 
The Phone Rang in the Middle of My Shower

By: Shelton Ranasinghe

~~~

The phone started ringing in the middle of my shower.

Why does the phone always ring when I'm in the bathroom? When I was a teenager, I always jumped out of the bathroom, thinking those calls were from someone that I dreamt of. Those days are long gone. I have been a poor guesser of phone calls. Most have been from telemarketers, that I hate the most. They talk as they are more worried about my welfare than of their own survival depending on the calls they get through. My blood pressure peaks every time I hear them.

My 'smart' phone continued torturing me, with the "new ring tone" that I installed this morning. I wondered whether to take it or not. Suddenly I realized that it could be from Chris, to talk about our trip to Grand Canyon, tomorrow. I jumped out of the shower, with the soap covered body and grabbed the "Smartie".

Helloooo!

Unbelievable! It was a telemarketer, trying to sell me a "Prepaid discount offer for funeral service."

I was furious. "Do they want to kick me out of this world? Good heavens! give me a break! I am only 32." I was talking to me.

Hope, I didn't break the phone when I slammed it back!

I rushed back to the shower, shouting and swearing nice words in my head. The scene I saw added more fuel to the fire in me. When rushing out of the shower, I had accidentally shifted the shower curtain out of the bathtub and the bathroom has flooded from the still running water. After cleaning the mess, I was back under the shower, steaming from anger. Strangely, after a few minutes, some of the self-help stuff that I preach others but usually don't practice myself, helped to calm me down to my normal sensors.

A few minutes later, while I was sipping a cup of tea and watching TV, I thought of phoning Dan as I didn't hear from him, since the drinking session we had with the pretext of planning the trip, a week ago. I pressed his number hoping he wasn't having a shower.

He answered the phone with his usual "Hello!" and "What's up?"

"Hello! I believe you're all set for tomorrow," I asked.

"Of course, I am. At what time will you pick me up?"

"Hey! I won't be able to pick you up at 10 as planned. I have an important meeting at 10. I got to know about it only this morning. So sorry."

"Can't you skip it?" His changed tone had a hint of disappointment.

"Dan, you know how important it is to survive in the work place these days, right! This is one of those. I need to attend. Hope it will be over by 11 as the idiot who usually keeps dragging these meetings is not there as he is on vacation. I'll be taking all my luggage with me and I will shoot to Chris' place straight after; to pick Chris, Aini and the kid. I should be at your gate by 11.20."

"OK. The earlier the better as I don't want to miss my plans at Monument Valley. You know, getting those pictures with the sun set is my dream, Tony."

"Don't worry about that. You know about my driving skills; right!"

"That's what worries me the most!"

"Hey. Trust me. I am an expert driver. Bye!"

I needed to make sure Chris and his family would be ready by 11am or so. Chris's wife Aini is a habitually late person. I excuse her because of Sara, her 4-year-old cute daughter who calls me "Uncle Tony." I hate when people are late. I rang Chris's number as I thought they could be at home from work by then.

I knew someone picked up the phone. It's Sara who picks up the phone usually and says "Hello" with her sweet voice. I said "Hello!" Following that I heard a loud noise. The noise was from the phone hitting the floor. "Give it to me Sara," I heard Aini's voice say. Some more tumbling noises followed.

"Hello!" answered Aini.

"Hi! Aini this is Tony. How are you? Just called to check whether you made my favorite tiramisu for tomorrow's trip?"

"No way Tony! We decided not to make tiramisu this time because of your diabetes problem."

"Ah!"

"I am joking Tony; I know you will get a heart attack if I don't."

"Thank goodness," I was relieved.

"Just a minute, Chris is on his way."

I heard the steps of Chris reaching to the phone after Aini asked Sara to call for dad.

"Hey my friend, what's up? What time is the kick off tomorrow?" asked Chris.

"I have to go to work at 10am and I will be at your place around 10.30 am. Is it OK for you?" I had to give them an earlier time knowing they haven't been punctual in the past. In the back of my mind I would be happy if they could make it by 11am.

"Sure. Hey! Tony, can you wake us up?" Chris joked to make me frantic.

"Hey, Chris, no jokes; be ready by that time, OK? Dan is very keen to take his panoramic pictures at Monument Valley before sunset. He just reminded me. He will kill us if we don't get there before sunset. So, we need to leave by that time. OK?"

"No problem sir; Sara wants to say hello to you."

"Hello! Uncle Tony."

"Hello, how are you? Did mommy tell you about the trip tomorrow? Are you excited?"

"Yes. Bye! Bye!" She hung up the phone.

I took my GPS and loaded all the stopover addresses including the first stop at the Bert Lodge in Monument Valley. My SUV had just got the long overdue vacuuming, that it deserved. I took it to the nearby gas station to fill up the tank. I crossed the road from the gas station to Walgreens and bought some over-the-counter medicines, a tooth brush and some other things that I thought might be useful. As I was about to reach the cashier, I saw those lovely chocolates gleaming at me. That reminded me of Sara. I added some of those into my shopping bag and also a tiny fluffy doll with cute eyes for Sara. Sara has a special affection for me, while Chris and Aini always treated me like a family member. Chris was my roommate in college. Chris met Aini in graduate school and I have known them for over 12 years. I helped the parents of both parties come to common ground over their marriage, mending the friction they had due to Aini being a Muslim and Chris being a Christian. Aini and Chris are rational thinkers; "lovey-dovey" couple, very well matched and understanding each other. Dan and I have been friends from a very tender age. Dan's parents and my parents have been very good friends and neighbors for a long time.

By the end of the day, before I opened the refrigerator for the fourth beer, I was pretty convinced that I had packed all I wanted. I printed out the hotel confirmation e-mails as hard copies as they become handy at times. I took some time to go to sleep; maybe due to the excitement of the five-day trip.

The next day, I made sure everything was in the SUV, before I headed to the office. I guessed the spare space in the trunk was sufficient for the others' luggage. Dan called me around 9 am to re-emphasize the importance of leaving early.

The meeting started at 10 am but it was still going on when I looked at my watch at 11.09 am. Already late on the planned departure time of 11.05 am to Chris's place, I excused myself and left the meeting at 11.20 am. With the half-finished latte in my hand that I forgot to drink, I got into my SUV and headed to Chris's place. When I saw cute Sara in the swing at the front of their house, still in her briefs, I was positive we were getting late further. My annoyance vanished instantly when Sara ran towards me and said "Hi! Uncle Tony, what did you bring for me?"- the usual few words she mastered to say fluently when she wasn't even two. I didn't say anything. Cuddling her I walked towards their front entrance. One by one, she pulled out the chocolates and the fluffy doll from my pockets and like on any other day, was looking for more stuff.

I popped open the door and saw their packed bags in the living room. "Good, they must be ready," I thought. Sara jumped out of my hands and ran towards their bedroom. Half the chocolate was gone by then. I heard Aini asking Sara whether she thanked me for the chocolates. "Yes, I did last time," was her cheeky answer.

"I am here, can I put your bags in the SUV," I shouted so that they could hear from their bedroom. "Yesss!" was Chris's answer that came from the kitchen area. I carried their three bags one at a time to the vehicle as they were damned heavy. When I came to get the 2nd bag I heard Aini commanding Sara to brush her teeth. I assumed Aini was ready. Chris came from the kitchen and he was ready. He said "Hello!" to me and walked behind me when I was carrying the 3rd bag. He realized we were late as I pointed my finger to my wristwatch. I realized there was just enough space in the trunk for Dan's bag. It was almost 11.45 am when my phone rang. It was Dan checking on what was going on. I gave the phone to Chris as soon as I heard his voice. Chris assured him we will get going in two minutes.

As Chris hurriedly walked back to the house, I saw a sparrow flying into the house. Chris didn't see it. As I went in, I saw the bird flying all over the living room. I kept the front door wide open with the help of the flower pot nearby and tried to chase the bird out. Chris joined me as he saw me running around the living room waving my hands and making various sounds. It landed on the fan. Chris turned on the fan to make the bird fly again. The bird did a full circle and fatefully hit the fan that was turning at full speed by then. The dead bird fell on the floor staining their carpet with blood. Chris was quick to carry it out by its leg and threw it behind the shrubs. When Chris came back to the house, he signaled me with his hand and facial expressions not to utter a word about it to Aini, as she could over react to such happening. Chris removed the blood stain with some detergent while looking around to see whether Aini would see what he was doing. Luckily, she was still busy dressing up Sara.

By the time all of us got into the vehicle it was 11.55 am.

"We are sorry Tony," Aini said when she was getting into the SUV. She had a few small bags in her hand. I was curious to know whether she brought the tiramisu; so, I had to ask the question.

She said "Yes." It was a short and sweet answer.

Dan was on the curb with his bag when we reached his house. I was surprised to see him carrying his pet Lily. Lily is a miniature dachshund, always feisty and hyper-active. I wasn't aware Dan was bringing Lily. I know it would be an additional headache. I wasn't sure whether all the places we booked would accommodate pets. I stopped the SUV so that he was close to the trunk; and pressed the button on the control panel to open the trunk. Dan didn't take even a second to throw his stuff in and he closed the trunk with a thud. Lily saw us and started wagging her tail furiously with excitement.

"Thanks very much for coming so early," was Dan's greeting as he hopped into the front passenger seat. My eye signal requested him to direct the complaint to the passengers in the rear seats as I didn't want to take the blame. While giving Chris a hard look mixed with a smile, Dan passed Lily over to Sara as she adores Lily. "Thank you, Uncle Dan," Sara said. Dan expected Chris to say something. But Aini replied first and said, "Sorry Dan. You will understand when you have a kid." Chris joined Aini to say sorry.

Forgetting I wasn't supposed to talk about it, I casually said "All this was because of the Sparrow that flew into their house." I realized I had made an irrecoverable mistake when Chris made a "Shhh" sound. Dan and Aini both exclaimed "What?" at the same time. There was no way of hiding the incident as both of them realized there was something fishy. They insisted on knowing what happened. Chris said, "OK! A bird flew into our house just before we left and was flying all over the living room. Tony helped me chase it out. It took more time than we expected as the devil wanted to remain inside. If it was on another day, I would have left it in the house. Not on a day when we're going to be away for 5 days. That's it. Are you happy now?"

"Do you know, a bird coming to your house is a sign of death," said Dan.

"Is that true? Where did you read that, Dan?" Aini was concerned and Chris was silent.

"BS! Maybe a sign of death to the bird by going into a house," I said without thinking much. Chris definitely didn't want to hear what I said. I regretted saying that.

"Can we stop this stupid talk and talk about something good," Chris demanded. I swore to myself to be extra careful before I open my mouth again.

"We can talk about beer and Jack Daniels," I joked as I still couldn't keep my mouth shut.

"Not now," said Aini, partly to calm us down.

Though Dan is an exceptionally good person, when it comes to the aspect of superstitions he is at an extreme end. Just the opposite of my thinking on paranormal and superstitious views; he believes in all the stupid garbage. Dan talks about energies, afterlife, spirits, karma, psychic abilities and many more things quite seriously as if he has had firsthand experiences on those things. I've always had arguments with him, sometimes ending with bad feelings. But our friendship is always rock solid. We were certain our strong bond couldn't be destroyed by silly arguments. His father was a Christian, and the mother, a Buddhist. Dan is a strong Buddhist with an open mind and had a strong respect for all the other religions. The four of us have discussions of our religious viewpoints very openly. Many of our dinners and parties have ended up with discussion on politics, religions or world affairs. We are comfortable talking about religions, though our voices on different viewpoints always gather momentum with the quantum of spirit intake; I mean the liquid kind.

Knowing that Dan will be disappointed if we are late to reach Monument Valley, most of the time my foot on the accelerator was right at the bottom. I was on the lookout for potential traffic cops, as I knew if I get caught for speeding that could cause further delay. I looked at the dial and realized I was touching 90 miles per hour; that was 25 miles over the speed limit. I slowed it down to 80.

Various sounds Sara made playing with Lily drew our continual attention. Aini's occasional bursts of yelling, kept both Lily and Sara under control.

"Dan, did you check whether our lodges allow pets?" I inquired.

"Yes, all under control except at one place on our return journey."

As it was 2.30 pm, we thought of having a break. We drove to a McDonalds at the next exit after a collective decision. As soon as we got out from the vehicle, Dan realized Lily was looking to relieve herself. As I had the same urge I rushed to the men's room. Aini whispered to me not to buy any chocolates for Sara. But as if she had a sixth sense or whatever it was, a micro second later Sara was asking me exactly that. I ignored her persistent plea. Chris paid the bill for us. I couldn't resist asking for a piece of tiramisu from Aini. I managed to force her to give me a piece, though she resisted a few times by saying it was meant for after dinner. I knew I was behaving like a child but thought it was well worth the effort, asking. I took the opportunity to fill the gas tank and assured Dan that he would be able to take the photographs as planned.

We were back on the road by 2.50 pm partly because of Dan's insistence on not wasting time.

Dan started trivia questions to have some fun. His first one was "Johnny's mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child's name?" Aini and I said it could be June".

"It has to be obviously Johnny," Dan said and he was thrilled as we were wrong. We were embarrassed but were determined to get the next one right.

"Fire-up, Dan," I said.

"What word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?" All of us couldn't get that correctly either. Dan as a wizard said the answer is "Incorrectly."

After a burst of laughter mixed with disappointment by the three of us, Dan asked the next question. "If you were running a race, and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?" I got it right.

Dan continued as he was the genius of the lot. "If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another field?" Aini got it right by saying "One big stack." Chris, who was the real genius in the SUV with PhDs in Physics and Math, was silent. He probably knew all the correct answers.

The fun changed after we realized traffic was slowing down. About a quarter mile away, we saw a series of blue and red lights flashing; probably due to an accident. After a few minutes of moving at a crawl, we passed the place where the police cars were, and saw the bloody carcass of a moose. We assumed there were no other fatalities. Sara's bombardment of questions kept Chris and Aini fully occupied. Once we moved past the accident spot, the traffic was back to normal and thinned out pretty quickly. I was able to get back to my original speed. I paid more attention to the road signs and saw many cautioning signs for deer crossings. I wondered why I didn't see those signs before the accident.

Chris reached for his bag at the rear and managed to get it over to his lap. He pulled out a CD and gave it to Dan. Dan inserted it into the CD player. The first composition was an instrumental piece and it was really soothing. I hadn't heard it before. All of us agreed that it was a nice CD after we heard the 4th or 5th song. Chris gave a detailed narration of the CD, but I couldn't concentrate much on it as I was driving very cautiously on the winding stretch of road. The precipice down the hilly terrain was scary and deep.

When Dan started groaning in a particular rhythm, I looked at him. He was fast asleep. Looking through the rear-view mirror I realized Chris, Aini, Sara and Lily were fast asleep as well. Dan kept me awake with his groaning sound that doubled in intensity every 5 minutes. When the sound reached a particular peak, he woke up, looked around and went back to sleep. He kept-on repeating the rhythm every 10 minutes. Once, when he woke up, I looked at him to get his attention, but he ignored me completely as if I was a stranger. What a good friend he is! I thought to myself.

The CD came to an end. I looked back at Chris as he tapped my right shoulder. He indicated by sign language that he would take over the wheel. As it was almost into the 6th hour from the start, I really didn't mind acceding to his request. I took the next exit with resting facilities. All of us got down from the vehicle and walked into the restaurant, stretching ourselves out along the way.

While I was ordering my espresso shot, Sara tapped my back asking me to buy her a chocolate by pointing to the ones at the counter. I picked one from the counter and before placing it in her little hand, I told her not to show it to her mommy. When I looked back after a minute it was already gone.

The stopover was very brief and we were back on track. Chris was cruising around 75 miles per hour as that was enough to pass the slow-moving cars and trucks. Dan would have liked Chris to cruise at a higher speed, but I was happy with Chris's choice of speed. I got a chance to play with Sara and Lily as I was in the rear window seat now. Lily who had a distinctive personality ignored me and favored Sara.

Suddenly we saw a deer crossing at the right side of the road. The huge car carrier trailer that was coming from the opposite side tooted its horn. The sound was scary, loud and disturbing. The deer turned to our side of the road; saw our SUV and ran back to the on-coming trailer. The things that happened in the next few seconds are impossible to explain. I remember Chris stomping on the brakes, the big 'Bam!' and the trailer that we saw on the other side of the road launched our SUV into the air; past the steep precipice. I also remember the huge first leap over the cliff; the free fall of at least 75 feet with all of us strapped by the seat belts. We were completely freaked out and yelled in utter desperation. The thundering fall disintegrated the SUV into pieces. My side hit the rock first.

