Chapter 1:- Death....?!.....Heaven!?

What exactly does happen, when you die?

What is the journey between the plains of life and death? I don't know....since for me, well.....*exhales*

I opened my eyes and found myself laying down upon a bed. My body is rigid as if I was paralyzed and the world that surrounded me...dark and silent as if someone had covered the world with a blanket. But I wasn't afraid, far from it as a serene sense of calmness and acceptance loomed over me. It was neither uncomfortable, nor stifling but was as if I belonged here.

I don't know if it was a hallucination or not but I could feel something touching me, fireflies with a blue hue or what seemed like fireflies hovered over me and in the shape of a woman, caressed my cheek as if comforting me like a mother does to her son. I didn't know that the grim reaper had such a warm, motherly and artistic side to it. Then she gently raised her hand as if she were a conductor weaving an orchestra to the melody of the music. My eyes were still open, and I felt myself floating when she gently closed my eyes.

The next time I opened them, I found myself laying beneath a sole cherry blossom tree perched atop a hill. I clenched and unclenched my hand confirming the sensation of the prickly grass underneath me and I picked up one stray cherry blossom petal and held it up examining it with a squinted eye, which ruled out hallucination and lucid dreaming. I stood up and was mesmerized by the sight before me, from the hill on which I stood, as far as the eye could see, were green grassfields with the sun setting as the backdrop. The air was fresh and the cool refreshing breeze blew at regular intervals scattering cherry blossom petals all across me. It felt liberating...

I knew I had died....but I didn't remember anything, not my friends nor my family, nor the things I held dear in my life; my ideals, my goals, myself, I had lost it all....everything. Just who was I?...As I was pondering that, stars began to peek out from their hiding spots under the now waning sunset. I felt my each and every move being observed, but I didn't know just who was glancing at me and what hand they would have in shaping me and my destiny.

I sat up on the ground with my back up against the trunk of the cherry blossom tree as I gazed outwards. In a place where the most pure and untouched scenes of absolute beauty could be witnessed, I felt as if I was the sole blemish in this pristine world. Had I really spent that much admiring the scenery and stars I did not know for by the time I noticed morning....had already come.