There once was a boy named David. David used to be a happy boy; full of joy and happiness. However due to events that we shall not speak of yet, David was no longer happy. Instead, he was sad. Some would even say angry.
David was staying with Miss May one night because his Daddy had to work and Miss May always read to David and made him cookies. She also believed in a good hygiene routine before a prompt bedtime.
So David would have to take a bath, brush his teeth, comb his hair, dress in his pajamas.
Then, it never failed, Missy May would make him kneel with her before he could go to bed and would ask him to say prayers with her.
But, no matter how often Miss May tried to make young David say his prayers, he would refuse. Miss May would ask him why and David would simply reply
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
One particular night after this usual routine, Miss May went to her own bedroom, and just as she always did, she prayed for the soul of the young boy in the room across the hall. Only this time, she said to the sky
“Please, show him what will happen if he won’t talk to you. I fear I can no longer be the sole contributor to this cause. Help him. I beg you.”
David soon fell fast asleep curled up with his stuffed wolf and stuffed lion. Both were gifts to him from his Aunt and Uncle. He often slept with these two toys, not sure why.
David was sure he was dreaming and yet he felt that he was not, because he was suddenly standing beside his bed looking down upon himself. As he pondered this mystery, a voice came from the darkness and said:
David, I am Death. I will be your guide through the first part of your journey tonight to show you what will happen to you if you do not open your heart again and begin to pray. Follow me.
David turned and saw a great hooded figure. The figure turned and led David into the shadows; David took one last look at his body lying curled with his favorite stuffed animals, sighed, turned and followed Death into the dark.
They walked for a time through what appeared to be a deep, dark, and vast forest. The trees seemed so ancient that David could have sworn they were whispering amongst themselves. They were so dense that the moon’s beams could barely twinkle between the heavy canopies. David didn’t really know why he had come with Death on this journey, but he didn’t dwell on these thoughts. He always had his mind somewhere else.
They came to the bottom of a great mountain. It rose so high that David was sure it reached into space and beyond. There was an old wooden door built into the side of the mountain with a sign above that David couldn’t read because it was in a language he did not know or understand.
Death turned then to David and said
You must now follow me, for I am to show you where you will go if you refuse to be good, say your prayers, and open your heart. Once this part of the journey ends, I will then turn you over to your next guide. Be prepared, for what you are about to see within is not for the faint of heart, and is especially not for so young a child.
David followed without saying a word.
They passed first through a large room, full of people who seemed to be lost. They were muttering to themselves and when David tried to get a better look or hear them… they seemed to vanish and the next would take their place. He often heard crying of small children but couldn’t seem to find them.
Death then walks to a lake on the opposite side of the room where he tells David to step into a small boat. A man is standing there that seems familiar to David and yet he cannot decide from where, and they begin to cross the lake.
Death turns to David and says
The room we left was for those who never really had the chance or choice to be good or bad, or to believe. If you choose to be neither good nor bad, that is where you will go. Choose now, and you could be saved and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
David replies
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
Death said nothing more until they crossed the lake. He led David to a room where many great poets and artists from before the time of Christ were standing. They were arguing in languages David did not understand and David simply continued walking.
Death then said to David
This is the first level of Hell, where those who never knew him have gone. If you choose to be ignorant, that is where you will go. Choose now, and you could be saved and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
David replies
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
Death said nothing more and they continued on into the next room. This happened several more times, each room filled with new horrors of pain and torment. Screams of agony and tears beyond measure. Each time Death would say
If you refuse to repent and open your heart, you could end up here. Choose now, and you could be saved and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
And always, David would reply
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
They finally entered what David counted to be the 9th room. In here a great and beautiful man stood offering a feast to David. However when he raised the cover of the three plates which were to hold the feast, on each plate sat a man that David had never seen.
The man sat down, raised his fork, plunged it into the man on the first dish, then put him in his mouth and began to chew. He repeated this until each man was in his mouth and he was chewing away at them. David then noticed that the man was sitting on a chair made completely of ice and that the table, the chairs and everything were all ice and that he was actually stuck in the ice. David heard the men screaming in agony and finally Death spoke again.
