This story is the result of a chat conversation I had with a friend of mine, Phoenix the Hedgehog. For some reason, we got onto the subject of pain and death, and I began to tell this story to him. Though I've done some editing, this story is still in chat-room format.
Yuoo says: Once upon a time, Phoenix was walking along the street.
Phoenix says: Oh boy, me in a story.
Yuoo says: He noticed a little kid in the street, and a big truck was coming.
Yuoo says: He ran out into the street and pushed the kid out of the way.
Yuoo says: He got hit by the truck.
Yuoo says: He flew several feet, and he lie there, bleeding.
Yuoo says: It hurt.
Yuoo says: It was a lot different than he thought it would be.
Phoenix says: :-(
Yuoo says: I mean, sure it hurt like crazy, but unlike the times in his imagination.
Yuoo says: There was no fear or worry.
Yuoo says: The worry and fear was the worst part of it all.
Phoenix says: Okay I didn't get hurt much, but I`m still dead! He yells into the street.
Yuoo says: Slowly, Phoenix's lungs filled with blood. He felt himself drowning.
Phoenix says: :-(
Yuoo says: Of course, it was scary and unpleasant, but he didn't really think about that.
Phoenix says: How could you?!
Yuoo says: Suddenly, something strange began to happen.
Yuoo says: As Phoenix's heart began to slow down, he had the strange sensation that, things were not quite real.
Yuoo says: Phoenix noticed that the view he was seeing with his eyes was beginning to be covered with static, like a TV screen.
Yuoo says: Then, he realized it was a TV screen or something like it!!
Yuoo says: By now, all of the pain was gone, but now he was feeling something else.
Yuoo says: Cloth.
Yuoo says: Phoenix realized that he was lying in a bed.
Phoenix says: ?????????????????????????????
Yuoo says: He reached out with his hand.
Phoenix says: The next thing he says is, "Am I dead?"
Yuoo says: A voice laughs and answers, "Actually, this is the first day you've been alive."
Yuoo says: You hear someone walk toward you and remove a mask that was over your face.
Phoenix says: [Reincarnation?]
Yuoo says: You realize that this mask was a virtual-reality TV screen.
Yuoo says: You look at the guy and you can tell that he's an angel, though he looks nothing like what you see on TV.
Phoenix says: [never the heck mind]
Yuoo says: From what you can tell, you've just been brought out of some kind of virtual-reality coma.
Yuoo says: You've been unplugged from some kind of matrix thing.
Yuoo says: You get up on your feet.
Yuoo says: "How long have I been lying there?"
Yuoo says: The angel answers, "You've been in that bed for your entire life."
Yuoo says: "You're in heaven now."
Yuoo says: You look, and you see lots of other people, still with their matrix-jack gear on.
Phoenix says: [This is a very diffrent prespective of heaven.]
Yuoo says: [Oh, this is a nice, pretty place, by the way.]
Yuoo says: You ask, "Who are all these people?"
Phoenix says: [unlike the matrix world]
Yuoo says: The angel answers, "These are all the people who are still 'alive' in the world you just came from, Earth."
Yuoo says: "Many years ago, when Adam and Eve sinned, it brought all of humanity into a coma."
Yuoo says: "Their minds and souls were corrupted, but God had a plan for them."
Yuoo says: "He placed them in a 'ficticious' world."
Yuoo says: "But, anything that God thinks of isn't ficticious. It's real. After all, he is God."
Yuoo says: "You see, this world, the place you call 'Heaven,' is really the real world.
Yuoo says: "The world you just came out of is--well, it's real to those who live in it, but it was not your final home."
Phoenix says: "Hey do you have D.D.R. [Dance Dance Revolution] in heaven?"
Phoenix sais as he jumps up on his feet.
Yuoo says: The angel replies, "Are you kidding me?! The DDR you have on earth is like an Atari compared to what we have here.
Yuoo says: "With enough practice, you might make the #2 highest score."
Phoenix says: Oh goody!
Yuoo says: "God has the record for #1."
Yuoo says: [Of course God plays DDR. I mean, it only makes sense.]
Phoenix says: [I suppose so.]
Yuoo says: [Back to the serious part of the story; it won't take too long.]
Phoenix says: [Ok.]
Yuoo says: You look at the other people in the beds.
Yuoo says: "What's going to happen to them?"
Phoenix says: *looks*
Yuoo says: "As I said, the soul of every person is infected with a virus."
Yuoo says: "We can't disconnect them until their system is free of all contamination."
Yuoo says: "Some people are better than others, but no one is completely clean. No one can get out of the coma by themselves."
Yuoo says: "Guess how they get rid of the virus."
Phoenix says: "How? I'm clueless."
Yuoo says: "Two thousand years ago, Jesus logged himself into the matrix, your world."
Yuoo says: "On a hill called Calvary, he allowed is system file to be corrupted by the virus, and eventually destroyed."
Yuoo says: "The virus thought it had won, but..."
Yuoo says: "Jesus died in the matrix, but in the process he destroyed the virus's power over it."
Yuoo says: "Three days later, he came back to life.
Phoenix says: "Clean...I guess, of the virus?"
Yuoo says: "He disconnected himself from the matrix, and made his way to his Father."
Yuoo says: "Since he had overcome the virus, only he has the power to cleanse those who are still in the matrix."
Yuoo says: "Some people allow themselves to be made anew. You are one of them."
Yuoo says: "That is why you were able to wake up when you did."