~~~

When I regained consciousness, I realized I was looking down a precipice filled with jagged rock. I could see smoke rising from a spot far down below. I recognized my SUV which was in flames and burning furiously. Then one by one I saw the bodies of Dan, Chris, Aini and Sara. Their bodies were scattered at different heights on the hilly terrain. I thought it was due to the disintegration of the SUV while rolling down. All the bodies were stained with blood. None of them were moving and all seemed dead. Looking further I saw my body with a bad head injury. It was the closest to where I was. I wondered why I missed seeing it earlier. Seeing my dead body had mixed reactions in me. All reactions raced through me and I couldn't grab any particular one to say. It was confusion first but it raised the question, who am I? I realized I was floating up in the air. I wasn't in my usual clothes. I had an attire of a silvery grey color, covering me entirely from the neck downwards. "What the hell is this? Who put this dress on me? What am I doing here?" countless questions swamped my mind.

Since I was up floating in the air, at least 300 ft from the ground, I could see what was happening down below. Though I was alone, I could feel something around me. I realized I was in a transparent space capsule. I thought it was a blimp first; but then I realized the shape wasn't anything like a blimp. The exact shape of it cannot be explained as it had no shape. It was changing its shape like a huge soap bubble that flexed inwards and outwards. The surface seemed to be 100% transparent and it was completely hollow with only me in it.

Surprisingly, the moment I thought of sitting, a part of the bottom surface of this "Flexi-bubble" supported my sitting posture. The formation of the seat happened surprisingly quickly. I wondered whether it was humbly responding to my thoughts. Though a seat wasn't necessary as I was levitating on zero gravity like an astronaut in space, I preferred the seated position, to look down. I kept looking down to see what else I could see.

I could clearly see my dead body down below. Half of my skull and part of the brain was missing. A sudden brain wave made me realize who I was. I must be the soul or the spirit separated from my body. I couldn't believe why I'm experiencing this new form of life as I was an ardent nonbeliever of life after death in any form. I have been a follower of science all my life and my beliefs were reinforced by well proven scientific facts and logic. I always thought the life after death, existence of souls and similar paranormal ideas were utter nonsense and imagination of the human psyche influenced by religions and primitive superstitious beliefs. In fact, I was a firm believer of end of life when the brain ends.

"Shattering all that I thought was right, here I'm, out of my body, thinking and seeing things in a new realm. This is real. This seems to be true evidence of the existence of consciousness or soul, out of a physical body. This is shocking to me but I need to get through this adventure to see what is ahead."

I raised my hands to touch my head in a bid to examine more of the "new me". I realized I still had my hands. But I couldn't see them as my hands were concealed under the dress I was wearing. I couldn't see any of my body parts as all were covered under the huge dress I had. It was like a robe with no arms. I couldn't see my legs either. But I could move. This description of may give you a picture of a ghost in a cartoon movie. If you imagined so, really you are not far out in visualizing me. My appearance was something like that, but I didn't have a mirror to confirm it. I didn't have any scary thoughts, though I should have had some. By feeling my head with my hands, I knew I had my face with my nose, mouth and ears. I definitely had my eyes as I could see all those things down below. I didn't think my head was flesh and blood any more. It may sound strange but I couldn't guess what it was made of.

Very different to my usual panic behavior in the past in less grave situations, my mental composure was in a state of tranquility. I wasn't upset or worried about what really happened or what I saw, due to the serene, relaxed mood I was in. Surprisingly, I realized that I could remember almost everything in my life. That meant that I had not lost my memory. Despite the calmness, I was overwhelmed with countless unanswered questions. I was trying to understand the situation I was in.

Suddenly, the light intensity of the flexi-bubble changed. I saw a glow coming to my right side. When I turned my head in that direction, I saw something popping into the flexi-bubble. Oh my God! It was Lily. I was pretty sure Lily wasn't there a moment ago. Lily was in a similar dress like mine. Doggy dress! She started yelping at me hysterically. Probably because of my ghostly dress. As soon as I said "Lily", Lily calmed down and came towards me. Calling Lily was the first word I spoke after the terrible accident. So, I knew I could talk. I saw Lily's wagging tail under her dress. I touched her head and petted her until she became calm and collected. When I touched her head, I realized the texture of her head was different. It may be because my hand was covered with the fabric. Frankly, I wasn't sure why. The feeling was surely different. Now I am pretty sure Lily too had died and this was her soul. Lily was looking down curiously and barked intermittently. She probably couldn't understand why everything far below looked so tiny. I too directed my eyes down below to see what was going on.

I realized that there were four police cars with flashing lights at the point where we got pushed out of the road. The policemen were busy. A few people were out of their cars and were leaning against the side guards staring down below. I don't think they could see much from there as it was a straight drop. The traffic was building up. The trailer with the load of cars was right across the road preventing any traffic movement either way. The crooked trailer front was almost at the edge of the cliff. I saw the long black colored tier marks along the road. That explained part of the story. The deer that caused the accident eventually had managed to cross the road and was among the other deer. I felt happy when I realized she was heavily pregnant and probably carrying more than one. The front of the trailer was badly damaged and the driver was safe. I wasn't sure why I didn't see any of these things previously.

The light intensity of the flexi-bubble changed again with a white glow to my left side. It was Chris who popped right in, this time. He was in a similar dress like mine. I said "Chris!", to get his attention. Lily barked at him at the same time. He didn't say anything for a few minutes as he was stunned. I felt like a stranger and was scared of Chris for a moment. He kept on looking at me with fully opened eyes. It maybe because of my dress and Lily's dress, I thought. He looked around the capsule maintains the strange look on his face. I guessed he was looking for Aini.

As Lily and I were moving towards him., he finally said, "Tony."

"Hi!" I said. Thank God! He can talk, I thought.

He started looking at the scene right below us that I have been watching for the last 12 minutes. His head stopped moving as he saw our bodies. His eyes were focused at Aini's body for a few seconds, then at Sara's and then at his own body which were all lying far apart from one other. He obviously saw my body as it was the closest to us. He looked at it and looked at me a few times. I was pretty sure he realized what had happened to us. Like me, he was in a state of shock but was gradually recovering from it. I didn't see any noticeable emotional reaction on his face after he saw the bodies of Aini and Sara.

"Tony, can you understand what's going on?" Chris asked me.

"I have been here over ten minutes Chris; I think we are dead and our souls survived," I said.

"Mmm!" was Chris's reply. I wasn't sure what he meant by "Mmm".

"I was puzzled on seeing our bodies down there, and floating up here in this robe like thing," I said that expecting Chris to say something back. But Chris was silent.

We noticed two helicopters were coming towards us. They were Red Cross, rescue helicopters. The flexi-bubble wasn't affected by the helicopters. One chopper hovering above the scene started lowering a trooper down on a cable. The trooper on the cable approached my body first. After he landed on the ground, he let the cable go. He examined my body and started communicating with the others with his walkie-talkie. I couldn't hear anything he said as the chopper was very loud. However, I clearly saw the severity of my head injury when he turned my body over. I think a good part of my brain was missing. I saw the cable going down again. I thought it was to lift my body. I was wrong. After he hooked himself, he was partially lifted for a couple of minutes and was lowered down to the place where Dan was. I saw the trooper using the walkie-talkie again. This time the helicopter lowered the orange rescue cage. Dan's body was loaded into the rescue cage, strapped firmly and lifted back to the helicopter. He did a clever job of handling Dan's body all alone.

The trooper on the ground was able to climb down about 15 feet and then walked about 60 feet to reach Sara's body. As the trouper touched the body, I saw a slight movement in her tiny hand. Like earlier the rescue cage was lowered and the body was lifted into the helicopter. The trouper went up to Aini's heavily injured body. After inspection, he was lifted back to the helicopter. Soon after, I saw the helicopter dashing out. Obviously to the nearest hospital, I thought.

After seeing my body with half of my head, I was a hundred percent certain that I was dead. Now I'm positive about why I was in the flexi-bubble. That means what I am experiencing is not anything like a near death experience (NDE) that I've read about, but my own soul. If my logic is right Chris and Lily must be well and truly dead as well. It must be the reason why Chris, Lily and I are in the flexi-bubble but not the others. With a load of things going through my mind that was my firm conclusion.

The second helicopter that was hovering at a fair distance away, moved into the area. Both of us were still silent and were looking intently at the rescue mission right below us. The fire on the SUV was no more but there was still thick black smoke being emitted that at times blocked our view.

Another glow in the flexi-bubble and Aini appeared this time. She had the same attire like us. Chris was surprised. Just like Chris, she had a confused look on her face. Chris hugged Aini. They were silent for a long time. However, after a while they started murmuring to each other. Chris was probably explaining his view about all this to Aini. I presumed that Chris would have mentioned about Sara and Dan had been taken to the hospital by the helicopter.

For about 15 minutes she wasn't looking around. I wasn't sure whether she saw us or not. Finally, she looked at me. From her look I realized that she had come out of the baffled state.

"Aini," I said softly.

"Tony," she replied with a faint voice. That was followed by a very long period of silence.

I broke the silence by saying, "It seems like Sara and Dan survived."

"Tony, can you understand what we are doing here?" coming a few feet towards me, Chris asked the same question he asked a few minutes ago.

"I did a little bit of thinking over this, Chris. As I said earlier, I think our souls survived leaving our bodies down there. Lily joined me 5 minutes after I came here first. Based on timing, you probably survived 10 more minutes after me. And Aini's body had the last breath a few minutes ago."

"Any idea what we are wearing and what this enclosure is?" Chris asked me.

"No! Not much. It looks like this is our common uniform when become spirits after death. About the enclosure, I like to call it the flexi-bubble as it flexes all the time. Before any of you were here, at the instant I thought of sitting down, the bottom of this flexed to form a nice seat for me. Seems like, it can understand what I am thinking."

A moment after I saw a seat forming for Chris and then for Aini. They were amazed.

"Chris, Aini did you think of sitting?" I asked Chris and Aini. They said "Yes". That confirmed the flexi-bubble's ability to react to our thoughts; like a faithful servant serving a master.

