Excerpt from Tales From Imagination's Closet...

The Guardian

“Let’s call it. Time of death, twenty-two, forty-three p.m.” The doctor scribbled information on the death certificate and left the room.

Jude sprang up into sitting position. “Dead? Who me? I’ve never felt better.” He swung his body around to sit on the edge of the operating table, but his legs didn’t follow. He turned to the left, staring into his own face. “Holy bejeezus, I am dead!”

Jude slid off the table onto the floor. He didn’t feel the pull of gravity beneath his feet. “What happened to my feet?”

“This has to be a dream. If I’m dead, why am I still down here? Can’t I go to heaven or –” He paused and reflected on his life for a moment. “Never mind, I’ll just stay here.”

Suddenly, a baritone voice echoed through the room. “I’m sorry. Things have been a bit hectic the last few days.”

Jude felt warmth surround him as if sunrays penetrated his non-existent body. And, in the next instant, he was standing in an empty room with milky white walls. Extending his arms, he glanced down at his feet. He looked like someone had traced his body and sprinkled glitter around it. “Cool, I look a kindergarten art project.”

A bronze face emerged through one of the milky walls. “Sorry, for the delay.” Slowly, the rest of the visage came forth with large ivory wings shimmering, and a silver halo hovering above its head. Jude was transfixed on two translucent blue eyes.

“An angel.” Jude said.

“I’m Apollyon.” He pulled a scroll out from under his right wing. “I see you are Jude, twenty-four, handsome, and quite popular with the ladies.” He continued reading, “You were killed…” He let out a gasp, covering his mouth.

“What? What’s wrong?” Jude drifted over to look at the scroll.

Apollyon quickly wound it back up. “You mustn’t see.”

“If it’s about me, I have a right to know. I don’t even know how I died.”

Apollyon scratched under his halo. “Hold on a moment.” He dug under his left wing and brought out a small, thick book. He thumbed through a few pages. “I can tell you how you died, but you are never allowed to see the scroll. It's a rule.”

“Okay, so what happened?”

“You died suddenly, that’s why you don’t remember. You were shot.”

“Who’d want to shoot me?”

“You gave your life to save a little boy during a bank robbery.”

“I died a hero? That should get me into heaven.”

“Jude, you don’t understand. All those silly ideas you humans believe are wrong. Heaven and hell are not what you imagine.”

“Shew! So, there’s no chance of me burning for eternity?”

Apollyon laughed. “No, never. You are an entity, a force. I must give you a task, and when it’s completed you will become one of my special angels.”

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