Gone Beyond

The sky looks weird. That was her first thought waking up, there were no clouds or birds to break up the consistent canvas of light blue. She lifted heavy arms to rub the fog from her eyes. She must have accidentally dozed off in the park, she shot up from the long grass and wildflowers. I’m late! She panicked, remembering to pick up her little brother from school.  Sitting up at a sudden speed made her head spin but through the stars in her vision she could see that she was not in the park.  The field she laid in was many times bigger than the tiny park that sat a block away from her family's apartment complex. Unusual red wildflowers densely bloomed around her and scattered across her navy dress, she mindlessly brushed them off as she tried to remember past couple hours of her day. Her heart sped up a little as she patted herself down looking for her phone and her keys and she swore she left school with her backpack.  No, no, no! She combed her hands through the grass hoping to see the cracked screen, if she could locate her phone, she could use the last of her data to figure out where she was.  “Hey!”  She looked up from her search, a pair of people were sprinting towards her, waving their arms in urgency. She couldn’t hear what they were saying. She brushed dark hair behind her ears as if to help her hear better, she shouted back, “What?”    “Above you!” They pointed, “Get the- Above you!”  She obeyed the muffled yells, looking back up at the blue sky. For a moment she thought the sun had appeared, until the ball of light zipped around her head. She jumped back startled, “What the heck is that!?”  It orbited around her, glowing, and emitting a pitch as if her little brother was leaning on a piano key to annoy her. The girls were close and still shouted her directions. “Catch it! Hurry!” The one with the curly blonde hair called out.  She hesitated, unsure of if touching the ball of light would burn or shock her, but the girls were very determined for her to catch it. She swiped at empty air, the ball dipped and dodged around her, as if playing with her. She stood to chase it through the grass and caught it with a very ungraceful lunge.  “Hey, nice catch!” The blonde girl panted; they had finally reached her patch of trampled flowers. She held the glowing orb in cupped hands, it didn’t try to escape but sat warmly in her fingers. The girl wearing high jeans and baggy sweater, offered her a jar.  “Um, thank you?” She dropped the light in. “No problem, you gotta a name?” They helped her up and picked petals out of her braid.  “Wayra. Wayra Price. Where-” The blonde girl put a hand on the hip of her plaid dress, “I’m Lisa, and this is Jenna. We don’t want you to spaz out but… you’re dead.” Wayra half scoffed, unsure of whether to laugh or brush them off and make her own way out of the foreign field.  “Is this some kind of prank? Did Race put you up to this?” She pushed the jar to the blonde girl’s friend, Jenna.  “That’s what we’re trying to tell you,” Jenna spoke softly, “you’re not on Earth anymore.” Lisa moved to put a hand on Wayra’s shoulder, “Don’t you remember dying? She slapped her hand away, “What? No! I’m not dead!” She tried to walk off and look for any kind of path that led to a road or sidewalk. “I’m sorry but I need to go.”   “Wayra, wait.” Lisa tried to calm her down, “You’re probably in shock, but look around we’re not on the terrestrial plane anymore.” Wayra whirled around, looking for any semblance of familiarity. The meadow reached far around her until it faded into a still fog. In one direction she could faintly see the edge of a forest. Wayra couldn’t stop her hands from beginning to shake, and admitting they were right, she could feel they were right. She sat back down in the dirt, “I’m dead? But I- I can’t- uh- ah-” “Oh geez, she’s hyperventilating! Jenna give me the bag!” Lisa rubbed circles on Wayra’s back as she breathed in and out of a paper bag.  