"What is the purpose of the flexi-bubble? Why are we together? How long are we going to be here? What will happen to us next? Is this the way that everyone ends up after death?" These were some of the mind-boggling questions I had.

"Hey, Tony is there any chance of reaching the hospital to see what is going on with Sara? Dan must be in the same hospital I believe," Chris said. As soon as he said that, I felt a movement. The flexi-bubble started moving with us at a moderate speed. We didn't feel any type of jerks or centrifugal forces during the move as the flexi-bubble moved up and down or took corners. Probably it was due to the zero-gravity environment that we were in. Within seconds we realized it was taking us towards the hospital.

We had no difficulty in passing through doors or walls as we entered the hospital. All walls and doors just faded away as the flexi-bubble approached them, like in the movie 'Terminator'. We saw the emergency rooms where Sara and Dan were given medical attention. There were many surgeons and supporting staff in their green coats, surrounding Sara and Dan. The doctors and nurses were busy and seriously involved with what they were doing. There were so many beeping sounds and flashing lights emanating from all the instruments monitoring the conditions of Sara and Dan. I had no clue of the electronic equipment, as I had not been in a hospital for a long time.

We were watching what was happening in both emergency rooms. After about 30 minutes, we realized the doctors around Dan were withdrawing from him one by one. Though I didn't know much about the medical instruments, the weak beeping sounds and flattened electronic display signals indicated Dan wasn't going to make it.

Almost immediately, there was a new glow around us. That was Dan's entry to the flexi-bubble. Similar to Chris and Aini when they came in, Dan was in a traumatized state. Lily was over excited after identifying Dan. Dan saw Lily, but he wasn't excited. I didn't waste any time in reaching to Dan. I kept talking to him and told him the full story; really the little I knew. Being a Buddhist and believer in after life, I thought he will accept his position pretty quickly. But he couldn't figure out why we were in a flexi-bubble in funny looking attires. Chris and Aini spoke to Dan briefly but they were more anxious to follow what was happening in Sara's emergency room.

A while later Dan saw the hospital staff carting his body to the mortuary. He brought this to my attention. The staff placed his body next to a few more bodies that were partially covered.

"Did you see?" Dan asked me by looking at my eyes. I saw the excitement on his face.

"What?"

"The body next to me, it's yours; and the two on the opposite side behind the glass panel are Chris's and Aini's," Dan said.

Dan was right. Chris and Aini heard our dialogue. They saw their bodies as well. All our bodies had white tags on the right wrists. Beside the bodies there were plastic bags. I knew that those were for the personal belongings, as I had been to a mortuary before. I wondered whether the bag beside me had my iPhone which I loved more than my wallet.

I knew that it would take some time for me to understand and adjust to the present world. iPhones or any other material things would not be the things for me, hereafter. The only material things I was aware of, were the uniforms and the flexi-bubble. From the little exposure I had so far, I wasn't even sure whether these two were material things. This new world seemed to be complex than anything I have read in fiction and non-fiction.

Sara was carted out from the emergency room after the surgery. The rolling flatbed was surrounded by drip bottles and other medical instruments that were hooked to her body. We could only see her closed eyes, as the rest of her body was covered with bandages. Her body was still and didn't look good to me.

Sadly, Sara popped into the flexi-bubble after 20 minutes, breaking the boredom in the flexi-bubble. Chris and Aini probably expected it after observing the reactions of the nurses who were with her. Chris and Aini took care of her when she popped in. It wasn't easy for them. Dan silenced Lily's barking, as Lily was happy to see Sara. Sara had more questions than all of us. I wondered whether she even knew the meaning of death. Chris's and Aini's explanation to Sara, all happened in a private manner.

The flexi-bubble moved about 100 feet above the hospital roof and became still. We kept our silence for a long time, just as if we were at a funeral place. We moved around but most of the time we just looked outside. We didn't have topics to talk about though there were millions of questions circled in our minds. Sara started playing with Lily. Obviously, she would have wondered why Lily and all of us were in similar dresses in a balloon like thing. Our eyes focused to watch how they were enjoying each other. We enjoyed watching them play.

Chris came towards me and said, "Now, as all of us are here shouldn't we move to a different place?"

"How?"

"Just like how we came here from the place of accident," Chris said.

"We can try. Where do you want to go?" I asked Chris.

"We should move to our hometown as that's where all of us are from," Chris suggested.

"That's a good idea," Dan said, though he didn't experience the move we had before. All of us agreed.

All of us started concentrating on moving to hometown and expected the flexi-bubble to move.

Last time when we thought about the hospital, the flexi-bubble moved us immediately. It seemed that this time it wasn't budging, although all of us had the same thought.

"It is not moving. Maybe the distance is too much," Chris said.

"Let's try again," Like an expert flexi-bubble operator, I commanded everybody to envision us moving to our hometown. We did, but it didn't budge. We gave up our idea after attempting several times. I even requested Sara to think on those lines. We wondered why it wasn't responding to our thoughts any more. We didn't have a proper answer. Chris as the smartest guy in the bunch, couldn't help on this either.

Still hovering above the hospital, we realized it was relatively dark. The lights on the ground and the half-moon up on the eastern sky provided enough light for us to see each other. Even after midnight we didn't feel sleepy or hungry. We realized all those things like sleep, food and the basic necessities of life would not be applicable to us anymore. With every passing second, we were getting accustomed to the world of souls that we had no prior knowledge of. The only new thing we knew was, we were surely restricted to the flexi-bubble that could flex and move. All of us were very silent for a long time like a losing sports team in the dressing room just after a tightly fought game.

I couldn't understand why all of us ended up in the flexi-bubble. Why didn't each of us get individual flexi-bubbles? Was it because we were together before the accident? Are our souls mysteriously connected together? What will happen to us beyond being trapped in this enclosure? Will we have to be in this until the day of redemption that many holy books talk about? Is it only I have all these un-answered questions? I lost the tranquility I had before. My mind was bored, fragmented and overwhelmed.

I wasn't sure whether the other three were chanting silent prayers according to their beliefs, seeking to reach heaven or other happy destinations. As I didn't have a religion, there seemed to be a big chance of my ending up alone in the flexi-bubble. Or perhaps with Lily as I have heard animals don't go to heaven. Will I end in hell? If I go to hell, I would be able to understand what type of place that would be. I haven't read anything about the near-death experience of people reaching hell. Strangely many people have almost reached heaven and then returned back to earth, but not hell. In those stories many have seen tunnels, angels and extended arms reaching out to them from nowhere. Of course, if I see an arm, I would be the first to grab it. I supposed it would be fair for me to do so as I came here first.

In the midst of the dead silence, I missed my iPhone very badly. It could have helped to kill my boredom. The iPhone reminded me of the call I received yesterday when I was in the shower. I couldn't keep silent anymore, so I started a conversation. I told everybody about the phone call I got on the "Prepaid discount offer for funeral services."

"Tony, you don't believe and you laugh at these things all the time saying they are BS. But don't you think that it has something to do with the accident? You can't say it is purely coincidental," Dan said in a mellow tone, quite different to his usual argumentative voice.

"No, I am trying to understand what that 'something' you are talking about is," I said.

"You saw a bird flying into Chris's house and I said it was a sign of death, didn't I?" Dan said. I knew he was lining up with his usual stuff for me, but this time supported with actual facts we experienced.

"I didn't want to say that earlier. In fact, the bird hit the fan and died on the spot." Like a fool I tried to be truthful.

"Is that true?" Aini broke her silence aiming her eyes at Chris. Chris nodded his head and said, "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Aini's voice indicated she wasn't happy about Chris dodging it earlier.

"If we talk about the bird too much it might end up here with us," Chris joked. It was good to have some humor in a grief filled environment; I thought.

"Do you now believe in afterlife?" Dan posed that question to me.

"Yes. There is consciousness after death in a flexi-bubble. That is all I know right now," I said and I continued. "Every day, over 150,000 people die on Earth. In another 80 years, nearly everyone who's on Earth today will be gone. Death can happen at any time, to anybody. It happened to us today. We have argued over 'afterlife' many times in the past. Now we know there is something after death. But we still know only a little. We never knew we'd end up in a flexi-bubble. Did any of your religions say anything about a flexi-bubble? Technically there should be 150,000 flexi-bubbles around us today. But we cannot see any of those including the bird's one if they happen to get flexi-bubbles. So, do not jump to conclusions or impose all of your ideas on me or force me to believe what you believe, yet. We have time to resolve this afterlife issue once and for all very soon."

"We might discover something completely unexpected in time to come. We have to wait and see," Chris said. Aini agreed by nodding her head.

"Excuse me Aini; what does your religion say about death and after life?" Dan asked.

"It is not an easy question to answer Dan, as I'm not a scholar on the subject. I will tell you what I know," Aini said.

"That would be nice," Dan said as we hadn't pondered on this subject before.

"We are already in after life," I made a remark with my loose mouth; that wasn't necessary. "Sorry Aini, go ahead."

"We believe in Heaven and Hell. Guys who do good things will go to heaven and who do bad things will go to hell," Aini started explaining.

"Any distinct difference on this in Chris's and your religion," I asked.

"I do not like to speak for Chris. I will tell you the few things I know. Again, I must say there are different versions of what I'm about to say, OK! So, keep that in mind. According to the Quran one day the world will be destroyed. On that day our God will raise all the people from death. There are many variations to the definition of this last day I'm talking about. The judgment will be decided by our God Allah."

"So, it looks like we will have to wait till such time. Holy cow!" I jumped in before she finished.

"Is there anywhere in your holy book, talks about the soul ending up in a flexi-bubble?" Dan asked.

"Dan, is there anything about it in Buddhism?" Aini challenged.

"Aini, sorry for interrupting you; please continue," Dan apologized.

"I may be wrong, but what I have heard is, until that day comes, the dead person's soul will remain in the grave. Some say the dead will begin to feel the taste of their destiny in the grave. Obviously, those bound for hell will suffer, while those bound for heaven will be in peace until that time," Aini paused to give us a chance to ask questions.

"That means we will go back to our graves from here," I said.

"Seems like it," Aini said.

"Of course, I hope my sister will cremate me; that's what I wanted. I've told her about it many times when we discussed death at childhood. Hope she remembers," I said.

"Hey, Aini, assume my sister buries me; what will happen when I am resurrected as I lost half the skull and brain?" I asked.

"Don't worry; I've heard that all bodies will be re-created. So, you will have the whole skull and a full brain," Aini replied.

"Does it really matter to you Tony as you didn't have anything up there in any case," Chris joked. Again, I thought it was good of Chris to make fun to brighten up the gloomy situation.

"Chris, apologetically I have to ask you to shut up!" I thought, I managed to stop further attacks from Chris. Sara heard that and said, "Uncle Tony, you are saying bad things." I apologized to her.

"Hey! Aini, how can that be possible to recreate a brain?" I asked.

"For a person who created heaven and earth it must be a pretty simple task, Tony. So, don't worry. Slow down, you will be OK when the day comes," Aini explained.

"The Christian story is pretty similar. What matters is the deeds you have done in your life, Tony. Can you think of any good deeds you have done?" Chris threw another friendly verbal punch at me.

"I have a bad group of friends and all of them finally helped me to end up in a flexi-bubble. Thank you, guys!" I said.

"Hey, do you think I'll end up in hell, as I don't have a religion?" I asked Chris.

"I don't think they will accept you even in hell," Dan interrupted. All laughed.

"Aini, what do you know about Hell?" I asked.

"If you go to hell your body and soul will suffer eternally, as opposed to eternal pleasures in Heaven," Aini explained.

"What is the destiny for people who believe in other religions?" Dan asked.

Chris answered by saying, "All non-Muslims will go to hell, according to Aini's religion."

"So, Chris and Dan are going to be my buddies in hell," I said.

"I am going to sneak into Aini's heaven as I can have 72 virgins," Chris said.

"You will not be tolerated there Chris," Aini joked.

"Seriously, do you have any religious views or understanding of the flexi-bubble we are in?" I asked. "Any of you have an answer."

I saw Chris wanting to say something.

"There are always debates over the finer points on the doctrines of any religion. In regards to what happens to souls, Christianity has four views. These aren't straightforward references from the bible but I think these ideas have evolved over centuries. Before I tell you guys about these four streams, I must say, all these ideas seem to have come from Greek philosophy. We Protestant Christians view the soul as an inhabitant of the body. So, the two, soul and body, are considered separate entities. Contrary to this view, the Jewish religion is inclined to the view that body and soul are indivisible," Chris said. He paused for a moment as he suddenly had an insight of something.

"Wow! I have proof now to show Jews that they are wrong as we are here as souls," Chris enjoyed saying it.

"What are the four ideas Chris?" Dan was quick to get Chris's attention back on the topic.

"Idea number one is that the believer's souls go immediately into God's presence. That means out of this lot, only I'll go to heaven since I'm the only believer of Jesus Christ. You lot go to hell. You guys will be there in hell until judgment day comes. The idea of going to heaven immediately without having to wait, is based on Jesus' words on the cross promising the thief crucified alongside with him. He said - 'today you will be with me in paradise'. That means there is no time lapse to go to heaven after death," Chris said.

"Why didn't Jesus say to him 'today you will go to hell', as he was a thief?" Dan interrupted.

