Hello! This story is not connected to anything else I've written here. I don't know whether I'll continue this story or not, but I wanted to share it anyway. If people like it, I'll continue it. Enjoy!
My life was great. My parents and friends loved me. I had good grades and probably would've been in honors. Most of the time I was drawing, my passion. The people I knew said I was good. They said I had a bright future. I loved my life.
Then It ended.
How was I supposed to know of the creature in the lake?
The creature grabbed me by the leg while I was swimming and pulled me down. Down to the bottom of the lake. Let's just say, I wasn't breathing when my dad pulled me back up to shore.
The next thing I knew I was in a new world. The Afterlife. You know, where you go when you die? I've been living here for almost 45 years now. Age-wise, I'm 12. You see, when you die, you age way slower, and when you turn a certain age (30, I think), you just stop aging altogether. My name is Alex, by the way.
My death was okay, I guess. it was normal. Until things began to change.
I woke up with a start. Remembering that day was always the worst nightmare I had. That creature with glowing eyes still haunts me.
I got out of my messy bed, deciding I would make it later. My roommate, who was also my best friend, Lena Fettan, was already out of bed. Not surprised. She was always an early bird.
Lena was my age. She had been shot at age 8 during a bank robbery. She’s proud of her death. Because of it, the robbers, who were very dangerous, were caught. She was kind of a hero in the living world for a little bit. They’ve probably forgotten about her now though.
I absentmindedly rubbed my gills. Why do I have gills? It’s my quirkin. You get one after you pass away. It’s connected to how you die. I drowned, so I got gills. Lena has impenetrable skin because she was shot. Suddenly, I remember what today is. It’s the sorting. I looked at the clock. I had 10 minutes.
I rushed around, brushing my hair and putting on my clothes. I almost forgot my newsboy cap. I got on my chopper bike and rode to the area where it was being held. It was in the middle of the town. I got there in the nick of time. I couldn’t see well, but I didn’t care much. The sorting isn’t very edge of your seat material. It’s mainly just waiting, hearing a job being shouted, then more waiting.
I saw Lena out of the corner of my eye and went over to her. “I was wondering when you’d get here,” Lena whispered to me. “Well maybe if you woke me up,” I said. “I tried! Honestly you're such a deep sleeper,” Lena said, pretending to scold me. It just turned into both of us quietly laughing with each other. “You guys should be quiet. You don’t want to be thought of as weirdos,” a male voice said from behind us. I turned around. It was Nick. The trio to me and Lena's duo.
Nick was a big rule follower, which sometimes made him kind of boring, but he was still a nice person. He had been eaten by a wild animal when he was 8. Now he’s our age and one of the youngest grim reapers. Yeah, like the ones you read about in books that guide people to the afterlife. I looked up at the stage in the middle of the town square. Well, it’s not a square, actually. It's a circle. So I, Lena, and Nick call it the town circle. Just wanted to point that out and see if anyone cared.
A group of kids walked onto the stage. The oldest looked 10 and the youngest looked 7. With them walked a guider. Guiders are people who help the newly dead get used to their new life here. "Alright everyone," the guider said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I am Mary, and I will be overlooking this ceremony." She looked at the kids and asked them something. the kids raised their hands eagerly. Mary pointed to one and he went up.
The kid looked around 9. He looked kind of like me, except more modern. I lived in the 1970s, and I still dressed and acted like it. This kid was not from the 1970s, I could tell. But other than that he looked fairly similar. He fidgetted with his hands, something I did a lot as well. I could feel his nervousness radiating off him. Poor kid, I thought.
"First up, Zack," Mary announced. The kid kneeled down. In front of him were his options.
The ceremony is where you get your job. Objects are placed in front of you. The one you choose will tell you which job you get. Because I'm helpful like that, here's a little cheat sheet.
Grim reapers: find and make sure a person dies: scythe (Nick's job)
Dream Senders: give people good/bad dreams: a pillow (My job)
Hunters: like policemen, they go after the wanted: metal bar
Guardians: guard the entrance to the afterlife: bowler hat
Weathers: control the weather: lightning bolt (Lena's job)
The kid I now knew as Zack looked at the objects curiously. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed an object. That object happened to be a pillow. That meant he would be a dream sender, like me. I didn't want to be unhappy, but I was slightly annoyed. I hated having to teach the newbies.
The rest of the ceremony was normal. Zack was the only new Dream Sender. I sighed and looked at my friends. "Well, I'm going home. Want to relax a little before work. Catch you on the flip side!" I started to walk away.
"What are you gonna do," Lena asked, running up to me. I shrugged. "Read maybe?"
