There had been rumors. Rumors that I hoped were true, but only the good part. When 100 days pass after your day of death, you were called up by the Judges of Underworld to figure out if you should go to a worse or better place. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I was dead? Yep, that’s right. I am dead. I still have my five senses, but I can’t feel any pain. Then, how come a dead person can tell a story? Well, that is when your assumptions are wrong. After you die, your soul goes to the Underworld and floats around in empty space with other people. You don’t rot to death and just be a corpse or become a white shimmering ghost. Instead, you look like yourself without any blood or cuts created from your death. When the day of your Judgement comes, whoosh! Your soul transports to the Judgement Hall where your soul is weighed.

Ok, the part about the people and I floating in the empty space was a complete lie. The Underworld is just like the Overworld, the world where people are not dead. All around the Underworld are dashboards showing when a day passes and who will be judged today. The Underworld has no clocks or iPhones telling you the time or the month. The only dates I know are that I was born on August 8, 1998, and I died on August 8, 2016. Pretty ironic that I died on the day of my birthday, right? I died a very weird death because of my intoxicated friend. Don’t judge me for it. My friend and I were back from the mall, and she said that she will drive the car. She always carried around a green bottle, but before she started to drive, she drank everything out of the bottle in one shot. I asked her what she drank, and she answered saying that it was just coffee. Nope, it was alcohol. She had to drink alcohol. Because of her, I ended up here in the Underworld. I died because of her who drank and drove to a truck and crashed into the truck at 70 mph. Worst birthday present she ever gave me. Tip of advice: make sure you check what your friends are drinking before he or she starts to drive because you do not want to experience the pain of slamming into a truck. Also, if you want to die heroically, then don’t die like I did.

I was at the library reading books when I heard a ding. That meant the dashboard was updated. I looked at it, and my knees turned to jelly. My Judgement Day was today.
“Oh no! Someone is going to die from the fear of Judgement Day,” someone said with a sarcastic voice.
I turned around and saw a tall, skinny guy. He had dark hair, but it was not black. His hair resembled more like dark chocolate. He seemed athletic because his arm muscles were bulging and reminded me of hills. He was also wearing soccer shoes and a soccer jersey.
“Ha ha. I’m already dead. Thanks for making me feel better,” I grumbled.
“You were freaking out when you saw your name on there,” he said while pointing to the dashboard. “Besides, we’re on the same boat. My name is on there too.”
“Well, yay for us,” I said with a sigh.
He came closer to me and reached out his hand.
“Hi, my name is Zachary, but I prefered to be called Zack.”
“Hi, my name is Alina.”
“Well Alina, I hope you go to the better side.”
“You too, Zack.”
“I don’t want to offend you, but you look around the same age as me. How did you die? You don’t need to answer it if it is personal,” I said.
“It’s fine. Well, I died from cancer.”
“Oh,” I said in a quiet voice.
“How did you die?” Zack asked awkwardly.
“Well, my death happened because of my intoxicated friend who was drunk and drove me home, but instead, she just had to slam into a truck.”
He looked at me with a blank stare, and then asked, “Is that how you really died? That’s an unusual way to die, but I’m sorry that your life ended short.”
“Yeah I’m sorry about–”
Then, the wind started to play with my hair. The wind got faster and more powerful. I could not move at all, and I realized that the wind was carrying me upwards. Then, the wind released me like a cannon firing a projectile. I felt like the wind will rip apart my face, and I felt like a bullet flying to my destination.
I landed on top of Zack. If you expected me to scream in pain, I did not. If you expected me to break an arm or leg, I did not. If you expected me to say, “Ow! That hurt!” I did not. Then, did Zack get hurt? No, we’re both dead, not alive.
Zack and I ended up in the Judgement Hallway. In the Judgement Hallway, people were waiting for their names to be called. The Judgement Hallway had only a few chairs, but there was not any TV or even a book to read. On the left side of the room was a humongous door that was the size of an elephant.
“Sorry about that,” I said sheepishly.
“It’s fine. This is one of the perks of being dead, not feeling any pain. I feel like Achilles without the weak spot.”
Then, a woman with a clipboard came out, and everyone became silent.
“Everyone is here now, so the Judgement will start now. The order will be in alphabetical order by first name. The first one to be judged is Abby.”
A girl stepped out, and the woman led Abby into the huge door. The door creaked slowly, and then Abby and the woman went into the Judgement Room. I expected the wait to be long, but instead, it was short.
Soon, my turn was up. The woman called my name, and Zack whispered, “Good luck!” to me.
I went inside the humongous door, and I was in the Judgement Room. The Judgement Room reminded me of court. There were three men sitting in desks, and the middle person holding a mallet was at the tallest desk. holding a mallet. In front of the three men was a scale. Behind the three men were two doors. The door on the left was red and had a devil face carved on it, while the door on the right was white and had angel wings carved on it.
“Hello Alina. Today is your big day. Please come up to the scale and stay still.”
I wondered how the scale will be used because it was too small for me to be on it, and I did not have a heart for them to weigh. My heart was in my dead body. I followed their directions and waited. The scale started to tip, then balance, then tip again, and then balance again. While the scale kept balancing and tipping, my life flashed past me. I saw me fighting with my little sister and yelling at her to not wear my clothes. Oh gosh, I missed her so much even though we fought a lot. I saw me yelling at my parents that I hated them because they would not allow me to go to the dance when my friends could. I wanted to collapse to the floor. I wish I did not say that to my loving parents. I wonder if my parents and my sister have good memories with me, not the bad ones. Finally, the last memory made me break into pieces. The memory of my family and I playing at the playground when I was young. We were all so happy, but where did that happiness go? Soon, the scale stopped, and the judges recorded the results. If I go to hell, I would be fine with that because of the terrible things I done to my family.
“Alina, you will be going to a better place. The scale is balanced and not tipped which means you can go to a happier place. Make sure you go through the white door, not the red door or else you will go to the worse place.”
I went to the door on the right and opened it. I saw tall palm trees and a beach. The beach had a salty but refreshing smell to it, and the waters were crystal clear like glass. The beach was sunny and warm. Everyone that was there was happy and smiling with nothing to worry about. I went up to a girl in her bikini and asked her how the weather was here.
“Oh, welcome to heaven, the best place ever in the world where you can do whatever you want. Obviously, you don’t commit crimes and other bad things. You get the point. Anyway, the weather here is sunny and warm most of the times. It can get cloudy, but it never rains here. Oh! You should see the sunset coming soon. The purple sunset is a beautiful scenery you cannot miss. Oh! It’s hard for me to describe it in words, but you have to see it!”
I thanked the girl and waited for Zack to come. More people came into this door, but I still could not find Zack. Then, nobody else came in here, and my heart started to sag. Zack was a nice kid, but I thought he would have made it to heaven. I did not know him well, but I was positive that he was a kid who lived a great life until his death happened. Then, I heard a creak and saw a tall, skinny guy. He had dark hair, but it was not black. His hair resembled more like dark chocolate. He seemed athletic because his arm muscles were bulging and reminded me of hills. He was also wearing soccer shoes and a soccer jersey. Then, I realized who it was. Zack.
I ran up to him and gave him a hug to congratulate him.
“Woah woah woah. You’re going over with the congratulations!” he said with a smile.
“I thought you went to hell!”
“Na. I’m a good boy, not a bad boy. I’m the guy that does his homework, plays sports, and has good grades,” he said proudly.
I gestured toward the beach and asked, “Shall we?”
“You betcha! Let’s celebrate coming to heaven!”
Then, we both ran into the water.