All of a sudden, we heard Sara's voice. "What are you talking about?" Chris managed to divert her attention back to Lily.

"So according to the first idea one can go to heaven immediately after death. What's the second idea?" I asked.

"The second idea is from a Catholic belief. According to this belief the soul goes to a flexi-bubble," Chris laughed. "Seriously it says the soul will go to an intermediate place and wait for the judgment day. At this transient place, the souls go through a purification process to make them ready to enter heaven. The Catholics also state that sinners can confess their sins to Catholic priests and those sins can be forgiven. It doesn't matter how grave the sins might be; if the sinner truly repents, he or she will be forgiven," Chris explained.

"Does this mean that all good and bad guys must go through the timely intermediate purification process?" I asked.

"It's not that clear because the Catholics also believe the possibility of people going straight to heaven or hell," Chris explained further.

"That is really interesting but confusing. However, as you said earlier the time in the flexi-bubble could be considered as the purification stage; the stopover before going to heaven; right?" I asked.

Chris said "Yes."

"What is the third idea?" Dan asked.

"The third idea is that the souls go through some type of dormant state like hibernation, until the Second Coming of Christ. The souls will wake up from that state just in time for the judgment day. However, some scripture urges people to demonstrate godly lives 'in the presence of a great cloud of witnesses', thus implying there are witnesses in heaven. That means these witnesses are the people already in heaven. How did they reach heaven without waiting for judgment day as given in the scripture, poses a question? So, it's a little complicated to explain this anomaly, but that's the third," Chris said.

"Is the soul immortal?" Dan asked.

"Yes. The concept of heaven and hell in traditional Christianity, heavily depends on the doctrine of immortality of the soul. Do you like to hear the fourth idea before it skips out of my head?" Chris said.

"Yes."

"The fourth idea is the souls of believers go to heaven and the souls of non-believers like you guys cease to exist. 'Annihilationism' is the term used to describe the cessation of existence. So, if this is true you three shouldn't have existed anymore. But I'm talking to you, the non-believers, now. So, this idea is questionable and definitely not true," Chris joked and we laughed.

"This fourth idea is not a popular one, because it contradicts biblical references to judgment day that specifically state Jesus will judge 'both the living and the dead'. If the souls of only believers survive death and go to heaven then judgment is logically unnecessary, right?" Chris said.

"Logically yes," I said.

"All these four ideas underpin the event of unification of soul and body at resurrection," Chris said. "However, some scriptures say even the nonbelievers will be resurrected and then be judged. So fortunately, you guys still have a very small chance."

"Where was Jesus Christ the two days before he arose from death?" asked Aini.

"Mm! Sorry, I don't have a clear-cut answer for that question. There's not much recorded text on the time between his death and resurrection," Chris answered.

"Come to think of it, his soul would have been in a flexi-bubble like ours! Who knows?" Dan said.

"Aini, what's your answer to the question, I asked you before? At resurrection what will be my position as my body doesn't have half my brain and also if it was cremated?" It was too late when I realized what a fool, I was to ask that question in front of Chris.

"Don't worry Tony; any brain that you get at resurrection would be more intelligent and better than what you had." This time it was Aini who launched the attack, laughingly. I intensely regretted my folly in providing ammunition for the attack.

"Aini's answer is perfect I think; I cannot agree more," Dan topped it up with his two cents worth.

"Did you look closely at your skull to see whether you had anything in it? All this time I thought it was pretty hollow," Chris my beloved friend didn't stop the flow of insults directed at me.

"Dummy!" I said to myself.

"Ha, ha! Is that it? Anything else, on my brain?" I had to fight for my pride, and wanted to get back on the subject.

"Hey! Chris, to me it seems like our status here does not fit any of those four ideas. According to the 1st idea, you shouldn't be here but in heaven by now. The closest is the 2nd idea of having an intermediate stage as believed by Catholics. But they also believe direct transfers to heaven after death, as you explained," I said.

"I may vanish at any moment to heaven. Who knows? You better hold onto me if you want to go with me," Chris said.

Chris was still in the jovial mood from his last jab at me. I enjoyed his fun mood.

"We didn't discuss Lily. What will happen to her? Where will she go?" I asked.

"It's again a complex question. Some say that animals will not be allowed in heaven because they don't have souls. Some say there are animals in heaven," Chris said.

"In Buddhism animals are part of the cycles of births and deaths," Dan said.

"Oh! Good. It is your turn now Dan! Give your Buddhist explanation about all these things?" Aini requested Dan to explain his take on the subject.

"Until I came here I thought it was pretty simple to explain my idea of after death, but it looks like I'm in deep trouble with this experience," Dan said.

"How can any of us be in deeper trouble than this, Dan? Go on!" Aini said.

"First of all, we Buddhists don't believe in a soul. Contrary to all the other religions this is a unique concept in Buddhist teachings," Dan paused as he saw Chris wanting to say something.

"Oh! I think I can understand. It looks like you're in deep trouble in explaining our presence here as souls with that unique concept of non-self," Chris said as he could understand Dan's dilemma.

"Buddhism is a counter revolutionary philosophy to Hinduism. Hindu's believe in the body and soul concept. The Buddha approached the subject of the soul in a different manner. I might take a long time to get into the core teaching on this, as it is a bit complicated to explain all that. So, I'll try to summarize," Dan said.

"Dan, we have all the time in the world. So, take your time. I am dying to listen to you even after death," Aini said

"Sorry Dan, I cannot offer you any beer today as I know you need at least half dozen cans for you to warm up for a subject like this, right!" Chris said.

"Beer! Didn't you know I became a teetotaler a few hours ago," Dan said.

"You have become a good boy!" Aini said.

"I'm thinking of how to narrate the stuff. OK, let me try. I need to tell you that I think there is a shallow stream and deep philosophical stream of Buddhist teaching on life. These two factions were necessary as the Buddha had to preach to people of various intellectual capacities in the diverse social structure existed at his time. On the shallow stream of the teaching, as per my interpretation, Buddhists believe in Karma, rebirth, heavens, hells, gods, ghosts, sprits, devils, etc. These ideas already existed at that time, coming from Hinduism. I suppose you've heard about Karma. Karma is an automatic reward or punishment you receive from the good and bad deeds done in present life and previous lives. The deeds can be physical, verbal or mental actions. The rewards and punishments are really the happy and sorrowful experiences in life. The life journey is not restricted to this life but to a cycle of births and deaths. The past lives are often equated to the links in a chain; with an addition of a new link at every rebirth. The seeds of all good and bad deeds you had collected in the past are in your life system and those seeds bring forth your rewards and punishments. You have no control or choice over when or what to have from karma. There is no controller who brings these up for you. The past lives you spent may have been a human being, animal, god or other life forms like ghosts. Most of these ideas are identical to the ideas in Hinduism and have come from version of Hinduism that existed then. I believe the Buddha delivered the crux of his teachings by mending them through these concepts. Even after having accepted those concepts, Buddhists are very keen to use the word rebirth instead of reincarnation to show that there is a difference," Dan said.

"What's the difference between reincarnation and rebirth?" Chris asked.

"Buddhists do not believe in a migration of a soul to another life which is reincarnation. In Buddhism, the impetus to your next life is the last thought of your present life or the thought you have at the moment of death. It is the thought process that continues to next life, and not any form of soul."

"Don't the Buddhists believe in a soul" Aini asked.

"Technically we should not. This is where I have to switch to the deep philosophical stream of the teaching, preached for the intellectuals," Dan said.

"OK Dan, keep going. Sorry for the interruption," Aini said.

"That's OK, keep asking questions. My only request is, make sure you don't ask the questions that I can't answer. If my answer is wrong don't argue," Dan said.

"We'll try!" was the one voice reply he got.

"The Buddha said the idea of self is an illusion. This is defined as "Anatta" in Pali language or "Non-Self" in English. The Buddha vehemently rejected the concept of the soul which was found in Hinduism. If there is nothing called soul then what carries the Karmic seeds to the next life, poses a question. I don't have an answer to that question. However, I will explain to you the 'Non-self' or 'Anatta' concept further."

"Go ahead Dan," Aini said.

"The 'Non-self' concept is complex and the Buddha explained it by talking about two categories of truths. One was called the 'Conventional truth' and the other the 'Ultimate truth'," Dan said.

"What does that mean?" Chris asked.

"I'll give you some examples. We think our earth is flat, but it is round. We know an atom is over 99% hollow, because the electrons that circle the nucleus of the atom are at vast distances compared to the size of the nucleus of the atom. We are made of atoms. Hence, we must be over 99% hollow. But we don't define our body that way. Same type of logic applies to light. We see light as light but not as seven colors that make it. So, we can look at things under conventional truth stream and also under ultimate truth stream," Dan looked around.

"True. So how does your logic correlate to the soul or self?" Aini asked.

"According to Buddha the self exists as a conventional entity, so that we can refer to it. But under the ultimate truth principle there is no such thing called self or soul as it's a delusion that we have created," Dan said.

"Are you trying to correlate your 99% hollow atom theory to self?" Chris asked.

"No, no. It has nothing to do with that. The Buddha said the people believed self as a conglomeration of body and four mind elements identified as feeling, perception, choices and consciousness. But if you go deep into these entities, postulating self with the body and the mind elements, it's absolutely incorrect as none of those five entities either considered individually or in any combinations or all together, doesn't constitute a so-called self," said Dan.

"Interesting but complex; I need to think a bit on that," Chris said

"The realization that there is no soul, atman or anything like that as a self, in reality is a major achievement in Buddhism. Only a few understand this concept by thinking about thinking. The mental stream of activities happening create the illusion of self. The mental activities happening in the brain is commonly known as the mind. But mind is a not an entity. Mind is not a noun. It's a verb as it is a process. Hence the self that the mind process creates is an illusion. The concept of "I", the individuality or whatever we compose as self, actually is an illusionary impression created by the mental net-workings of the brain. The Buddha didn't know about the function of the brain at that time, but he was extremely clever in perfectly understanding the mental processes that were happening in us. This concept is unique to Buddhist doctrine." Dan elaborated further.

"Hey, Dan if there's nothing called self, who is behind a human being," Chris asked.

"According to Buddha I cannot answer your question as the word "who" is in your question. Because the self is an illusion created by the processes happening in your brain, a question with the word 'who' is not a proper question where a realistic answer could be construed. Can any of you tell me where you self is when you were fully anesthetized for surgery. Say you are in that situation for one whole day and then regain normalcy. You regain normalcy when all the thinking circuitries in the brain start operating and create your illusionary self-made 'self' again. When brain is dormant there is no soul to be identified. It is the running of the brain circuitries that creates the idea of self or the soul. It is not an entity but a process- a verb rather than a noun." Dan explained.

"Dan, keep all the complicated answers aside. Tell me who you are in this flexi-bubble, if it is not your soul," Aini asked.

"Aini, actually that's why I said I am in deep trouble. Anyway, I still don't have a conclusive answer to your question. How do you know for sure whether we are souls? Did you know all souls get a dress like this and have discussions on the topic of souls in a flexi-bubble?" Dan questioned.

"I don't know, but I believe these are our souls as our bodies are in the mortuary. That's my best guess at the moment because of my religious back ground. What's your best guess?" Aini questioned.

"According to Buddhist stream that talk about rebirth, we go from one life to another. Some Buddhists believe that there can be an intermediate stage between the two lives. In fact, there are rites that the Buddhists follow during and after a funeral, believing some kind of transient existence, immediately after death until the next birth. So, I have a few guesses at the moment. Maybe I am in an intermediate stage waiting to be conceived in a woman's or an animal's womb. My second guess is, perhaps all of us are already born in a ghostly realm due to the sins we have done in the past. The third guess is, maybe I'm wrong and souls exist, dressed in uniforms. I think it's best for me to say, I don't know rather than trying to come up with a bogus answer," Dan said.

I was more confused though there were substances to think about in what Dan explained.

"Dan, do you think you have the seeds of all good and bad things you've done along your life journey so far? Do you feel that you have them in some form?" Chris asked.

"Chris, that's what I've been conditioned to believe. Your question about feel for seeds is meaningless. Anyway, the answer is no. Many Buddhists, like Hindus attribute many good and bad things that happen in life to past deeds or results of Karma. Can I prove this theory? No! But one can't disprove it either, just like the concept of God's will. Some people attribute good and bad things happening to them to planetary influences based on their time of birth. Those beliefs cannot be disproved either," Dan replied.

"Dan, do you believe in heaven?" Aini asked.

"According to Buddhist scripture there are over 84,000 heavenly worlds and four hells in our universe. When a person is born in a heavenly world that person becomes a god as well. The life expectancies of the gods are very long relative to earth years but yet finite like ours. So even after the extensive life periods, at death one could be born again as a human or animal or any other life form, depending purely on the person's karma seeds. These ideas have come from Hindu beliefs and I am very skeptical about those personally. Some of these ideas served a purpose for a wide fraction of the people who already had those ideas, at the time of the Buddha. The human psyche adores these types of beliefs even now as they can't be disproved. The Buddhists don't believe in a creator God, but they perform various rituals for number of gods, expecting favors," Dan said.

"Dan, you said that Buddhists believe in the chain of life. And also, you said one's last thought has some influence on that person's next birth. What's the explanation you have for having the first link of the chain? Or how did you come into existence for the very first time in your life journey?" I asked.