This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening! I have to pick up my brother from school! Her life flashed before her eyes, she must have missed it when she was dying. She saw her home, a small but cozy apartment where her mother and little brother lived. Her mom always came home late in purple scrubs and fell asleep with the TV on. Wayra saw her little brother Tai running out of the school waving an A plus test. She saw him falling asleep on her shoulder on the bus ride to grandma’s. Wayra saw her boyfriend Nick offering her his coffee or energy drink. She saw them walking home from school together, him ranting about a new band or book. His blue eyes would watch her study at the library on the weekends, he would come along to just hang out. The weight of his arms around her still warmed her shoulders.  Her breathing evened but tears began to stream down and soak into the brown paper bag.  Lisa continued to rub her back, trying to be as comforting as possible, “It’s ok, we all go through this.” “But- but I don’t even remember the last thing I said to my brother.” Wayra sniffed, snot and tears running down her face unnoticed. “Did I even get to say goodbye?” Jenna crouched down with the jar, her cornrows sliding forward. “Maybe you’ll remember a little later? Sometimes it takes people a while.” The girls waited patiently for her sobs to subside. God, my crying must look so gross. Wayra thought. “I’m sorry,” she rubbed off as much tears as she could with her hands, and wiped her nose, “Sorry, you guys must have things to do.”  Lisa and Jenna helped her off the ground, “Actually the only thing for us to do today is to answer any of your questions.”  “And we’ll give you the tour too.” Jenna added. They guided her side by side through the meadow.  “So, I’m dead,” Wayra sniffed, “is this Heaven?” The duo sucked air through their teeth.  “Oh no, is this Hell?!” She gasped. Lisa laughed, “No, not hell either.” Through the fog, large structures started to appear, taking the shape of a twisted city. Lisa gestured at the contorted landscape, “Welcome to Limbo.”  Wayra gaped when she got close enough to see the details of what looked like buildings. What appeared to be a city seemed to be a cross between an automobile junkyard and a demolition site. Totaled cars stacked on top of each other in ways that defied physics with various crumbling architectures surrounding a tower that disappeared into the sky.  “I see you look very confused.” Jenna chuckled, “Let us explain.” “Limbo, where those not good enough for heaven or shitty enough for hell end up. Obviously, we’re mostly teenagers because we didn’t live long enough to qualify for either. So, when we die, we come here and sometimes objects close by come with us.” “Like cars?” Wayra almost didn’t want to walk too close to the leaning towers of junkyard cars, that looked like a sneeze could knock it over, but she could see several kids carelessly lounging on the wrecks. Jenna shrugged, “A surprising number of teenagers die in car crashes.” She pointed a red fingernail at the totaled hood of a jeep wrangler balanced at the top of a stack. “That’s my car. Don’t drink and drive, kids!” She shouted. Her declaration received a wave of whoops throughout the city.  “See, common phenomenon.”  She’s very chill about dying in a car crash. Wayra pondered and studied the dated bent metal, older cars sat crushed at the bottom and newer ones piled on top in a chronological calendar of vehicles.  “So, what’s the glowing ball in the jar?” Lisa snatched the jar from Jenna and lifted to Wayra’s face. “This little bugger is a wisp! It is very important, so you can’t lose it.” “Important how?” “The wisp leads you to your death-buddy.” Lisa almost squealed with excitement. “My what?” Wayra blinked, taking the lit mason jar.  “Your death-buddy!” The girls linked their arms for show. “See, to move on from Limbo you need your wisp to lead you to a death buddy then it vanishes. Everybody has a buddy, and you absolutely need your buddy to ascend, become an angel, be reborn or whatever comes after.” “What do you mean?” Jenna pointed to the spiraling needle of a tower with an unsee top. “That is the Tower of Ascension or the Tower of Ima-outta-here! When it’s our time a wisp will appear and lead us up the tower. But you can only go up the tower if you have your death buddy.” Lisa tapped the top of the jar, “That’s why it’s so important you don’t lose your wisp.” Wayra swallowed and tightened her grip on the jar. “So, I can’t move on unless I have a death buddy.”  Jenna snapped her manicured fingers, “Good you’re catching on.”  “Wait, how do you guys know all this stuff?”  “Well, our mentors told us everything we know just like we are telling you.”  They had walked all the way to the base of the tower, it had no other defining features than the spiraling staircase and crude graffiti. “One day Lisa and I will finally get out of here.” Jenna scanned the tower with a deep yearning and squeezed her death buddy’s hand.  A sudden cheer rang through the scrap city, and footsteps stomped around the side of the tower. A tall leather clad teenager ran around the base dragging a girl in a long yellow dress behind him, a large wisp led them to the first step of the tower.  Lisa and Jenna rushed over to congratulate the pair.  “Tyson, Violette! You got your wisp!” Lisa gave them a long squeeze goodbye.  Tyson and Violette couldn’t stop smiling, “I’ve been stuck here for 37 years, dog. Vi’s been here for 54, we are totally ready to get the hell out of here!”  Wayra’s squeezed her jar a little tighter.  Fifty-four years? Violette had to wait that long after she died? How long will I have to wait for my death buddy and how much longer after that before we get to leave? Wayra stood anxiously as she awkwardly sidelined the conversation.  “Have you seen Amar and Jan? We wanted to say goodbye before the climb.” Tyson asked.  Jenna shook her head, “Not here, working I think.” Violette stayed silent but her face dropped. Tyson put a comforting arm around her shoulder, “I know, I know, Vi. I wanted to say goodbye too,” he kissed her on the forehead, “but we have to go now.” Their wisp was drifting up the steps without them.  “Lisa, Jenna, please tell them goodbye, we’ll miss them too and we’ll see them on the other side.” Tyron asked. “Of course, Tyron. Good luck you guys.” Their friends ran after their wisp then disappear up the tower.  “Wait- but- Why don’t we climb after them? The stairs are right there!” Wayra stepped a black converse on the first step of the tower. Wayra’s mentors shook their heads, “Other kids have tried that. If you climb when it’s not your time or without your buddy, you just get nowhere. Like walking in a circle.”  They sighed. “Come on, noobie. We’re going to take you to where all the other Glowers hang out.” Wayra followed the girls, avoiding debris and broken glass. “Glowers?” “Yeah, you know, people who haven’t found their death buddies yet, they’re all stuck with their wisps, so they are always glowing.” Lisa gestured at her jar.  “How will I know if I found my uh, buddy?” “Oh, oh your wisp will start to go crazy and go like this,” Lisa stuck out her arms and kind of did a shaky dance. “In the jar it’ll kind of pull you in the right direction when you get close, rather than zipping off.” Wayra looked at her wisp again, it didn’t seem to be moving at all, just sitting there like a bored pet fish. Does that mean I’ll have to wait for my buddy? Or are they just too far away? The trio rounded an arch made of cars to a lopsided building, it had the classic downtown architecture, tall and narrow with windows framed with stone and brown shutters. Its yellow exterior had turned to a gray. Inside was more activity than Wayra seen in any part of the city yet. A colorful crowd of high school kids lounged around chatting, each with a contained wisp on their person, making the place light up.  Lisa dramatically stuck out her arms in a dramatic presentation, “Welcome to The Hangout!” She beckoned Wayra and Jenna over, “It used to be a pizza place in Italy, Luca is the Glower who died and brought it here.” “How- how’d he die?” Jenna crossed her arms and shrugged, “Fire, I think. He and other Glowers made hangout spots all around the city to make it easier for them to find their buddies.”  A few of the kids sitting in outdoor furniture waved to Lisa and Jenna and put a palm on their jars to sense any movement in Wayra’s presence. She held hers close to her chest, its glow brightening the white tee shirt she wore under her dress.  “Jenna! Lisa!” A shout greeted them as they entered the skeleton of the restaurant. A boy with slicked black hair and tight jeans, stood with welcoming arms. “Who have you brought in today?” Jenna pushed Wayra to the front, “Luca, this is our newest stiff, Wayra Price.” Luca took Wayra’s hand before she could offer it, “Uh, hello? “Ah, let me guess, you are from… California?” “Yeah, how’d you-” “Wait, wait, Sacramento?” Wayra blinked, “Yeah!” Luca was not what she expected, and she stepped back as he studied her a bit more. “And let's see, a car crash?” “Uh, no-” “Earthquake?” he needlessly smoothed back his hair with his fingers.  