remember finding it very intriguing as I was always into paranormal shows. However, as it turns out, real life is definitely not how we see it in the movies. My century in this job has been an emotional rollercoaster, being responsible for tearing families apart, taking people away too early, or causing lots of heartbreak. To think I spent years on earth trying to numb that pain, but then having to relive it constantly for a whole century here in the afterlife. Regardless, this was the job, the only way to save my soul, and if that meant sucking all the emotions in and grabbing this last person so that everything I have been doing this past century could be worth it, then so be it.

With a determined mind, I charged out of the office where I got my new task and as I was about to enter the elevator that will take me to the exact location of whoever was on that file - I decided not to waste my time reading details, he was dead, I would only cause myself more devastation if I saw exactly how he died – I was stopped.

“Going somewhere so soon?” The person who stopped me said.

Ah yes, the last person I wanted to see on my way to secure my eternal peace. The one in charge sure has a way of making me rethink my decision to end the contract. The thing is, I could decide to keep going if I want but that’s the key word, IF I WANT. And there is nothing they could do, not even her, to make me want to stay and continue this emotional and mental torture.

“Yes, going to retrieve a soul. I’m sorry Jane, but this is going to have to be goodbye” I told her. “What we have shared for the past few months has been amazing. I feel sad about ending this, but you know how I feel about this job and how much I want to end it and also avoid hell. This is finally the time”

Jane sighed. I could see her eyes were starting to tear up. I couldn’t blame her, mine was too. “There is nothing I can say except I will miss you and I will see you there in a few years” She closed the distance between us, and I could feel her lips lock with mine. This was not a goodbye kiss, this was more of a promise, a promise of a peaceful future together.

I jumped into the elevator and before the door closed, I cleared my teary eyes and smiled at her, she nodded and smiled back. The image of her standing there remained in my mind as the elevator transported me, and even when the door opened and disappeared. However, that image immediately disappeared from my mind when my eyes met with a familiar but confused gaze.

“No, no, no... this can’t be” I kept saying as I opened the file. I took staggered steps back as I saw the name on the file. Drew Wilson. The same name, the same face, the same eyes.

“D-dad?” Drew called out. The voice brought back memories. Memories I had been trying to bury while alive and even here in the afterlife. His scream... the last thing that came out of his mouth before...

I rushed to him and hugged him, not caring that he reeked of booze or that he was sitting on the toilet seat, or that I was actually hugging his soul and not his body.

“I am so sorry, it was my fault, it was all my fault” I kept saying through tears. It was indeed my fault. I had a huge fight with my wife and because of the distractions, I got into a car accident that killed my wife and left my son in a coma. I wanted to escape from everything including myself and I ended up overdosing which led me to the afterlife. “Wait... overdosing,” I thought, remembering I saw those words in his file. I opened them again and saw that he died from a drug overdose.

“You woke up?” I asked but was also sad that he died the same way I did. Maybe he felt the same pains I felt or even worse. It led me to do crazy things, some illegal, and seeing that his file had big red words that spelled hell, it meant he shared the same fate I did or worse.

“Yes. You and Mom were gone when I woke up. I should not have forced you guys to take me back to school to watch my stupid rock and roll performance, it was all my fault” he said crying into my shoulders

“No, you did nothing wrong. I am so sorry I left you so soon son” I responded hugging him tight

“So... Why are you here? Am I dead?” he asked, releasing me from the hug I wanted to go back to so badly, but his question brought me back to reality.

He was my last soul, my only chance to go to peace. I cannot do that to him, not my son. I also cannot just leave his soul hanging here because another grim reaper will come and just finish the job. This left me one last option, an option that can send me to the place that I have spent a whole century fighting not to go to, hell. But he was my son, he deserves a real shot at redemption. I took a deep breath and made my decision.

“No, son. You are not dead. This is only a dream. But listen to me, you have to live a good life from now on, for both of us. Make your family proud and I love you so much” I said, hoping he believes that this was a dream. And with a last look at how much my son has grown and how handsome he had become; I shoved his soul back into his body.