Purgatory
I yawned heavily as the birds chirped from outside. The gold early morning sun beamed through the gaps between the blinds. I scratched my head and climbed out of bed half awake. I dressed myself and walked to the stairway. I could hear my mum humming as she was making breakfast. I greeted her with a smile as I entered the kitchen.
“Off to school with you!” She smiled as she handed me a piece of toast. I groaned and grabbed my bag and rushed out the door. Cameron was waiting outside for me as cheery as ever, he’s probably the only person who enjoys mornings. We didn’t really talk much as we walked. It was just one of those bright mornings when you know summer is close; I couldn’t wait to get out of school. It is such a bore.
“What’s wrong with ya Dan?” he asked cheerfully. I shook his question away and just smiled in reply, there wasn’t anything wrong really, it was more of a feeling that something was going to happen. I took a step forward and the last thing I heard was the screeches of breaks and a car horn blaring, then nothing but light.
I awoke lying down. It was dead silent and the golden summer morning had changed into a gloomy dark space. Everything seemed darker and evil. The sky was purple, the grass was dead. It was almost a mirror of what it was like but opposite. I panicked after realising that Cameron was nowhere to be found. I began to walk in the silence looking for a sign of life. Everything was dead here, even the trees that were blossoming. After walking aimlessly studying this dark scarce world, I found myself at the local church. I pushed the heavy wooden doors open and walked up the aisle of the church. My footsteps would echo lightly throughout church. There were no pews in the church.
A robed person stood facing the pained windows. For a moment I thought I saw wings from the figure.
“Hello?” I asked calmly, for some reason I wasn’t scared of this person. It was a feeling ... no an aura of light from this person which relieved me of this worlds depressing background. The hooded figure didn’t face me directly just turned its head to the side slightly.
“I get many visitors...” the figure spoke slowly. It was a soft woman’s voice, It was almost like a caring mothers.
“But none have ever spoken... Do you know why you are here...?” she asked softly. I shook my head and in reply she turned and smiled. Her eyes were not visible but her lips and cheeks were. Her skin was a grey colour but her lips were an elegant ruby colour.
“I woke up here after...” I paused to think what happened. I don’t remember much only that I had been walking with Cameron. My head began to hurt as I tried to think of what happened while I was walking. She placed her hand on my head lightly and a soothing feeling replaced the pain. My vision blurred into a vision of a teenage boy screaming, a body was on the ground face down and a car swerved to the curb. The face was familiar, it was Cameron! I tried to calm him but my touch just phased through him.
“He cannot see or hear you... this is what is happening in your ‘world’...” the soft voice said. I studied the scene which was being displayed before me. Something kept drawing me to the lifeless body on the ground. An ambulance pulled up quickly and paramedics rushed to the body. They turned it over... The face was familiar... It was mine!
I quickly snapped out of the vision, the woman was standing even closer than before. Questions surged through my head. Where was I, what happened to me!? The woman just smiled and simply said;
“You’re partly dead. This is purgatory.” her smile changed from her calm, warm smile to a serious expression of sadness.
“I’m your guardian angel, Assiel.” She continued. Assiel is the angel of healing and was assigned to be my protector. Every angel watches over a human to guide them. I didn’t really believe it but the idea of it warmed to me. I was about to ask what ‘partly dead’ means but Assiel broke my train of thought by answering.
“Your still clinging for life, you may continue to live a happy life or die on the hospital bed.” She answered calmly, her smile changing back to one of warmth. She sat and said simply.
“Now we wait.”
Hours seemed to pass as we sat there staring out the large church window. I felt pain every once and a while in my chest. As if someone was punching my chest as hard as they could. I tried to ask Assiel what was wrong but my words turned from English to just blurred murmurs. I began to feel drowsy, Assiel turned her head slightly and before blacking out into darkness I could see her warm smile once more. I could hear slight murmurs around me.
My eyes fluttered open slowly to survey where I was... At first I thought I was still in Purgatory but the murmurs defeated that idea quickly. The face of a woman around her twenties wearing red lipstick hovered over my head trying to; speak her voice was silent though. Her voice slowly began to become clear and I could hear what she was saying...
“Dan, you’re in hospital at the moment, you were hit by a car and your body went into shock causing you to have a heart attack.” she said softly. Her voice was warm and comforting. As she walked out of the room she turned her head and smiled.
“Assiel...” I murmured before being claimed by the world of dreams from my worn body.