Lena laughed. "You are such a dork." I smiled. "You just realize that now?" Lena rolled her eyes. I went back to our home and looked at our bookshelf. Sadly, I read all of the books we had. "Excuse me?"
I turned around sharply. It was Zack. "Why the hell are you here," I asked. Zack looked down. "they sent me here. They told me I would live with some other kids." I calmed myself down and gave the kid a little smile. I took his hand and shook it. "I'm Alex. Welcome to your new home."
I gave the kid a little tour (not that our home was very big) and showed him where he could sleep. "Thank you, sir," Zack said. I waved him off. "Don't call me sir," I said. Zack nodded. I looked at the clock. Work time. "Follow me," I told Zack.
We went to the building where I worked. Technically, I could work anywhere. My job didn't require much. I just needed silence.
I walked with Zack to an open area. "This is so cool," Zack said. Some dream Senders shushed us. I sat down crisscrossed. Zack sat next to me. "How does this work," Zack asked. "It'll just come to you. I promise," I said. I closed my eyes.
I was in an older man's dream. I looked around and almost gasped. On the table were a bunch of different guns and other weapons. The man was humming as he cleaned a knife. He was facing the other way, so I didn't see his face. I turned around and saw something I wish I hadn't.
It was a girl's face on a poster. That didn't bother me. What bothered me was the knife sticking out of the girl's forehead. Like this man threw it at her face. The girl looked my age. I went over to the poster. It was a movie poster for some movie called "The End." On the bottom was a name.
Jordan Pensie.
This man was going to kill her.
I will be reviewing this for the @hivebookclub and the @dreemport challenge with @scholarandscribe! hehehehe
I'm so excited!!! I get the Scribe of the Year!!!!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it! It is kind of messy (I'll admit), but I'm excited to hear what you have to say.
I like this and I like the word quirkin! Ha! But I like the premise of it even better.
What happens if you're over age 30 and die? Just frozen as that age I guess?
Also what sort of things do Guardians need to deal with? So many questions!
Fun concept, I hope you continue it. 😊☠️
!PIZZA
Well, if you're over 30 you froze at the age you died at (like you assumed). Guardians mainly have to deal with the Wanted, who are the criminals of the afterlife. Or if a person who's not meant to die yet somehow gets into the Afterlife. There are also shadow creatures who work for the demons (there's a place called the Place of the Broken, where Demons rule. Evil people who die are sent to live there) who sometimes invade.
Glad to know you enjoyed it!
Aah very nice!!! An interesting premise... I will have to keep reading this series as you left us with a fantastic hook at the end. Dream sender sounds like a really interesting job! I see that you will be expanding the story setting over the next few chapters - looking forward to that! I found you through Dreemport as I read @grocko's post showcasing your writing. Huge congrats on the Scribe of the year award 💗 Tag me if you want to know more about Dreemport and how to share your blog with more people and get more eyes on your content. !LUV !PIZZA
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This was a great start to a story, you could absolutely write a whole novel with this as a very solid start. I'm really curious about all of their jobs and what each entails. I'd love some more descriptions of their surroundings in the afterlife too. Is it almost like they are still alive? Just in another place? Or is there a strange otherworldly ambiance? You've also left us with a great cliffhanger to keep us wondering what will happen next!
Very Well Done!
!PIZZA
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I'm going to add more descriptions of the world next chapter (which I probably will do). As for the jobs, here's a little more detail about them.
Grim Reapers: When someone is going to die they make sure the person dies. They don't care how they do, as long as it happens when it's supposed to. It requires the most discipline.
Dream Senders: They go into people's heads (alive people) and see their dreams. They can make the person have bad or good dreams. Depending on the person, the dream may be harder to control.
Weathers: They control the weather in the alive world. The weathers come to a decision together and when different weathers come in and come out, the weather changes.
Hunters: They go after the Wanted (aka people who do bad things in the Afterlife) and take them to the Place of the Broken. Almost exactly like policemen, except they ride skeleton horses.
Guardians: They guard the entrance to the Afterlife from the Wanted and other threats. They keep the people who shouldn't be in the Afterlife out.
This got long, oops. Anyway, thank you for reading and I almost definitely will continue, I hope you keep reading!
Thanks for the reply! Interesting ideas for how the afterlife interacts with the world of the living! I'll certainly continue reading as you expand the story.
!PIZZA
Just finished this. WOW!!! This is so amazing. You need to continue this story. I want to read more.
Thanks for posting this in Scholar and Scribe! It is well written and makes the reader want to find out what happens next! Keep on writing and I hope you'll keep posting here at Scholar and Scribe!
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Great story. I can't wait for chapter 3.
I know I read it backwards but so what. I can still follow the plot. 🤣🤣