"Tony, you agreed not to ask unanswerable questions. You broke the rule, my friend! Let me think. The first answer is I don't know. The second answer can be given as "desire", according to Buddhist scripture. You might question whose desire is it? I don't have an answer as that person has logically not existed before. Some Buddhists have two answers to this anomaly. The first is to say life journey is not a chain but a circle. Chicken and egg situation, you know. The second answer is to say, looking for an answer to that question is not the aim of Buddhist focus, quoting the simile, if you are hit by a poisoned arrow should you find out who fired the arrow before you take it out. I admit both these are not convincing answers. I don't see any rationality involved, other than the purpose of buttering the belief. However, for a real rationalistic answer, I need to refer it to the Non-self-concept that the Buddha disclosed for the intellectuals. According to the ultimate truth principle we discussed, there is nobody called Dan or Tony. All of us are illusionary projection created by processes running in our brains. The latest brain science supports the idea of non-self and the fact that there is no free will." Dan said.

"That's a clever answer, though it seems a lot of thinking is necessary to grasp the concept properly," I said.

"I don't think Tony can understand any of that with his half brain, Dan. So, you need to go a little easy in explaining these things," Chris said.

"I've had enough from all of you. Just relax you guys! Thanks Dan. I need to think about your answer with my half brain but at least I know my half brain is still better than Chris's," I said.

"Dan, you said something about the last thought leading to the next life. So, what was your last thought when the SUV rolled down?" Aini asked.

"I can still remember the trailer coming towards us and the big bang! After that I can clearly remember I had something similar to a near death experience story I have read about. I didn't want to say anything on it earlier thinking you guys would make fun of me," Dan said.

"That's interesting. Come on Dan we're still friends!" Chris said.

"Chris, you may not believe this. It's weird. And when come to think of it, it's funny too. Anyway, as we don't have any clues as to how long we're going to be together, I will tell you," Dan said. It sounded like he had a long story to tell.

"This is what I can remember. I was dropping down from space at a very high speed as if I was attempting to break the free fall speed record of the guy Felix Baumgartner who jumped from space. Actually, I thought I broke his record during that plunge. But unfortunately, my parachute didn't open like his at the last moment. I was screaming at the end when I realized it. I finally hit a big rock. Shockingly, I bounced back like in a bungee jump; and I came back softly to the ground. There were people at the bottom of the rock to receive me, as if they've been expecting me for some time. I didn't know any of them, though they shook hand with me. Though my back hit the rock very hard nothing really happened. I was talking to the people about what went wrong. They said it would be good to go to the hospital for a checkup. I was taken to the hospital in a helicopter. I was rushed to the emergency room. Within seconds there were so many doctors and nurses around me. Then they thought I was dead though I could hear all the conversations going on around me. I wasn't dead but it was scary because I thought they were going to cut me open, and someone will bury me alive. Then I saw one guy pretending as a doctor bringing a huge injection cylinder with a six-inch-long needle. After I saw that I started flying up again like a rocket, with my butt on fire. I was screaming at the top of my voice for help on the way up. Next thing I realized was, I was in this flexi-bubble and Tony talking to me in a funny dress." Everybody started laughing when Dan said that, though Dan still had a weird look on his face.

"I also have read about near death experience stories. However, that doesn't sound like a near death experience story, but somewhat close. It seems like a 'getting scared of an injection' story," Chris said jokingly.

"I have read those stories too and done some reading to understand the scientific explanation. Near-death experiences are often considered as mystical phenomena, but research is now revealing scientific explanations for virtually all those common features people see and experience at near death situations. Things like voyages toward a bright light in a tunnel can be induced in anybody in the lab and why it is happening can be biologically explained. One of the methods of doing this, is by increasing the CO2 concentration in the blood. People who have inhaled excess carbon dioxide or intentionally done that with meditative practices or have been at high altitudes are known to have had sensations similar to near-death experiences. The later is how the researchers got to know this particular fact first," I said.

"I don't know whether I should believe you or not. I tend to believe in near death experience," said Dan.

"That's OK. This is what I have read and there are many other convincing pathological explanations for near death experience," I said.

"Basically, a few hours ago you saw me in the hospital, and all of you could see your bodies. Now, imagine we get a chance to go back to our bodies to tell our story to others. Do you think people will believe us?" Dan asked.

"I don't think so," Chris said.

"Dan, you have a very valid point there," I said and I thought it was a good point to ponder.

"We have to wait and see what's going to happen to us," Chris said.

"What do you think will happen to us," I asked.

"I believe we'll end up in heaven. Don't ask me when or why? But I'm pretty sure of this," Aini said that with a lot of confidence.

"I consider heaven is an imaginary idea created by the primitive man. That doesn't matter. Assume we end up in heaven due to some luck. What would be our state of mind when we end up there?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked

"Take Sara for example. When she goes there, will she have a mind of a child or adult?" I asked with a low voice as I didn't want Sara to hear her name.

"I'm trying to be very open here. I had some difficulties in bringing clarity to this issue in the past," Chris continued. "Logically, all of us come into this world with a sinful nature, according to my religion. So, this includes babies. The only salvation in Christianity is through knowing Jesus Christ. Babies and kids aren't mature to understand Jesus Christ. Also, mentally challenged kids and people, will never have the capability to understand Jesus Christ. So, on that logic, will they end up in hell? is a question. Some denominations of Christians think, by baptizing babies the kids can go to heaven, if they die early. Then what happens to the babies who are miscarried or die during childbirth? Are they condemned to hell? The bible doesn't explicitly state what happens to them. However, babies and children are recognized as innocent in the bible. Hence, we can assume children will go through the grace and righteous judgment of God," Chris said.

"Is Sara Christian or Muslim?" Dan asked. Sara looked at Dan but Aini diverted her attention back to Lily.

"We didn't teach her a specific religion. We taught her the good and the bad, and wanted her to select a religion of her choice once she could understand the world," Aini whispered.

"What will be her fate according to Islam considering our status here?" I asked.

"Islam doesn't have the concept of original sin. We believe that all human beings are born pure. Babies and children therefore go to heaven automatically, regardless of their parents' beliefs. So, she will go to heaven," Aini was confident.

"That is interesting and a very fair to children," Dan said.

"Dan, what's the Buddhist's view on children's deaths?" Aini asked.

"A death of a child is considered a result of a bad deed done in the past. As such the child's life will undergo a different rebirth into another realm, as human, animal or other living being. That's all I can say," said Dan.

"Guys, I didn't get an answer to the question I asked before. When Sara goes to heaven will she have a mind of a child or adult?" I asked it again.

"Obviously she will have a mind of a child," Chris said.

"Will she one day become an adult in heaven?" I asked.

"Yes," Chris gave a short answer.

"What kind of an adult?"

"High IQ, with a good mental composition," Chris said.

"Without having any education in her life, will she just know everything?" I questioned, because I thought he made up his answer.

"Why do you want to have all the math, science and history there Tony; it's a pleasure place," Chris said.

"I've seen both idiotic and intellectual people laughing and having fun or pleasure. Don't you think there's a difference between the pleasures each category of people enjoys? Something like idiotic pleasure and intellectual pleasure! Will all who go to heaven be like a bunch of children having fun without anything in upstairs? Don't you think the pleasure is relative?" I asked.

"Good question, difficult to answer," Chris said.

"Do you see any relativity?" I asked.

"Yes. I understand what you mean; pleasure is relative," Chris said.

"What happens to your age in heaven? What will happen to your intellectual capacity in heaven? Will you have an old body if you die old or will you get a young body irrespective of your age? Will all the people in heaven get some sort of uniforms? Have you got to change clothes? Have you got to eat and breathe? I've also heard about rivers of honey and delicious fruits. I hope the toilets are good and toilet paper is smooth?" I was glad that I stopped the flow of loose words spilling from my mouth without any control.

"Yes, yes and yes. You will get whatever you want Tony," Chris said.

"To be frank I wouldn't be comfortable meeting with my father, mother and grandparents all having young faces. Especially my father and grandfather with so many virgins around them, if it's Aini's heaven," I said.

"Tony, are you jealous? Anyway, why should you worry when you have no-chance of going there?" Chris had a verbal punch at me again. I didn't get a chance to respond, as Aini was about to say something.

"You may not have heard this, but the Quran sets the age of responsibility at 40; that's the age of full maturity. So, all of us may come under the category of children and definitely end up in heaven," Aini said.

"Is that right? Fantastic! I didn't know that?" Chris said. "Hey, Tony you still have a chance, then."

"Chris that may be the reason why Jesus Christ went to heaven, he was only 33 when he died," I said casually and wondered whether I had been insensitive to Chris. Chris laughed but didn't say anything. I shouldn't have said that, I thought.

"Aini, what good will you have when you find all the male folks are hanging around with the virgins," Dan asked.

"I've heard there are various verses in the Quran regarding the rewards for women. Some are interpreted negatively. But I go with the positive interpretation that all men and women will be rewarded based on their deeds," Aini said.

All of a sudden there was a glow on the flexi-bubble. I immediately thought of a possible addition to the flexi-bubble. I looked around to see what that was. I realized it was the first few rays of the rising sun coming from the eastern horizon. We didn't even feel the last 6 hours go by because of the heavy discussion. None of us including Sara and Lily felt sleepy, hungry or tired. "Those are obvious needs for physical bodies that are not required for the life form we were in," I thought.

"Good morning!" I said to the others who were gazing at the beautiful view of the rising sun.

"Good morning!"

"Uncle Tony, the sun is very, very big and red," Sara said. Nothing came out of my mouth as I had mixed feelings about Sara. I touched her face. The feeling I got was quite different to the touch I usually experience. Throughout the night she was playing with Lily. Lily's behavior was quite different too. However, Lily and Sara kept each other fully occupied, and at times gazing at each other for long periods. She been happy was a big plus for all of us.

We could hear the birds singing. The singing seemed to turn into competitions with many more birds joining them. Being a naturalist, it was a peak moment of my life; I mean my dead life. I wondered why I didn't enjoy the songs so much in my real life. With the sun coming up we saw the bedrooms and kitchen lights in the houses that were lighting up. People and traffic kept filling the roads little by little. A few hours passed and the streets became busy.

I noticed Aini was getting excited as she saw a car coming towards the hospital. It was her parent's car that entered through the main gate and parked in the hospital car park. Four people got down from the car. Aini identified them as her uncle, aunt and her parents. We couldn't see them after they entered through the hospital's main door. It would have been around 7 am, I guessed.

"According to my religion the burial has to happen as soon as possible, within 24 hours or so. I'm pretty sure my parents are trying to do that," Aini said.

"Do you think your parents will bury your body in this town or take it back to our hometown?" I asked.

"My parents like to stick to Muslim traditions. So, they'll try to bury it in this town to meet the time constraint. We'll find out pretty soon," Aini said.

Aini also recognized more of her relatives coming to the hospital. A little later Chris's parents came to the hospital too. I thought I might see my sister, if she had got the news and decided to drive through the night. In Dan's case only his mother was living. Dan wondered who would come to sort these things out. He didn't expect his mother to come since she had health issues.

Though we occasionally looked at each other, we were back to our dead silent mode, like before. Everyone was looking outside, expecting to see more people they knew, coming to the hospital. We didn't know what was going on inside the hospital. Flexi-bubble was dead still.

After a few hours, we saw a long, black funeral hearse leaving the mortuary. We were sure it was carrying Aini's body as all the vehicles Aini identified as her relatives started following the hearse. We watched all the cars until the last vehicle drove past our location. The flexi-bubble was not moving. Aini and Chris were particularly disappointed about the flexi-bubble not following the hearse. About 15 minutes later, I saw my sister and brother-in-law coming to the hospital. I didn't see their car but I saw them walking towards the main entrance of the hospital building. Dan was worried as he didn't see anyone he knew coming to the hospital. Dan was the only child in his family, like Aini.

Suddenly, the flexi-bubble started moving. It went straight up first and then started moving eastward. It was moving away from the direction of our hometown.

"Any idea, as to where it's going?" Chris asked, interrupting the very long silence.

"No. We'll know pretty soon," I said.

Within seconds we could see a gathering at a faraway place in the direction the flexi-bubble was heading. We saw about twenty people at that beautiful green landscape. The patchy brown spots we saw through the few tall trees, indicated it was a burial place.

The flexi-bubble stopped a few feet away from the gathering. It was the burial set up for Aini. The gathering included Aini's parents, Chris's parents, close friends and relatives. Her body was at the center covered with a white cloth. Upon closer observation, we realized Sara's body was next to hers. There was a freshly dug grave close to the coffin. The grave was larger than usual. After recognizing her grandparents, Sara was busy asking questions from both Aini and Chris. Aini was continuously answering Sara's questions and was speaking softly to Chris. Sara probably knew there was no way of getting into the arms of her grandparents; the first thing she usually does at every opportunity. Lily had to be controlled as she started barking after recognizing Aini's parents.

According to what Aini explained a while ago, about the destinies of souls, I wondered whether Aini and Sara would disappear from the flexi-bubble at any moment to get back to their bodies when the burial took place. That would be sad!

A few minutes later a person addressed the gathering. I assumed he was the prayer leader as he started chanting prayers. He stood before the bodies, facing away from the assembly of mourners. After a few minutes the few women who were there moved back separating them out from the crowd. Aini and Sara's coffins were moved to the grave by the men who were there. Both bodies were carefully laid down in the grave.

