Heaven

• Natalie Ngo, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2010

Vera ran. Her feet were damp from the wet grass beneath. Her muscles screamed in protest. The long curls of her hair tumbled wildly on her back. Thick mist surrounded her and seemed endless as she looked ahead. The dark sky threatened to swallow her as she struggled to catch her breath. When at last Vera collapsed on the ground, the horizon cracked open, let through a tiny sun ray. Where that sun ray touched the earth, a woman in a long white robe appeared. Her hair was silver with long curls twirled around her ankle. Her eyes were mesmerizing and as deep as the Somme in autumn. The air around tingled at the sudden impact of her presence. Vera shielded her eyes against the blazing sun now rising slowly in the east.
‘You are in the middle of life and death. Your soul was still wandering on earth because you did not want to accept your death. Now that you have stopped running away from it and embraced your destiny, the gate to heaven has closed, you have to stay here until it opens again’, the woman began.
‘When does it open again?’, Vera asked.
‘We don't know.’
‘Am I stuck here forever?’
‘We don't have a definite answer for that, however there is an exception; we can give you a chance to relive the moment you made the biggest mistake of your life. If you can rectify that, we can send you straight to heaven.’
‘How do I do that?’
‘Think about when in your life you want to go back, concentrate on that and close your eyes.’
Vera's thought instantly shifted to back to year ten. In a blink of an eye, she was at St Bernadette with voices bubbling around.
‘I say we just ignore her.’
‘No, we should chuck her books in the garbage bag.’
‘Can we throw spaghetti at her? Vera, say something!’
‘Huh? Oh. I think we should be nice to her or at least leave her alone. What's the point of all this bullying anyway?’, Vera managed to reply at last, remembering why she was there.
‘What happened to you? You wanted to bully her so she would get out of here.’
‘No, I changed my mind. I don't really care about whether she leaves or not anymore.’
‘Oh ok then.’
The wind seemed to speed up around Vera and threw her into a dark endless space.
‘Well done.’
‘Did it change anything?’
‘Yes, she is still alive today and changing the world as we speak.’
‘Is she that important?’
‘Yes, you were almost punished the day she killed herself but we waited to give you this chance, knowing we have more to gain. Only you can fix your own mistake. Now shall we go?’
Vera did not have time reply before a rainbow lifted her up and carried her towards the blazing sun.