"Eeeh? I'm still conscious?.." surprised, Eli wandered around a dimension that looked exactly like how everyone would imagine the heavens of the afterlife.
"So the afterlife is real!!!" Eli felt nervous.
The country she belonged to followed the teachings of the holy scripture, so she knew that there are only two pathways from this point onward - heaven or hell.
Although Eli was not a religious person, the school she attended was a sectarian high school and part of the required subjects she took was theology.
According to the lessons, after death, there is judgement. Every person must go through this and will be judged according to how they have lived their life.
"I was never bad, but I was not good either," Eli sadly thought. There is no way she will make it to the cut in heaven!
With a sigh, her consciousness slowly began to wander in the heavenly dimension. "Well it is what it is, I just pray that the Creator will have mercy on me.."
As her soul wandered, she noticed that her soul was drawn in a certain direction. She followed the pathway until she was led into an enormous hall.
Well.. the hall had no ceiling because heaven was its limit. Literally!
At the centre of the hall was a giant desk. It was shining like a white gold. On top of it laid two giant golden books on each end of the desk.
Sitting behind the desk was a figure clothed in white.
However, Eli couldn't clearly see what his face looks like. The only thing she could see was that, the face was so gloriously bright in pure golden light. Tiny bits of glittering particles dance as it surrounds the figure's countenance.
The sight felt so holy and majestic. Eli was in awe!
Then she felt her spirit slowly drift in front of the figure and as she drew near, she heard the figure talking to someone in the gentlest and most comforting voice she had ever heard. "Child, you have suffered.."
When Eli heard the voice, it felt like she wanted to run and sit at the figure's feet and stay there forever. Her soul felt like she finally found home.
Just as Eli's soul continued to go near the desk, a weeping voice of a woman answered the figure. It was just then that she noticed that there was a white orb hovering in front of the desk.
The orb was as pure as white, however, it looked like it was sliced by something so malevolent that an eerie red miasma kept gushing out of its wound.
"Oh Great One, have mercy on my child! May you permit my little one a chance to live," a voice came out from the orb.
Witnessing the bizarre scene, Eli deduced that the orb was a soul. Soon, she wondered if she looked exactly the same as the orb right now.
"..." The Great One stood up and examined the soul, he circled around it.
Then he noticed Eli's presence and inspected her soul as well. Though she couldn't see his expression, she could feel that he was staring at their souls intently, not missing any part of it.
Silently, he went back to the desk, his hand hovered around the gigantic golden book at the left side.
"Shualalalalaala!" Without touching, the book flipped itself open and turned on its own, stopping at a certain page. Then he read through the page and walked to the other side of the desk where the other book rested, and the same thing happened.
"Indeed, the entry on your names shouldn't have ended yet," Strangely, he addressed these words to the two souls present.
"One of you had her soul wounded, while pregnant with a child. Surprisingly, you have prematurely came back to this realm," The Great One continued.
"This means that both of you dearest child with your little one shouldn't have died yet," he spoke as his hands, as white as snow, gestured at the wounded woman's soul.
"You, on the other hand, died in place of another soul who was destined to die! Your life shouldn't have ended here as well.." the figure stepped near Eli's soul.
Shocked, Eli remembered a person, her chief!! Goodness! She died in place of her chief! She wasn't supposed to die!!
This was the first time Eli felt so aggrieved that she felt resentment to what had happened to her! In her anger, she wanted to utter curses!
"Child, do not defile your state right now with your emotions. For you are no longer on earth," knowing her emotions, the Great One gently reprimanded Eli.
Embarrassed when realised that she was in front of the Great One who will judge her life, she apologised.
"I'm sorry, please don't send me to hell~~~" she pleaded.
"Don't worry my children, you are already home, the evil can never intervene with your spirit once you enter paradise," a gentle wind 'patted' Eli's soul orb.
"I'm going to heaven??!!! Did I qualify?!" both shocked in disbelief and delight, Eli exclaimed.
