“So is this what’s waiting for us all at the end?” I asked indicating our surroundings. “Is heaven one, big, endless driveway?”
“No,” Brad said chuckling. “You have created this place. I like it, though. I may use it for a while. I miss hanging out on the driveway.”
“Dude, we miss you,” I said.
“I know. That is why I have been visiting you all.”
“So what are you doing now?” I asked, not sure about how to proceed.
“Oh man, I have been learning so much. I have been talking with all these others. Our individual experience is so small compared to what’s out there. I am also creating still. I’ve been sent to one of the other faces. It has several young worlds, and I get to be a part of the Astral Design team. Man, I thought painting and sculpture was cool. You have no idea.”
“What?” I said, very confused.
“I can only show you a glimpse. You are still on this side, so you aren’t allowed to be told what the other side is like. It is something everyone has to figure out for themselves. But I am allowed to give you a peek.”
With that comment, he waved a hand at the sky. I looked up and the early morning sky had changed back to darkness once more. There was no stars or moon though, just emptiness. Then there was an explosion of light like a firework. Blue, red, and yellow streams rushed outward in a swirling pattern. The light lines danced across the sky in graceful arcs and curves. I turned to look at another part of the sky and saw a greenish shimmer. It looked like a nebulae of some sort, whose shape kept changing. I saw more streaks of light racing from one side of the sky to the other, criss-crossing one another back and forth. All the lights seemed to move faster and faster. When I thought I would become dizzy from watching the light blitz, it vanished, leaving no trace of the vision behind. The sky returned to darkness and then back to the morning oranges and reds.
“What was that?”
“You’ll understand one of these days,” Brad said.
We continued walking and I told him about what I had been doing over the course of the last year. I told him about my book, my job, Atlanta. As I spoke, I realized all the things he had missed, and the things he would continue to miss. My composure started to crumble.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“The eternal question we were always trying to figure out, my friend,” Brad said.
Finally, I couldn’t take it. While I may have been holding it together, I couldn’t anymore. I kept walking, but the tears started to flow.
endless driveway 