According to Muslim custom, I knew that the right side of her face would be turned towards Mecca. A person got into the grave and did something to the bodies. That must be it. The grave was filled with soil, one shovel load at a time. I didn't see any flowers laid on the grave, after it was filled.

Contrary to what Aini told us that the soul would go back to its body at burial, Aini and Sara were still with us. I thought that was definitely a big consolation to Chris and to all of us, as we needed the company of each other. We were not sure what would happen to Aini and Sara or to us at any moment. Every second was a exciting moment.

The mourners started to disperse one by one after expressing their final condolences to Aini's and Chris's parents. They were the last to leave the burial grounds. We were looking at their cars departing until we lost sight.

We hugged Aini for a moment to show our affection.

"Aini, are you OK?" Dan asked. Aini said, "Yes."

"After all, you are still here. Your soul and Sara's didn't end up in the grave contrary to what you explained to us before. Is that good or bad?" Dan asked.

"I am happy to be here as a family. That must be the intention of God," Aini justified.

"It's good to hear you are happy," Dan said.

It would have been around noon, I thought. We were still there long after all the cars had left. There was no sign of the flexi-bubble moving to a different location. We knew we couldn't control it. A few times Chris asked his general question "What's going to happen next?" But nobody had an answer. The situation was gloomy. The only bright thing among us was the bright scorching sun right above us. I wondered why we were not getting burnt or feeling the warmth of the sun.

"Hey! We have been fully exposed to the sun for more than 5 hours, but we didn't feel warm or don't seems to be getting sun burns. Any reason, you can think of?" I asked an open question.

"Tony, we're dead and don't have any physical sensors anymore," Dan said.

"It must be really due to that, but there can be another reason," Chris's tone was such that I knew he had a technical answer.

"What's the other reason?" Dan asked immediately.

"Have you ever thought about why the glass is transparent?" Chris asked. He saw our clueless looking faces and described his question further. "Glass is solid and made of silica. The silica atoms are closely packed to make glass. But we see glass as transparent material. Are the atoms transparent?"

"I haven't really thought about glass as compacted atoms before. You said that question has some relevance to why we don't feel the warmth, right? It's puzzling," Aini responded.

"Is it because the glass is considered as a highly viscous liquid?" Dan asked.

"No. That's not the answer," Chris said.

"Come on! Chris, what is the answer?" I begged.

"I can explain, but you won't be able to understand with your half brain Tony," Chris and the others had their mild fun at my expense, before he started explaining the reason.

"What we call light is actually a part of the whole spectrum of energies called the electromagnetic spectrum which covers radio waves, microwaves, X-rays and even radioactive rays. When an energy beam hits a material either it gets reflected or absorbed. Or both these can happen at the same time at varying proportions. If the energy gets absorbed, then the material changes in some way and usually gets heated. If the energy gets reflected then nothing happens to the material and the surface looks white and shiny. But in the case of glass the energy just passes through the atoms and comes out from the other side. It is a material quality associated with the molecular structure. The energy level of the light is not sufficient to make any changes to the material of glass and pass through. That is why pure glass is transparent. This is not the case however with the ultra violet rays hitting glass. Glass absorbs UV rays. This is why it's hard to get a tan via light passing through a window."

"What has that theory got to do with us, not getting warm in the flexi-bubble?" Aini asked.

"I was thinking the energy passing through a material depends on the material structure. We don't know what the flexi-bubble is made of. So, there can be something in the material of the flexi-bubble that prevents us from getting warm," Chris explained.

"It's complicated Chris," I said.

"I knew you will not be able to understand. Take it easy, don't think too much, Tony," Chris said.

I thought I must be more careful in selecting my words with Chris next time.

"Brilliant stuff, Chris, it is a pity that you'll not be serving the general public anymore," Dan said.

"Thanks Dan,"

We got back to the silent mode again.

~~~

"Are we going to be here forever?" Chris broke the silence.

No sooner had Chris made this comment that the flexi-bubble started moving again. It went up first and then towards the west. This time we wondered whether it was going to our hometown as it was heading towards that direction. It gathered speed. We couldn't gauge the speed as we were in a situation similar to an airplane flying at very high altitude. It appeared we were almost still, but definitely we were moving at a very high speed. The landmarks we passed confirmed that we weren't wrong. When the flexi-bubble came to a halt, I could see Dan's house, Chris's house and my apartment from that spot. All three places had more parked cars than usual, and the reason was obvious to all of us.

After a brief pause the flexi-bubble started moving again. It didn't take much time for us to understand where it was heading. It was another burial ground. The yellow robes of three Buddhist monks we saw at a distance indicated it was Dan's funeral arrangement. They were seated on a row of chairs covered with white cloths at the center of the gathering. We were surprised at how quickly Dan's body was brought back to our hometown.

Dan recognized all his relatives and friends. His mother was sobbing uncontrollably. All of us gathered around Dan to show our support. His coffin was placed almost perpendicular to the rows of chairs where the Buddhist monks were seated. The people in front of the monks were seated on the carpet laid on the concrete surface. All the others were standing behind them listening to what the monks were chanting. Dan's immediate relatives took part in the formal Buddhist ritual. A little later the Buddhist monks left the scene. Dan's body was then carried by relatives and friends to the crematorium about 50 feet away. The coffin was taken around the crematorium three times before it was placed on the special platform. A person who looked like the crematorium operator took over the coffin from there. By pressing a button, he made Dan's coffin move into the incinerator. Dan's uncle ignited the burning system by pressing a button. We saw the smoke coming out of the chimney. Dan was silent. We patted Dan to show our solidarity.

One by one the members of the gathering at the funeral, left. Dan's eyes were on his mother. She was helped by his uncle on her way back to the parking lot. The smoke from the chimney was thinning out to the atmosphere.

"My body must have turned into ashes by now," Dan said breaking the silence and detaching us from our intense concentration on the long line of events we were watching.

"That's life. It's strange that we see our own funerals," I said.

"Are you OK?" Aini asked Dan.

"Yes, thank you." Dan said.

Suddenly the smoke coming from the chimney stopped. At the same time the flexi-bubble started moving up and then towards the north. It stopped over Chris's house. I could see my apartment from that spot. It was almost dark. We didn't have a clue what time it was. Just as on the previous night we had sufficient light. The moon was fuller than on the previous night. We knew it was going to be another long night for us, if the flexi-bubble's schedule was going to show the funerals of Chris's and mine on the next day. My psychic reading on the flexi-bubble's schedule was based on experience we had so far. However, who knows what tomorrow will bring forth?

At times I wondered whether the flexi-bubble was remotely operated by another unforeseen person or mystic force. "If there is such a possibility, who could be that person or the power?" I would definitely venerate that person or power, as our destiny now solely depended on whoever person or power, in charge.

Though physical tiredness wasn't applicable to us, we were mentally bored. When I was about to start a conversation to kill boredom, I saw Aini was trying to ask something from Dan.

"Dan, can you explain some of the rituals that were performed at your funeral?"

"Yes, sure Aini, I can. Mmm! One common practice is people wear white clothes. The Buddhist monks generally give a sermon emphasizing the non-permanent nature of our life. The purpose of it is to console those who are grieving to come to terms with life. At the end you saw my mother offering a gift to the monks. That was to earn good merit for the departed. Buddhists have a tradition of transferring the good merits to the dead sprit to have a good rebirth. People think it would be good to transfer merit in case the deceased is in an unpleasant afterlife situation. I don't buy this idea, but these are the psychotherapeutic treatments that the psyches of the grieving require, more than the deceased. Probably the Buddha promoted these ideas for this reason. Then after seven days they will have alms giving, in other words offer food to the monks. Family members and friends join these events. This will be repeated after three months. Some Buddhists make it an annual event. All these are for the same reason of transferring good merits to the deceased," Dan said.

"Wasn't the gift given to the monks a white cloth?" I asked.

"You are right. The rationale behind this is symbolic and the idea is to make sure, if the dead person is born naked in a bad realm, the offering would help him to cover himself. Bit of a fancy idea, but imagine if I was naked here among all of you?" Dan said. We all laughed.

"I saw all your relatives jointly filled a bowl of water from a teapot. What was that, Dan?" Aini asked.

"The water in the teapot represents the collective merits of the partakers of the gathering. The bowl represents the departed one. So, pouring water into the bowl until it overflows is a symbolic gesture of transferring the merit to the departed by the others, as an act of kindness done collectively. There is a philosophical meaning to why the water is poured until the bowl over flow; but I cannot remember what it is," Dan said.

"I know Buddhism is considered more a philosophy than a religion. It looks like you have studied it a lot," Chris commented.

"Yes, to some extent," Dan replied.

"Out of curiosity, what is enlightenment in Buddhism?" Chris asked.

"My view may be different to most Buddhists' thinking. Many Buddhists may not agree with my view but many do," Dan paused.

"What's your view?" Chris asked again.

"In a nutshell the goal of the Buddha's teaching is to eliminate un-happiness. Many Buddhists think this is achieved by ending the journey of the birth and death cycle. Buddhists define this as the Nirvana. Hindus call this as Moksha. Hindus consider life as some sort of energy, which sustains the birth-death-birth endless cycle. When someone achieves Moksha, in other words stops the life cycle, the life energy joins back the mass energy source from which he or she came to existence, similar to a drop of water falling back to the ocean. Hindus call the mass energy source "Brahma"; the "God". Contrary to these lines of beliefs, the cessation of mental unhappiness is what I think the Buddha meant as enlightenment or Nirvana; not the cessation of birth cycle or elimination of physical suffering which is impossible. A birth cycle doesn't make sense if we accept the non-self-concept, which was the core discovery of the Buddha. Though it's difficult, un-happiness can be controlled and eliminated by developing your mind. Meditation is part of the method of developing and tweaking the mind operating processes. We need to understand that all bad thoughts we generate are the source for unhappiness. Nobody else, but we ourselves make us unhappy by generating unhappy thoughts. Having a well-developed thought process that could intentionally eliminate unhappy thoughts is what I think the enlightenment means. If you achieve that state of mind control, you can enjoy the state of happiness or 'enlightenment' while you are living. If one can understand the reality of non-self-concept it becomes the stepping stone for enlightenment as all sufferings are our mind made thought streams happening in the illusionary self which is not a realistic entity but a process that runs on. This is my personal view," Dan said.

"That is a very good philosophical insight. I haven't read or heard that type of explanation before," Chris said.

"That's interesting Dan. You know a lot," Aini said.

"Thanks," Dan said.

"Aini, I'm interested to know some of the rituals performed at Muslim burials," Dan said.

"Some of the primary things I know are washing the body and maintaining cleanliness. We wrap the body with a cloth. There are variations to this part of the ritual including the selection of the fabric, style and color of the cloth. It all depends on one's cultural background. Whatever is selected will be simple and modest; generally white cotton," Aini paused to attend to Sara and continued. "Some even apply perfume on the body. After the body is ready, it'll be taken to the burial grounds. Then the well-wishers are allowed to pass on their respects and condolences. When the Muslim community gathers, they offer collective prayers for the forgiveness of the dead. That's what you saw."

"Aini, I saw at the burial your coffin being lowered to the ground a few times before it was lowered to your grave. Was that a standard custom?"

"I have been to only one Muslim funeral as we don't have many relatives or Muslim friends in my hometown. That was about 10 years ago. When I asked my dad about those rituals, he told me that some customs were influenced by the earliest known religion in Iran known as Zoroastrianism. By the way my parents are from Iran. Zoroastrianism flourished in Iran millennia ago and was gradually displaced by the later religious establishments in the country. Even Buddhism had been practiced in Iran for centuries but suffered the same fate," Aini said.

"What is Zoroastrianism?" Dan asked.

"It was founded by a prophet named Zarathustra. Like the Bible and Quran, they have a holy scripture called Avesta. Avesta spells out all the rules, rituals and observances that need to be followed. The hymns are called Gathas," Aini said.

"I have heard about Zoroastrianism. My brother-in-law once told me that this is the oldest religion in the world going back to 1600 BC, making it older than Abrahamic religions," I said.

"I've read about it as well, but whether it was the oldest religion is speculative and debatable, as the real date of when prophet Zarathustra lived had not been established. Some scholars say it's likely to be 650 BC," Aini said.

"The interesting thing is that prophet Zarathustra was the first to teach about heaven & hell, individual judgment, resurrection of the body and the notion of virgin birth," I said of what I have read.

"What's the name of their God and does this religion still exist?" Dan asked.

"Their God is called Ahura Mazda, meaning 'Wise Lord'. Ahura Mazda is a good God. He created the world and all good things, including people. They consider fire as the original light of God and hence fire holds a special place of esteem in their religion. Like Satan, they have Anghra Mainyu, creator of all evil things," Aini continued. "Yes, the religion still exists and there are over 150,000 Zoroastrians also known as Persian or Parsis; concentrated mainly in Iran and India," Aini said.

"Amazing! It looks like you have read about this religion, a lot," I said.

"Yes, one time I was very interested in our Iran history."

"Do any of you know when the burial practices started in human history?" Dan asked.

"According to archeological findings, burial rituals have started a long time ago and date back to over 200,000 BC. Neanderthals and other Hominids existed at the same time. Neanderthals just placed the dead in simple graves at that time. No markers or household goods placed in their graves like seen in the pyramids. Around 98,000BC in the areas of France and Belgium archeologists have discovered a ritual of de-fleshing the dead before burial," I said.

"It is interesting. When did the Neanderthals become extinct from earth?" Aini asked.

"The archeologists couldn't find Neanderthal burials after around 25,000 BC. This coincides with the modern man, the Homo sapiens migrating to Europe. It looks like we have not been very kind to the Neanderthals, just like how Chris treats me sometimes. We are responsible for causing their disappearance from the earth," I said. "Who knows? You guys might meet the Neanderthals in heaven. Chris, if you meet them, please be kind to them."

"I'll try to remember that," Chris said.

"What were the burial rituals of the early Homo sapiens?" Dan asked.

"The early Homo sapiens had a habit of coloring the body with red ochre. That's a very red color mud found in many parts of the world, including in Eastern Europe. Also, that was the time they started decorating the dead bodies with ornamental objects as a burial custom," I said.

"I read about the ruins of the oldest civilization that were found recently in a place called Gobekli Tepe dating back to 9000 BC. Did they find any burial details?" Chris asked.

"I've read about Gobekli Tepe also, but I can't remember reading anything about burial finds. However, archeologists believe it as the oldest human-made place of worship yet discovered," I said.

"Your half brain still has stuff, Tony. Very good! What else do you know about burial customs?" Chris was back into his fun making mood, but I knew he was giving me some respect this time.

"I know when Egyptians mummified the bodies around 2500 BC, they carefully removed all the organs and preserved those for the next life. But they scooped out the brain by using sharp tools through the nostrils and discarded it. The brain didn't get any importance in the body since they thought the purpose of the brain was to cool down the blood, like a radiator in a car," I said.

"Tony, don't you think you're a good example to prove that Egyptian's assumption on the brain was correct?" This was Chris's second comment on me but it was sarcastic fun.

"Ha, ha! You genius! Can you tell me whether God created a Neanderthal or Homo sapiens? In other words, were Adam and Eve, Neanderthals or Homo sapiens?" I asked thinking he wouldn't have an answer.

"I would say Adam was a man with a brain," Chris said.

Chris was very clever to give that answer with a hidden trace of cynicism on me.

"I don't like to argue on that Chris. However, do you think someone can become or expect to behave like an adult without a childhood? That was really the case of Adam; a man without a childhood," I said.

"Whatever you think is right, is right, Tony," Chris dodged the question cleverly.

"What's good about having a religion is, it creates a social structure that people love to have. The structure brings a lot of interaction with each other and enhances social integration. In my view, the belief aspect is secondary as the intention of all religions is to bring 'good' and 'unity' to mankind," Chris said.

"Chris is right," Aini supported Chris's view.

"I totally agree with you Chris," Dan said.

"True" I said.

