After Life

An after life. A life after your original life. I was glad I still had an after life, I mean, I was a retired clown. No joke. All the kids loved me, I was known as ‘Silly Susie’. I know- cheesy, right? Still, it was strangely satisfying making all those little kids smile. Even though I was a clown, I had always wanted to do something more with my life. Maybe be the President of the United States or something. When I passed away at the ripe old age of 96, I was secretly pleased. As I was drawn up to the after life, I felt a ripple of excitement. I didn’t know what to expect, but I expected it to be good. I was slowly floating upwards in a curtain of darkness. Suddenly sun shone through, and I landed on soft ground. I steadied myself, and looked around. I was standing on a small patch of sand surrounded by…nothing. It looked like glass, but I couldn’t see anything through it. I tried to walk toward it, but found I couldn’t move. I was held in place by some invisible force. I struggled for a few minutes- then gave up. I waited for a few moments, and started to lose hope. Maybe this was the after life- standing on a floating patch of sand. I’d read in books you were supposed to get three wishes, and a new life. Obviously the authors didn’t know what they were talking about. Suddenly the ground shuddered underneath my feet. I let out an alarmed cry, and the ground shuddered again. The sand began breaking beneath my feet, and I watched in amazement as a figure began to rise out of the hole in the sand. Whoever it was, they were wearing an XL jacket with the hood covering their face, skinny jeans and skateboard shoes with multi-coloured laces. It was your modern day Grim Reaper. I stared in amazement, shock and horror. Years seemed to pass as I stared at whatever was standing in front of me.

“Yo, so you gonna make your three wishes or what, dudette?” His voice was deep, and reminded me of a rapper.

“Uh,” I stammered, hardly daring to blink in case he disappeared. “I can wish for anything?”

“Yeah, maybe you wish for a sweet car, and then you got yourself a Porsche in your next life.” His voice sounded bored, as if he had been over this several times- which, in fact, he probably had.

“Well, for my first wish I’d like…” I broke off, thinking hard. “I want a big mansion!”

The Grim Reaper guy flicked his wrist, and I heard a small ding. I raised my eyebrow, but didn’t question him.

“For my second wish I want a…job, a job at a big mall!” I was beginning to get excited. I thought hard about my third and final wish. It had to be good.

“Lastly, I’d like…uh…” I stopped, not wanting to blurt out something stupid.

“I’d like,” I started again. “A lot of friends!” I finally decided. I could picture myself in a mansion, counting my money, surrounded by friends. I gave a satisfied sigh.

Grim Reaper guy flicked his wrist twice more, and gave a nod.

“Good luck.” He said slowly, and disappeared.

The sand began floating down, and I was wrapped once again in a curtain of darkness.

I soon grew impatient, and began to pace. Eventually, I got tired of pacing, and curled up on the floor to rest.

When I woke from my deep sleep, I realised I was sleeping in a big bed. I looked around me, and gasped. I was in a big beautiful room. My mansion! I jumped out of the bed, and ran to look at the view. My jaw dropped as I stared at rows and rows of…Icebergs.

Great. So I was in Iceland or something because I hadn’t requested a certain place.

I shrugged it off; after all I did have a lot of friends and a great job. I walked out of the big room and down the hall. A lady rushed by me, and I grabbed her arm.

“Who are you?” I demanded. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m your servant, Miss.” The lady began to tremble. I released her, and smiled.

“Where’s the nearest mall?” I asked eager to start my amazing job.

“Forty miles or so, Miss.” The lady shivered, and walked away. I gritted my teeth.

Dang that evil Grim Reaper Rapper guy!

I headed down in search of my last wish- friends. I found a bunch of nerds in the hall, and walked over to kick them out.

“Hey best buddy!” A guy with big glasses put his arm around me and held out a Chemistry book.

“Look what I got!” He said, excitedly. He began frantically flipping through pages about frog dissection. I clenched my fists, and pushed the guy away from me. I stormed away in disgust.

“GRIM REAPER!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “SAVE ME!”