Lisa stepped in to save her, “Actually, she doesn’t remember yet.”  “Ah, well I’ll bet my hat it was a car crash.” Luca laughed and welcomed her to a seat, “Is this the first hangout you guys stopped at?” Jenna nodded, “Yeah, we’ll hit the others tomorrow if her buddy doesn’t come by tonight.”  As if on cue, the sky through the broken windows dimmed to a violet, but untouched by any stars or moon.  “Right on schedule.” Luca announced standing, initiating several others to rise and head to the exit.  “Where are you guys going?” Wayra half stood unsure if she should follow.  “Well, once it gets dark out everybody heads to the tower.” Luca explained, reaching behind the pizza counter to produce a guitar, a wisp jar dangling from it. “We like get together and play some music.” He stepped close to her, his jar in hand, feeling it. “Darn, no vibrations.” He gave her a small smile, “I would’ve liked to be your death buddy.”  Faint music started playing in the distance, beckoning people towards it, Luca held out his hand to escort her to the party. “Come on, I promise it’ll be good.”  Wayra hesitantly took his hand, no memories of her death had resurfaced yet, so she had doubts this wasn’t a vivid dream. When Lisa gave a wave of approval, Wayra let him lead her to the Tower of Ascension. A band of various musical instruments played on the trunk bed of a semi, Glowers had lifted their wisps to light up the dance floor People oozed out of cracks in the city to socialize and dance to the music. Luca joined the band on stage and said farewell for now with a cheeky wink.  Wayra couldn’t help but retreat to the sidelines, out of the way of the oncoming wave of excited teens. She leaned on the hood of a 1988 Toyota Corolla, taking in her new reality. The music did ease Wayra, relaxing her enough to bob her head along to the music. She stood to search for Lisa and Jenna, more questions whirled in her head that needed answers. She turned away from the rowdy crowd and rusted metal caught on her long socks, as if in slow motion she started to fall. She gasped and stuck out her arms to catch herself, dropping the jar.  No, no, no, no!  Wayra panicked. The glass scattered into crevices of the path and her wisp floated above the ground innocently for a moment before zipping away. Wayra chased it, no one would hear a shout for help over the band and she couldn’t lose sight of it. She chased it through Limbo’s salvage city and over the meadows, illuminating the still open red flowers. The wisp made a beeline through the fog to the forest of trees with trunks as large as lighthouses and branches that imitated a night sky with its canopy, specks of purple shining through.  She could faintly see roots to scramble over by the light of her wisp as it wound around the trees. Hopping from root to root, trying to keep one eye on the light and one on her feet. She ducked under a breaching root and slammed into someone’s boney ribs.  “Oof, excuse me, sorry, I-” Wayra’s breath caught in her throat, a person, a creature, loomed over her, black shoulders hunched forward, attached to arms that reached its knees and fingers that hung even further. It slowly creaked to face her, it’s entire being looked blackened, except for its red mouth and wet, red eyes, staring down at her.  Wayra tried back pedal, only for her feet to disobey, she fell. The creature shook the trees with a screech made of wails and thunder, it raised a hand of razor-thin fingers to swipe down on her. Wayra screamed and squeezed her eyes shut preparing to die a second time. Bang! Bang! Massive holes appeared in the head and chest of the creature, allowing the makeshift stars shine through. It fell like a tree in wood, dissipating into white ash, without any wind to blow it away, it piled into a mound.  “Hey!” A deep voice shouted from a silhouette aloft a tree root. Wayra looked up with blurred vision, a boy stomped down towards her, he wore a uniform of blue, and tightly held a rifle. With his other hand he pulled out a wisp lantern from a bag, lighting his red hair and freckles. “What the hell do you think you are doing?!”