DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Dunkin Donuts XIII

April 4th, 2020

In Limbo with Don- The Next Dunkin Donuts

 

The last time I was in limbo, it was after my past life and before my next.  I don’t remember any of it- I was just told that I was there after the next big thing.  I died and then went straight to limbo where I hung out until the next place was found for me to go.  The rule is that you can never know where thenceforth you went, or else it would mess up the whole free will/go where you belong.

So, the first thing I asked when I got there was where was, What the heck?

What do you mean, What the heck?  Gabriel asked me.  He was sitting in a chair across from me in a small room with maroon carpet and navy walls.  I was barefoot and wearing my favorite jeans and sweater, my hair in a bun, my face moist with sweat. 

I mean, what the heck am I doing here, I asked.

He half smiled and turned his head to the window at the top of the door.  Then he put his hand in his face and his elbow on the table.  His eyes were red and veiny, his curly black hair unkempt.

You would have otherwise gone to hell, he said.

But what happened, I asked.  The last thing I remember was falling from the cliff in the forest preserve.

You were the only one who saw it, he said. 

What, I asked, trying not to sound rude.

The bright light in the sky that you saw, he said.  Those things only come by once every millennium or so.

A vision of the violet light in the sky, nestled in the dark clouds above the cliff flashed through my mind.

Oh, I remember that, I said.  That is what knocked me off my feet.  The wave of energy sent me headfirst into the waves.

He sighed and then smiled.  That’s because it wasn’t just a light- it was a UFO- or at least that’s how people would understand it, now, in this time.

Ok, I said.  So, what was it really?  I ran my hand over the top of my head. 

It was just other beings, visiting, he said.  The treaty is that no one on Earth knows about them until the right time, until we say so.  But they broke the treaty, and you were a witness to it.  You are an eyewitness.

I shook my head in disbelief.  So, what am I supposed to do about it? 

Just tell the truth when they ask, he said, pulling out a piece of paper and pen from a briefcase.

But all it was was a light in the sky, I said.

Exactly, but all we need is for someone to know that it was there. 

After I signed the paper, Gabriel opened the door and led me out in the hall.  There were pictures hung on the wall- they varied, from children’s drawings to more complicated pieces of art.

I painted that one, Gabriel said, pointing to one next to an oversized light switch.  The painting was a path in the woods, the sun overhead, with deer eating grass.

What motivated you, I asked.

That was my first rescue, he said.  a girl was stuck in a tree, so I flew up to get her.  When she told her parents about me, they just pawned it off as her imagination.

At the end of a long hallway, Gabriel pushed into a heavy wooden door and pointed to a seat.  Sitting in the seat across from it was someone who I barely recognized, someone who I went to high school with, Don Foggin.

While we wait for the trail, Gabriel said, you two can keep each other company.

Before I could say anything, he quickly walked out and the door slammed behind him.

I put my foot over my knee and sat back in the chair.  So, I asked, how have you been?

I don’t know why we are here, he asked, ignoring my question.

Where you a witness to something, I asked, because I was.

You sound like a two-year-old, he said, rolling his eyes.  I hadn’t seen him do that since we were both teenagers, back when I didn’t get along with any of his friends.

And yes, he said, I saw the purple light when I was sitting on my porch.  It knocked me out, and I guess I got a concussion from it.

That sucks, I said.  When I saw it, I fell off a cliff.

So, what are we supposed to talk about, what are we supposed to do?

I guess just to reminisce about the good times.

I think the reason we are in limbo is because we are necessary for something.  I hate to think that if the light hadn’t had been there, we might have gone to hell.

Why would we have gone to hell, I asked.

Who knows, he said, but it is possible.

That was the first time that I heard the crackling of the fire behind Don.  The heat wafted its way towards me, and I felt comfortable.

I guess we are just waiting to stand on trial, I said, that is just what Gabriel said. 

It makes me wonder if life is fair, he said, if the afterlife is fair.

It makes me wonder what is out there, I said.

And at that moment Gabriel opened the door and motioned for us both to follow him.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.