"Indeed, for it is not fair to judge your lives that were forcibly shortened," the Great One replied, a hint of sadness can be felt in his gentlest voice.
"For the evil one used abominable tactics to disrupt the lives given to you. You, oh poor spirits have no chance to fulfil your destinies, much less a chance to right your wrongs. Thus, to judge you right now is against my very own nature."
"I see.. Indeed, who knows if I would turn out to be a good person qualified to enter heaven if I continued living? Or perhaps I would have lived a life worse than what I have lived before.." Eli contemplated, thinking that the arrangement was fair and acceptable on her part.
"Oh Great One, how about my little one? I couldn't let myself in to paradise while knowing that my little one's soul is out there wandering aimlessly," the woman pleaded.
"Huh? Shouldn't it make sense that if you and your child both died, your little one's spirit will also be here with you bound to paradise?" Eli curiously asked as she heard the unfortunate situation of the mother and child.
"There were two effects of the malevolent wound in your soul, pitiful child. One is, it injured your soul which forcibly terminated your destiny and severed the link between your body and of course, your little one.
"It was because of it that the second effect took place. An infant with no soul could not be able to go home here in this realm. Little one has no soul yet as it did not take a single breath in the world, thus, his humanity was not yet perfected. The soul is one who directs the spirit to go in this realm. Without it, the spirit will drift aimlessly into your physical body, then miasma will take it to consume. Eventually it will become a wraith," the Great One explained in full sadness.
"How unfortunate!!!" the nosy Eli exclaimed. Poor mother and child. How malevolent is the enemy to separate them for eternity!
"Oh Great One, is there anything we can do to call the little one's spirit back? Perhaps send an angel to fetch it? Or send it to another womb to reincarnate??? Wait.. is it even allowed??!" Eli pleaded, feeling pity with the mother and child, she kept on throwing random ideas in front of her very own Maker.
As a person who didn't experience the joy of being in love, marrying and giving birth to a child, Eli felt great sympathy and sadness towards the poor mother and child.
"My rule is that a spirit must breathe life once in the only body it has in the world. Remember, when I made man out of mud, I, myself gave my own breath once and only once. Thus, man is destined to live once in only one body in this world." The Great One patiently explained.
There is no irritation in his voice. He explained it in a loving and patient manner, as a father patiently explaining to his innocent daughter the mysteries of life.
"But you allowed resurrection! You've made exceptions! It was recorded in the scriptures left behind for mankind!" Eli whined as she tried to remember the contents of the holy scriptures while trying to persuade the very subject of the holy scripture.
"Well.. I did, but do you know the reason for Me creating those exceptions?" still patient as a good father, the Great One replied.
"..." Eli contemplated for a long time.
"There are many reasons I can think of, but all I can say is that whenever you make exceptions, it is always because it is part of your grand plan," Eli gave up thinking more complicated things and uttered the simplest and most obvious one.
"Hahaha, exactly! Because I have a plan that's why I did those exceptions, including the unrecorded ones," with a chuckle the Great One sent the wind and 'patted' Eli's soul orb again.
"Can't you create another plan to solve this too?" Eli pleadingly asked.
"Oh Great One I beseech you.." the woman also seconded.
"I indeed crafted a grand plan to solve this, however..." The Great One paused.
"It will greatly involve you," the Great One continued staring at Eli.
"Me? Is there anything I can do to help?" Overwhelmed by the excitement that she will witness the Great One manifest his power and make exceptions, she hastily answered.
The woman's soul orb also glowed in excitement.
"Yes, only you can do it! The only spirit that can do the task I am about to assign!" The Great One proudly said.
"What is it? What is it?" Eli curiously asked.
"Ehem, ehem, my plan is for you to become a Mother!" the Great One proudly declared.
"..."
"What do you think of my plan? Isn't it great?!!" the Great One chuckled with pride.