These men were the worst of all betrayers and they are forever condemned to a life of being eaten by the worst of all. The Angel who betrayed him. Repent now, and you will never have to face the horrors of this everlasting feast.
And, as he had done before throughout the journey, David simply replied
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
Death then led David from the room and to a stairwell. They climbed for a very long time until they came to an opening in the mountain but the stairs did not cease to climb.
Up and up and up they went until they came to a beautiful gold and silver door with rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and all sorts of precious jewels adorning it. The handle was made of a beautiful white opal. A man stood beside the door holding a book bound by the same designs.
Then Death spoke
David, this is where I leave you. This guide will take you on the final part of your journey. I do hope that in the end you will choose differently.
Then Death disappeared, leaving David alone with the man and the book.
Shall we, David?
They went through the gates and came to a great hall where people cheered as they saw David. People who looked very familiar but all different. He saw famous people of the past, ancestors, family members who had passed away. But with every face he saw, he still didn’t see the one that mattered most.
Finally, the man with the book said to him
See David, if you choose to embrace the maker of this afterlife, you will see all those who left before you. You will feel love, warmth and happiness. Is this not the world in which you wish to be?
David, sighing, simply said as he had told Death and Miss May
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
And so they continued. David saw a great many things on this part of the journey that no one would ever believe. He saw Angels flying to and fro, a Lion sleeping with a lamb, he saw great Kings and Queens and other people as they passed him. He saw all the Saints, then he even saw a large throne room where a King sat along with what looked to be a prince next to him and they smiled and David felt warmth. He then saw the Queen by their side and David suddenly felt the longing yet again but not to be here with these people.
The man with the book said to him
David, I know you feel the warmth, the love, the peace and tranquility that is here. Though you are still alive and mortal you cannot feel it completely, but you will one day if you choose this. Accept the King and his Queen, accept their sacrifices for you, accept his son who you know of through the stories. He gave up everything so that this place could be for you. Repent, and earn your place in this grandest of places.
Despite the beauty and the warmth and the love, David said, yet again
“No, thank you. I would rather not.”
Then the images all faded away and David was back in his bed. The next day Miss May took David home and when he got there, he grabbed his piggy bank, emptied it and put the money in his pocket. He went outside and grabbed his bike then rode down to the local flower shop where he bought a single beautiful crimson rose. He continued his journey down the block until he entered the city graveyard and went inside. He rode deep until he found the gravestone. He parked his bike and walked to it. It was a carving of a beautiful Angel underneath the shade of a willow tree. Old dead roses were lying on the ground beside it. He brushed them away and placed the new rose and stood staring at the stone.
He then heard a voice behind him and he turned and there stood an old man, possibly the graveyard keeper. The old man said,
So, young man, here again? I see you here very often and I have to ask you, why would you spend your days here in a sad place rather than out playing ball, watching TV, going to the movies and being with friends? Living! Not sitting day in and day out with the dead. This place is no place for a good boy.
David looked at the man, then back down at the stone. After a few minutes of silence and he said,
“Everyone asks me why I won’t do so many things. I won’t pray, I won’t play, I won’t go to church, I won’t repent… and my reasons are this. I don’t want to go to Heaven because my Mother isn’t there. She isn’t here on earth, she isn’t living and breathing and so there is nowhere here on earth I want to be because she is not there. She took her life and according to all the good people in the world this was bad and now she is wandering alone in a room talking nonsense to herself in a room in Hell. I saw here there last night though I did not let Death, or the Man with the book know. So no, I do not want to go anywhere or do anything, I do not want to repent and earn a place in heaven because to me, the only heaven I ever felt was in the arms of my mother. My mother is dead, a suicide you see. So, no, thank-you, but I’d rather not. I’ll sit here every day until I can join her because she was everything to me.”
It began to rain.