1 Happy Retirement

"Great shift today buddy!" A man said waving to his friend as he exited the factory.

"You too Steve." The man replied. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. His long shift was finally over, and he would finally get to go home and see his family. He loved his family and sacrificed everything so that they could have what he never had growing up.

"Hey there Gary!" Another man said as he left. "We sure are going to miss you around here. Tell the misses that she better keep you in line for me."

"Hey now!" Gary responded. "Like she needs any more of an excuse to rag me. She has a list a mile long already for me."

This wasn't just a normal workday for Gary, no this was his last. He had worked in this factory for forty years and had finally reached his retirement. He just knew his family would be waiting for him when he got home, and his excitement was building. After saying his goodbyes, he hopped in his truck and drove home. It was after dark when his shift ended and as he approached the house, he noticed that all the lights were off.

"Those little tricksters." He said to himself. "They must be planning on surprising me! Surely, they know I would suspect a party?! I guess I will just play along."

He reached out and opened the door and called out to his wife. "Honey I'm home." Just as he had done for the past forty years. His children have long since moved out and started families of their own. He was a grandfather, and he hoped his grandchildren would get overly excited and jump out first. He simply loved their hugs. He waited for a bit, but no response was heard upon entry. "Honey?" He shouted out again questioningly. Worry was beginning to become visible upon his face. "I don't think they had any appointments, or anything planned, where could they be."

He reached for the light but unfortunately when he turned them on, they did not respond. "I know I paid the power bill." He said as he turned around to check the neighborhood. "Yeah, everyone else has power. Maybe the breaker is busted." He pulled out his phone and turned on his flashlight. As soon as the room became illuminated, he knew something horrible had transpired. "Blood." He said softly as all the color drained from his face. He panned the light across the floor to find his family all dead on the floor. His wife, his children, and his grandchildren all lay dead with multiple gunshot wounds. The sight of their corpses was too much for Gary, he fainted and fell backwards.

When Gary regained consciousness, he was in a white void with a woman looking down on him, as his head was in her lap. Startled, he jumped up and screamed, "my family!" He was still in a panic, the images he had just witnessed seared into his mind.

"Be calm," the woman said in the most soothing voice he had ever heard. "I have already seen to your family, and they are all fine."

"Seen to my family?!" He shouted. "No, I saw their blood! I saw their bodies! They were dead! I need to tell the police."

"Be calm," the woman tried to sooth him again. "I know it must have been too much, to have witnessed such trauma, such pain." She paused. "Afterall, it sent you to me."

Gary would feel himself being forcefully calmed by her voice, no matter how much he wanted to scream he found himself unable to. He took a deep breath and began to take in his surroundings. "Wait, am I dead?" Gary said finally realizing his situation.

"Yes, you have died." She responded calmly. "I am glad you have calmed down. I hate to see my children so upset."

"Are you God?" Gary asked. "I thought God was a man, and I thought heaven was well, busier."

"Yes, I am the origin of all life." She smiled. "Tell me my child, when you were born did you come from a man or a woman?"

"Well, I would like to think my father helped, but I was born from my mother." Gary responded. "Men might not have the child, but they still contribute."

"I am talking only of birth." She answered. "Just as you grew in your mother's womb and gained life, I created all that there is. I never understood why you Earthlings always want to assign godship to a man. You know other planets and other universes accepted I am a woman and worship me accordingly. No matter. Let us talk." As she talked chairs appeared and she took a seat in one and motioned for him to sit in the other.

"Wow." Gary said while taking his seat in front of her. "So why did my family have to die? Was that really part of your plan?!" Gary's face became contorted as he tried to fight back the tears.

"My plan?" She questioned. "Why do all of my children always talk about my plans? I honestly don't have one. I gave you all free will, to do as you please. I gave all my creations that."

"So, what's the point? Why did you make us?" Gary asked.

"I was bored." She smiled. "That's why I filled the multiverse with life. So, I can watch all of my children and see their stories. If I knew what was going to happen then it wouldn't be entertaining at all would it? No, my children have full control of their destinies, and while that leads to great creativity it also leads to sad random acts of violence."

"Like my family." Gary began to cry. Unable to stop the tears any longer.

"I enjoyed your story, but it made me so sad." She explained. "Your whole life, you have lived for someone else. When you accidentally impregnated your girlfriend in college you dropped out to work in a factory. You worked overtime almost every day to provide her and your children with everything they could ever want. Despite that, they never thanked you or let you know how much you mattered to them. Still, you continued to take from yourself to give to them, when your second child needed a kidney, you immediately gave yours without hesitation. When your parents were ill you built on to your house so that you could take care of them, despite your workload. You never took a moment to yourself, and you devoted everything to everyone else. I watched you break your body to put food on your family's table. I saw you quietly suffer in pain, while never complaining."

"I just did what any man would have done." Gary smiled.

"No, not just any man would have done that." She replied. "You are a cut above, a rare soul, and I can't believe what happened to you. I want to give you a second chance at life, it won't be in the same universe that you once lived in, but I promise you will have a chance to live and enjoy yourself."

"Will my family be there?" Gary asked with hope in his eyes.

"No." she said. "I put them in the afterlife. It is a place where souls can rest for all eternity in peace and happiness."

"That sounds good." Gary said. "I would be with them forever; can I have that too?"

"Gary, please." She paused. "I want you to have another chance, but I have another reason as well. Your soul is one that is good and pure, it is a rarer trait then I would like. I need you in this world to balance it against evil. I promise it's nothing as crazy as slaying a demon lord or conquering the world. I just need you to exist there and be yourself. That alone will allow goodness to blossom in the hearts of those around you."

"I suppose it would be bad manners, to tell God no." Gary sighed. "Alright, I will go."

"Fantastic." She cheered. "Okay let's get you sorted. Let's have you be born into a wealthy family; I don't want you to have a repeat of your experience on earth. Oh, and looks like there's a Duke about to welcome his first son. Congratulations Dukes are direct relatives of the king so your life should be pretty easy. Now just to make sure you have a great life; I'll just transfer your sixty-five years of experience on earth into this world's leveling system." She paused with a concerned expression. "Oh, you're going to be fine. Everything will be just fine."

"Leveling system?" Gary asked. "What in the world is that?"