I have always wondered what the afterlife would be like. Whenever I asked, my mother would always tell me that it was either heaven or hell, and that for me, she always prayed for it to be heaven.
I am Amelia, and I am twelve years old. My Father always calls me star girl, and whenever I asked him why he did, he would say that I am the brightest little thing he has ever seen. As the only child of my parents, I was doted on and loved unconditionally. There was not a single moment in which I felt deprived of anything except having a playmate.
I remember asking my dad one time, ‘Dad? Why can’t I have a brother like Julie does?’, Julie was my next-door neighbor, and she always played with her brother, Jonas.
‘Well, my dear, it isn’t time yet’, and he proceeded to tickle me.
‘I can’t wait to have a brother’, I said, laughing.
I began to fall ill at the age of six, and I was diagnosed with leukemia and it was aggressive. I have been fighting it for the past six years. Six years of chemotherapy, never going home, and sleeping on the same hospital bed in the same ward. My parents always took shifts to take care of me, except on Saturday nights when they both spent the night. My favorite time with them was when they both read stories to me every night before I went to bed. I really loved the stories about Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.
On this particular Saturday night, I looked at my parents and asked them to hold me while I slept.
‘Star girl, are you alright?’, Dad asked.
‘I am okay, Dad. But I would feel better when you hold me’, I said.
Mom looked at Dad, then at me, with a worried expression on her face. They both agreed, placed themselves on either side of my bed, and held me while I slept.
The moment I slept, I felt peace and drifted off to a place where I found myself standing on a path passing through a forest filled with all things green. It was like I was on a hill, and I could see everything around me. The sky was blue, with many shades of peach and gold thrown in here and there. I couldn’t see the sun or moon. I descended the hill to walk on that path, and as I walked, flowers appeared: the bright yellow dandelions and the red chrysanthemums. I could see lilies and blue roses; so many flowers stretched as far as the eyes could see. The birds chirped. I could hear the tymbals of the cicadas and the croaking of the toads. I skipped through the path, feeling nothing but joy and peace that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I could move freely here. I could breathe. I feel no pain right now.
‘Mom? Dad?’, I called out, wondering where they were. There were many things to see. I couldn’t even tell if it was day or night, but it was bright enough to see. I kept walking along, staring at the beauty of this place. ‘This isn’t Manhattan’, I thought. ‘Or is it?’, I asked myself. I began to hear voices; it sounded like a song, although I couldn’t hear the words audibly. I listened harder and walked along the path for a bit longer until I could hear them clearly. It was a beautiful song, and it said:
“The wonder you now see
Is nothing but a dream.
Follow the path.
The end of the forest, you must see
For there lies your reality.
The reality of your ever-after”
‘This is a dream? This beautiful place? I could stay here for the rest of my life’, I thought. I just need mom and dad, though. I walked on, trying to get to the end of the forest. It seemed like it took forever. I couldn’t tell what time it was in this place.
I walked to a point where I noticed that the flowers had begun to change. They were now black orchids and black roses. I loved flowers too much not to know what they meant. These ones mean Death. ‘Am I dead? Is that why I am here? Am I about to die?’ I panicked. Mum? Dad? Where are you? I couldn’t find them, and, in my confusion, I sank to my knees and cried. ‘Mum? Dad?’, I cried out aloud. No one came. The song started again: “...the end of the forest, you must see...”. ‘I should get to the end of the forest’, I thought. Suddenly, I was filled with courage and started to run. There were no bright and colorful flowers here anymore.
I arrived at a clearing, and in front of me, there is a waterfall draining into a bright blue pool. The sky here was midnight blue, although it was as bright as day. I couldn’t see any stars, but there was the moon, full and bright in all its glory. There was no one here, no living thing. I moved towards the edge of the water to scoop some over my face, and that is when I saw the doorways. There were three round-shaped doorways beneath the waterfall, all painted golden. Each one had a door knob painted in various colors—red, blue, and yellow—starting from left to right. I stared at them in wonder until I heard the voices singing again, this time with different words. It said:
“Your reality is something you must choose.
The three doorways you see
That is the truth of your ever-after.
One takes you back.
One takes you forward.
One takes you nowhere.
And in that one, you remain lost.
So choose with your own hands.
The reality of your ever-after”
I am scared. There is no one to guide me except for the song. I groaned in frustration. ‘I do not have to choose any door, right? This place is beautiful. I could stay here’, I convinced myself.
‘What about mom and dad?’ I thought again. ‘I have to choose’. I stared at the doors for what seemed like eternity. I thought long and hard about which door to open. 'Yellow', I thought. I love the color yellow, so I picked the golden door with a yellow door knob.
I opened the door, and I was hit by a flash of white light, blinding and bright. ‘Mum! Dad!’, I screamed.
‘She’s awake!’, a strange voice said.
‘Star girl? Amelia? Oh dear! You are alive!’, someone said as I felt arms wrap around me.
I opened my eyes slowly and saw my parents looking at me with worry and relief. ‘What happened?’ I asked slowly.
'You weren’t breathing, Amelia. Your heart just stopped beating. The doctors have done their best to try to bring you back'. My mom told me. 'We thought we had lost you’. My parents were both teary-eyed.
‘I am okay’, I said. They hugged me as tight as they had ever hugged me, and all I could do was wonder what had happened while I slept. It felt ethereal—that beautiful place with the doorways. I remembered choosing the door with the yellow knob. The song said that one would take me back. It seems I chose the door that would bring me back to life. I was grateful and thanked the stars for my luck.
I have always wondered about the afterlife. It seems that I just caught a glimpse of it.