~~~

The dawn of the next day came up sooner than we expected. The birds were chirping and the roads were getting busy just like the previous morning. I was very sad to see the vacant swing in front of Chris's house Sara used just before the trip, and she would never be on that again. Sara probably couldn't identify that it was their house as the aerial views were too complex for her mind.

The flexi-bubble started moving. It was an immediate indication that something exciting was going to happen. From the place it finally stopped at, we saw a funeral procession coming out. I have been to this funeral parlor a few times before. It was one of the Bush Funeral Service buildings in the area about 6 miles from my apartment. About 15 vehicles were following the hearse. My sister's car was just behind the hearse. That told me what was in the hearse. A very important guy to me! I realized it was leading to the same crematorium where Dan's cremation took place. The flexi-bubble moved again and stopped at the exact place where it stopped for Dan's funeral as it was the designated parking place for flexi-bubbles.

The coffin was carried straight to the crematorium operator. It was kept on the pad that takes the coffins to the incinerator. The operator waited until all the people gathered there. My great college friend and "Guru" Joe was standing next to my coffin. We have been keeping in touch regularly. However, I had not spoken to him in over two months. Joe is a professor at Harvard and had two PhDs. One was in Philosophy and the other in Mythology. He's a close follower of Professor Joseph Campbell. He was responsible for making me to think rationally on religious beliefs, paranormal and superstitious ideas. He helped me to understand and re-evaluate all dogmatic concepts and ideas through a gradual self-realization process. I'm really indebted to him for taking me through that process. Though we both didn't believe in afterlife we had a pact. That pact was to communicate with the other if we ever experience anything after death. So, it was my turn and duty to somehow communicate with him to indicate there is an afterlife. He would be the happiest person to know about it from me as his best friend. How can I do that? It was my responsibility to tell him. I told this loudly to all my friends in the flexi-bubble. All of us knew Joe because of my friendship. Dan suggested trying something like telepathy. I kept concentrating on his brain to see whether he could receive any signals from me, that way. I was trying my best to keep my concentration on his brain, sending a stream of brain waves requesting him to look up as an indication of receiving my message. It would have been better if I was closer as the frequencies of our brainwaves are poor in transmitting distances. I tried it over 15 minutes, but he wasn't moving. I was sure others in the flexi-bubble were doing the same on my request. For the very first time I had a bad feeling to judge him as a dud. He was more rigid than my dead body, I thought. I wasn't sure whether he was stunned because of my signals or whether he had forgotten about our pact all together. His posture was the same, even after I gave up all my attempts.

A few of my friends, colleagues and relatives touched the coffin to convey their last salute to my body. Joe was the last to move out after the operator pressed the button to get my coffin into the incinerator. The first smoke emitted from the chimney was thick black. I was sure it wasn't from my body, as it takes a few minutes to burn through the coffin. I wasn't sad nor had I any emotions. I felt sorry to see Joe, my sister and others, probably for the last time. Chris, Dan and Aini stood close to me when all that was taking place.

"Tony, you didn't want to have any religious ritual, right?" Aini asked.

"When I came to this world, I didn't have a religion, like the very first man on earth. I wanted to exit that way. You know me, right!" I said.

"You had the funeral the way you wanted," Chris said.

"Oh! Yes. I'm very happy about it," I said.

"What did you want to do with your ashes?" Chris asked.

"Just discarded. But I know some people make diamonds from ashes," I said.

"Diamonds!" Aini was surprised.

"I'm not joking. Do you know there are companies who do that?"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, as bones and diamonds are made of carbon, they can do this. Though it's an expensive process, the diamonds made of your loved one's ashes can be worn all the time. I hear those companies keep part of the ash to make extra ones if you lose the original," I said.

"Unbelievable!" Aini said.

"There are companies who make concrete spheres by mixing ash remains with corals. If the deceased was an ocean-lover they place these spheres in private beaches for a fee. Their friends' spheres can also join the same beach if they wish to sign up with these companies. Also, there are companies who undertake spreading the ash into deep space through space rockets. So, their families can look up into the sky and say their loved ones are up there," I said.

"Is that true?" Aini asked.

"Yes!"

A few hours passed. I loudly predicted that the flexi-bubble would take us to Chris's funeral next. Everybody was expecting it. It could happen at any time. Perhaps, Lily may have a funeral too after Chris's. We weren't sure whether that would happen as we didn't see Lily's dead body.

"Dan, what happened to Lily's body?" I asked.

"That's a big puzzle to me. Did any of you see Lily's body at the site of the accident?" Dan asked.

"None of us saw Lily's body. I think Lily would have been thrown out of the SUV first, since she wasn't trapped by a seat belt," I said.

Lily looked at us a few times as she heard her name.

We started chit chatting to kill time. Suddenly, a large flock of Canadian geese flew past us. We thought they would hit us as they were coming directly towards us. Sara shouted with excitement to get our attention.

"Unbelievable! Did you realize the birds flew around the flex-bubble without hitting it?" Dan said.

"They saw us?" I said.

"Is it possible?" Aini asked.

"I always thought the flexi-bubble had special properties. Just like my earlier explanation I have something to say on what you saw just now," Chris said.

"What is it?" Dan asked.

"You know in jungles there are huge spider webs, which are meant to catch insects. Spiders take a few days to weave these large webs. The problem for them is, if birds flies across the web, they have to weave the web again." Before Chris explained it fully Dan asked, "So, what is the connection?"

"The connection is the thread the spider makes has a special chemical that can reflect ultra violet rays. Birds can see UV rays. So, birds flying towards the webs visualize the web as big barrier and avoid those. Maybe the flexi-bubble has some properties like that the birds can see," Chris said.

"Chris, I haven't heard that before. That is a very interesting fact. You are teaching us things even after your death. Thanks!" I said.

"You're welcome," Chris said. "Some glass companies in Germany use this principle and add a special chemical to the glass to prevent migratory birds hitting the glass in tall buildings."

"There must be so many things in nature we're unaware of," Dan said.

~~~

By judging the position of the sun, we knew it was evening. Unexpectedly the flexi-bubble started moving again. We all shrieked with excitement. This time it wasn't moving horizontally but it was rotating 360-degree circles in the same place. It made three rotations very slowly giving us a panoramic view of our hometown. Then it started moving to the east. My guess on its new destination was confirmed, after I saw a cemetery with hundreds of crosses standing erect. It was a beautiful cemetery. We knew the intention of the flexi-bubble was to show us Chris's funeral. Chris was very excited, but still and silent. We gathered around him.

We saw the huge crowd as we approached the burial spot. The coffin was already there surrounded by an orderly crowd. All were seated in the rows of chairs that were pre-arranged. "We should have come here a little earlier," I said, making a complaint about the flexi-bubble's lethargy. Chris's parents, sisters, nieces, nephew, Aini's parents and the priest were the closest to the coffin. They were in the front row. Chris started telling us who they were, one by one. I remembered some of them at Chris's wedding. The priest was a family friend. Chris's father had probably chosen him for the funeral service. There were a lot of his friends and office colleagues. We saw the picture of Aini and Sara placed on top of the coffin. The coffin looked grand, probably made out of oak or pine. I presumed Sara knew what was going on, though she never stopped her questioning.

The priest started the funeral service. He opened with, "We brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." He kept on reading bible verses and hymns were sung intermittently. The crowd joined in voicing some of the readings.

The eulogy was given by Chris' sister. That was followed by Chris' eight-year-old nephew reading aloud some memories he had of good times with his uncle Chris. There was humor initially in his speech but it had a sad ending.

After the commendation prayers were over it was time for the burial. We saw the coffin descending into the grave very slowly. The grave was gradually filled up with soil. The crowd started moving out. Many people spoke to Chris's parents and his close relatives before leaving. Some went back to sign the guest book. Chris was gazing at the thinning crowd. Aini kept on consoling him.

"Hey! Chris, are you OK?" I asked.

"I will be. Thanks," Chris said.

The sun was still shining from the western hemisphere when the flexi-bubble started moving again. It was moving west. We had to say goodbye to our hometown when it gathered speed. Within seconds we realized it was following the route we took on the fatal day of the accident. It stopped at the exact place where we had the accident. There were still parts of the SUV but the main chassis wasn't to be seen. The brake mark of the trailer on the road was still visible. Lily started barking continuously. Dan managed to stop her with some effort. Down below there was a recently disturbed patch of soil and Dan pointed that out to us. There were some dead flowers on top of this soil hump. We guessed it was Lily's grave. Probably the rescue crew buried her. Dan was happy to see that Lily's mystery was solved.

The flexi-bubble started moving again. This time it was Dan who said we were going towards the Monument Valley. He was right. We reached the place pretty quickly. We were very happy to see the scenic view with the sunset. Dan enjoyed it very much though he lost his dream of taking the pictures he wanted. The flexi-bubble was very kind to slow down and take us from place to place until the sun gradually sank into the western horizon. The sky was still breathtakingly beautiful with red, orange and gray colors.

It was dark when the flexi-bubble started speeding up again. It was moving south. Chris immediately said that we might see Las Vegas if it continues moving in the same direction, as he had an inbuilt GPS. Chris was right. Within a few minutes we saw the spectacular display of lights of sin city. The flexi-bubble hovered over the Las Vegas strip giving us an extravagant hawk's eye view. The excitement on Sara's face showed how much she enjoyed it. The water fountains that danced to blasting music in front of the Bellagio were fantastic to watch. We hovered along the strip from north to south a few times covering the action-packed streets. I wouldn't mind staying there for the rest of my dead life, I thought.

After about an hour the flexi-bubble started moving again. It took us to the back of a hotel where we saw a few parked trucks. A little later I realized it was the back of a restaurant. We saw six people tossing out loads of food into the trucks. The variety of food items they threw out was unimaginable. We saw three trucks leaving with food filled up to the crest. Then, the flexi-bubble took us to another restaurant where the same operation was taking place.

"Chris, it looks like the flexi-bubble is trying to show us the food wastage in Vegas," I said.

"It's definitely trying to teach us something. I can't understand why? I've read Las Vegas sends over 9,000 tons of trash to landfills every day, and the bulk of it is food trash," Chris said.

"That's a lot," Aini said.

"I've read that industrialized countries waste over two hundred million tons of food annually. That's a hell of a lot, too," Chris said. "I also know every year 15 million children die of hunger. Why can't there be something divert this to needy?"

Anyway, it was too late for us to know about any of these things unless we get another chance to live life. The food waste at colossal levels deserves another look by someone for the sake of humanity.

After the half hour teaching lesson to us by the flexi-bubble, it went up and started moving towards the southeast. It didn't take much time for us to realize it was taking us to a distant place. When it finally stopped, we knew it was over an African country. It was very evident by looking at the children and people.

The bare land stretched for acres. The very little green vegetation seen here and there, made us realize the barren nature of the landscape. Probably there had been no rains for several months. The few corn bushes that we saw had only dried leaves and no cobs. The tiny huts we saw were actual human dwellings. The people including children were weak and definitely malnourished. They didn't have electricity or any other basic utilities. Not even basic sanitary facilities. The clothes the adults wore barely covered their bodies. Most of the children were naked and were covered in dust. The squinted eyes of adults and children had a plea for help.

The way Sara was asking questions from Aini, I knew she was surprised and shocked to see children of her age in appalling conditions. We found it emotionally difficult to keep looking at all those horrendous conditions of people. A few times I purposely looked elsewhere. I felt guilty of having those thoughts and realized my death has not changed me to a kinder person. I wanted the flexi-bubble to move away.

"The life expectancy of these people must be very low. It's a pity that these people die from hunger when places like Las Vegas toss out truckloads of food daily," Chris said that with a deep pain and inner feeling.

What we observed during the last few hours showed us the appalling side of human life on earth that we had never ever imagined. We couldn't believe the extreme difference between these two conditions. In one place of the world it was luxury and waste in gigantic proportions and in the other place it was poverty and starvation to an unimaginable level. Why couldn't these situations balance each other? What have these poor children done to undergo such a miserable life while people in another part of the world enjoy luxury and an abundance of food? Is this nature, super power, Karma or what? I wondered. I wouldn't know what to do even if I get another chance to go back to the physical world. All of us chattered about the inequality and wondered why we were subjected to exposure of these two extremes by the flexi-bubble. Is it something to do with heaven and hell we discussed? Can the flexi-bubble understand all what we talk? It's still a big puzzle.

"What will happen to us next?" Chris asked his familiar question after a few minutes of silence.

The flexi-bubble appeared to have responded to Chris, as it started moving again. First it went up and then started speeding up towards the east.

"I'd like it if it stops at a nice place this time," Aini said as if she was getting ready for a guided tour.

"So, would I," said Dan.

"I'd like to see the pyramids and coliseums," I said loudly and wanted the flexi-bubble to consider my request.

The way it was moving, I realized it was not going to stop. The altitude was becoming higher and higher with its increasing speed. After about forty minutes we saw the entire earth behind us. From that higher elevation, the views we saw were just similar to the pictures of earth seen from the space shuttle. After a few more minutes we knew we were thousands of miles away from the earth.

"Pretty soon we will be closer to the moon," Chris said.

"It looks like we are moving far away from the moon," Dan said.

"Dan, you are right. Look at the size of the moon. It's the size of a tennis ball," Chris said.

The location of the moon at that time was on the far side of the earth. The size of the earth was about the size of the moon as we see from earth. Though we didn't know the intention of the flexi-bubble, I had a feeling that it wouldn't come back to earth again.

"Then, where are we heading to? Maybe it taking us to another planet in the solar system or to heaven as people believe," I wondered seriously. Sara kept both Aini and Chris busy with her new stream of questions. Aini kept Sara close to her. The little bit of comfort we had when the flexi-bubble was hovering over the earth was gone now. Our destination was unknown. The situation could worsen at any moment.

"If we get separated at any time, it would be sad," I said aloud.

"Do you guys have any idea where we are heading to?" I asked as I couldn't keep quiet.

"We're definitely going away from the earth. And as I said earlier, I think we are heading to heaven," Aini said. She had a definite confidence in her voice in stating that.

Though I joke most times, anxiety overtook me.

"Why do you think we are heading to heaven?" I asked.

"That's common knowledge. Believe me," Aini said.

"What do you think, Chris, Dan?" I asked

"Aini must be right," Chris said.

"Well, it is very possible," Dan said at the same time.

I wasn't sure of that as I still had a lot of doubts about the concept of heaven. But at that moment I decided to leave aside my philosophical ideas and go along with their idea, as I felt enormously happy in embracing the idea of heaven.

At that very moment something strange happened. The flexi-bubble disintegrated. It didn't burst, but it shot us out from it at a lightning speed.

Oh my God! We weren't in a flexi-bubble anymore. But all of us were moving together in the same direction at tremendous speed. Aini and Chris were at the front leading the line with Sara. Behind them was Dan with Lily. I was the last in the group.

"The flexi-bubble is gone. Can you guys breathe?" I asked.

"Remember we are dead, Tony," Chris reminded me. This time he was serious.

I looked back at the earth and I couldn't believe the size of it. It was about the size of a tennis ball and the moon was like a golf ball. The earth was still shining like a blue gem in the pitch-dark background. I had a proud feeling of the place I was coming from. I immediately asked others to look back. All were surprised and admired the beauty of our mother earth.

"Where are we going?" It was Sara who asked Chris's question this time. Chris looked at Aini.

"We're going to heaven, darling," was Aini's answer. Sara was thrilled hearing that, without understanding that this could be our last journey.

Dan was silent and he had Lily close by.

The feelings I had was very similar to the feeling I have had in astral flights in dreams at childhood. As the speed gathered, I realized the gap between each of us was gradually increasing. The distance among us widened with time. We couldn't talk to each other anymore. "Are we really heading to heaven?" I thought, and this thought kept repeating in my mind.

Suddenly, there was a huge bluish glow in front of us. It was getting brighter and gave us a welcoming feeling.

What hit my mind was Paul Simon's song named "Afterlife". This was one of my favorite songs that I listen in my SUV all the time. The lyrics of "Afterlife" read in my head.

After I died, and the makeup had dried, I went back to my place.  
No moon that night, but a heavenly light shone on my face.  
Still I thought it was odd, there was no sign of God just to usher me in.  
Then a voice from above, sugar coated with Love, said, "Let us begin".

You got to fill out a form first, and then you wait in the line.  
You got to fill out a form first, and then you wait in the line.

OK, a new kid in school, got to follow the rule, you got to learn the routine.  
Woah, there's a girl over there, with the sunshiny hair, like a homecomin' queen.  
I said, "Hey, what you say? It's a glorious day, by the way how long you been dead?"  
Maybe you, maybe me, maybe baby makes three, but she just shook her head...

You got to fill out a form first, and then you wait in the line.  
You got to fill out a form first, and then you wait in the line.

Buddha and Moses and all the noses from narrow to flat,  
Had to stand in the line, just to glimpse the divine, what you think about that?  
Well it seems like our fate to suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek.  
It's all his design, no one cuts in the line, no one here likes a sneak

You got to fill out a form first, and then you wait in the line.  
You got to fill out a form first, and then you wait in the line.

After you climb, up the ladder of time, the Lord God is near.  
Face to face, in the vastness of space, your words disappear.  
And you feel like swimming in an ocean of love, and the current is strong.  
But all that remains when you try to explain is a fragment of song...

Lord is it, Be Bop A Lu La or Ooh Poppa Do  
Lord, Be Bop A Lu La or Ooh Poppa Do  
Be Bop A Lu La

The beauty of the glow couldn't be explained by words. It was a clear indication that we were close to heaven as stated in the song. Within seconds the heavenly glow was all around us just as we were traveling through colored clouds. We could see each other very well.

Though Aini was far from me she looked back and indicated to me with a hand gesture that she was correct in her prediction of going to heaven. I acknowledge her gesture with a full smile. She was happier than ever. Faces of Dan and Chris were glowing with happiness. I was very happy too. What more can we expect than this! The ultimate place of pleasure, after all. We were still moving through the glow but now at a slower speed just like an aircraft coming into land.

Have we got to fill out a form and stand in line, as it says in the song? I was thinking. It seemed not. It seems to be a more advanced place than that. No paper forms. I saw holographic consoles in front of each of us. A huge screen console reserved per person. Sara and Lily didn't have the screens. The screens weren't rectangular but had odd shapes with flat displays. With the little knowledge of computers, I thought the screen resolutions were better than 1080p. I couldn't read what appeared on other's screens as those were far away from me. When letters started appearing on my screen, I gave it my full attention.

The heading was, "Your history" in large fonts. It had my name, the date of birth and the family details at the top. Then it started jotting down all my past activities from childhood; one by one as it knew my whole history. At that moment I had a perfect memory capable of verifying all the events that appeared on the screen. All facts, the good and the bad, were dead accurate and I didn't have any doubt about any of them. The line items kept moving up like the text in a movie screen giving me sufficient time to read. If I looked elsewhere the screen stopped until I brought back my attention. I was surprised when it flashed the incident of me hiding our math teacher's eye glasses when he left to the restroom. That was when I was 14 and it was because my friend's incitement. I don't know whether that will have a negative impact on my entry scores to heaven. Hope not! I was already punished for it by the school principal with after-school detention. Taking ten dollars from my sister's purse without her knowledge came up as well. That was when I was 16. But later on, she knew it was me and I got scolded amply. The punishment was received, so I should be excused. I decided not to write in this essay some of the naughty ones that appeared. After a full run up of all my past good and bad deeds up to the time of my death, the holographic screen swiftly disappeared.

I thought my overall report was pretty good, if that was the form I was supposed to fill according to the song. But I am not the judge. I didn't have any clue of the entry requirements either. Moreover, I didn't know whether this is Aini's heaven or Chris's heaven or one of the thousands of heavens Dan explained. Intermittently I had a feeling of getting rejected from entry. If that happens what would happen to me? I am not yet 40. So, as Aini said I still have a chance to get judged as a "non-mature person". I was thinking harder and harder.

We came to a complete stop in the weightless environment. A great sensation ran through my body for the first time after I became a soul. "Am I gradually getting re-constructed with flesh and blood?" I wondered.

I saw a door opening about 100 ft in front of us. It wasn't a conventional door but a curved opening. As it was opened at an angle, I couldn't see what was inside. The glow inside was light orange and exceptionally soothing to the eye. I saw Aini, Chris and Sara automatically getting sucked into the entrance. Sara was the first to enter. I saw a beautiful halo appearing over Sara's head just before she was taken in. The suction action moved all of us towards the entrance, still maintaining the distance between us. Just before Aini and Chris went in, both waved at Dan and me. They were very happy. I didn't see them after. After about three minutes Dan was taken in, leaving Lily at the entrance. Dan waved at me before entry. Lily started barking nonstop. For a moment I though Lily will not have a chance to enter heaven. I was wrong. A minute later Lily was taken in as well.

It was my turn next. Every minute seemed like an hour to me. I wasn't sure whether I'd be taken in or not. I was about 30 feet from the entrance but still couldn't see anything inside. When I was about 10 ft away from the entrance the orange glow suddenly turned to pale red. With the new transparency the red color created, I saw a bell hanging at the entry way. Unexpectedly, the bell started ringing. The sound was not pleasant; it was like a fire siren. It was so loud that I found it almost unbearable.

My hand automatically reacted to stop the irritating noise. When I got up I realized it was my alarm that was blaring. I looked around to see where I was. It took me some time to come to my senses and realize it was a dream. What a dream that was! I spent over fifteen minutes still in bed thinking of all the events that took place. It was fascinating and scary. In the midst of all that, I was proud of the fact that my beliefs were still intact. That's the nature of our psyche, I thought.

What caused me to have such a dream? I was thinking of what I might have done differently before I went to bed. May be the Sri Lankan beer, the four bottles I drank.

I looked at the time and it was 8.00 am. I knew I had to go to work for the meeting at 10. After having a shower, I got dressed up and took my bags to the SUV. On the way to work I picked up my coffee at Starbucks. I turned on my CD. It started playing the song "After I died, and the makeup had dried, I...," automatically. I turned it off immediately.

Just after I got out from my SUV, my phone rang. It was Dan.

"Hi! Dan, what's up?"

"Tony, do you think you can get out of the meeting a little early?" Dan asked.

I said, "I will try. I will let you know, Dan," and I hung up.

I was thinking whether I'm going back to the future, I had already experienced. The feelings I had, can't be explained; it was scary, awful, and weird with plenty of thrilling elements.

Am I heading for disaster? Should I cancel the trip? However much I tried to convince myself not to be superstitious, the inner voice in me was dragging me into that direction.

What do you think? Should I tell my friends about the dream? It is tough. Can you tell me what I should do? I need your help on this conundrum.

~~~~~~~

"Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely"

The Phone Rang in the Middle of My Shower  
By: Shelton Ranasinghe

This is work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 9780989276337  
Copyright © 2011, by Shelton Ranasinghe  
2665 Devon Hill Road, Rocky River, Ohio 44116, USA  
sr2665@gmail.com  
Smashwords Edition  
Published in United States of America.  
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the author.

Discover the other titles written by Shelton Ranasinghe at smashwords.com

Our Extraterrestrial Neighbors  
Buddha Impetus to Primitive Psyche  
Self – A Delusion?  
Are We Being Fooled By Our Brains?  
DoooD  
Thinking Explored  
Our Psyche and Beliefs

Books Written by Shelton Ranasinghe

SELF – A DELUSION?

ARE WE BEING FOOLED BY OUR BRAINS?

BUDDHA IMPETUS TO PRIMITIVE PSYCHE

DOOOD

OUR EXTRATERRESTRIAL NEIGHBORS

THINKING EXPLORED

OUR PSYCHE AND BELIEFS