Yuoo says: "Other people..."
Yuoo says: You hear a beeping sound.
Phoenix says: *ear twiches*
Phoenix says: *turns head towards noise*
Yuoo says: You look at one of the people, and on the computer monitor, it says, "Danger: virus destroyed this person completely." The angel tries to save him, but it's too late. Since his mind and soul are gone, his body dies.
Yuoo says: "Some people make it. Some people don't."
Phoenix says: "So that is real death? No body, no mind...no conscience whatsoever?"
Yuoo says: [Well, this is just a story.]
Yuoo says: [I'm not going to lay down the law about hell or anything, but whatever hell is, it's something that's away from God.]
Yuoo says: [Sorry, am I scaring you?]
Yuoo says: [Please don't let me depress you.]
Phoenix says: "Is...i-is it possible to see what, you know, others are going though in their life--I mean matrix?"
Yuoo says: The angel replies, "Well, we're not really supposed to, but I won't tell if you won't." [just kidding]
Yuoo says: "Is there anyone in particular you want to see?"
Phoenix says: "Well...for one my brother....he..he and I used to get along really well, and I wanted to know how he would take my....death..."
Yuoo says: The angel is about to put a TV screen over your eyes, but then he says, "Hey, you were born during the time period when that Matrix movie came out on Earth, weren't you?"
Phoenix says: "I guess so."
Yuoo says: "Cool, that's my favorite movie! Let's do this the Matrix way." The angel snaps his fingers, and the TV mask is replaced with a Matrix-style head-jack.
Phoenix says: O boy...
Yuoo says: *Schlock!* The angel drives the jack into the back of your head (into the hole you didn't notice before).
Phoenix says: "How is this gonna work? Am I gonna be someone, or am I not seen?"
Yuoo says: Immediately, you find yourself back on Earth. Well, actually your not on Earth; you're above it...
Yuoo says: Imagine that the three dimentions that you and I [the storytellers] live in are just a tiny portion of what exists, sort of like a single page from a book.
Yuoo says: You are "above" the Earth right now. When I say "above," I mean that you're standing outside of the three dimentions you used to live in.
Phoenix says: ok.
Yuoo says: You discover you can walk in and out of these dimentions at will.
Yuoo says: It's like reading a book. If you want to, you can look at page 1, or page 234.
Yuoo says: But, you're only interesting in the page with your brother on it.
Yuoo says: Since you're outside of the laws of physics, you can understand how they work, and you can manipulate them, except that you don't because you might mess something up.
Yuoo says: You flip over to your brother, sitting in his room listening to music.
Yuoo says: [What is the name of your "brother" here?]
Phoenix says: [Storm the Hedgehog]
Yuoo says: [Oh, we're in the furrie world. Cool. I'll call Jesus "Aslan" from now on.]
Phoenix says: [Ok.]
Yuoo says: At first, you look at Storm on the surface. He seems like he usually does.
Yuoo says: Then, you look inside him. I mean, you don't look at what he had for lunch today (although you have this ability), I mean, you can see the machine of his mind, all of the parts moving and working.
Yuoo says: You see all the things in his past that make him who he is.
Yuoo says: You see every person who ever yelled at him or hit him.
Yuoo says: You see every person who was his friend.
Yuoo says: You see...
Yuoo says: [You have to fill in the next part because this is your "brother," not mine.]
Phoenix says: Phoenix watched Storm's thoughts, yet he did not dare control him.
Phoenix says: He didn`t seem to notice anything diffrent in his mind but someone was about to change that; he could feel it.
Phoenix says: Phoenix used Storm's ears to listen all around him.
Phoenix says: There was a radio going.
Phoenix says: Maybe a television.
Phoenix says: and something else,
Phoenix says: a door bell.
Phoenix says: He felt storm get up and walk towards the door.
Phoenix says: It was extremely difficult to not control the movements himself.
Phoenix says: He opened the door to see a person standing in the rain looking very glum.
Phoenix says: "May I help you sir?" asked Storm. The person answered, "If it is ok, may I come in?"
Phoenix says: Storm looked at him up and down and slowly nodded and opened the door further to let the stranger in.
Phoenix says: He politely hung his coat and took off his shoes.
Phoenix says: "Is there anything you may want to drink or eat?" Storm asked, "I have soda in the fridge if you want," Storm said as he walked towards the kitchen.
Phoenix says: "That won`t be necessary."
Phoenix says: "What do you mean?" asked Storm very puzzeled as he turned around to face the figure.
Phoenix says: "I have come to bring you bad news." Yuoo says: [Ohhh....]
Phoenix says: "Please...have a seat."
Phoenix says: "It`s...Phoenix..." said the person who now looked at Storm in the eyes.
Phoenix says: "My brother? but what-" "He`s dead."
Phoenix says: Phoenix was almost thrown off track by the sudden emotion change that occured in Storm's mind.
Phoenix says: It was a wierd time, first the feelings were clear and easy to read, but now it was like static in a TV.
Phoenix says: Phoenix almost didn`t want to find out what Storm was really thinking.
Phoenix says: Storm suddenly broke into an unsteady laugh.
Phoenix says: "You`re kidding me right?"
Phoenix says: "No..."
Phoenix says: Storm started shaking even though it wasn`t cold. "Would you like me to leave? you seem to need some time alone..." Storm looked up at this person. "First...who are you?"
Phoenix says: Phoenix suddenly remembered this person. "My name is Ray the Wolf. I was a good friend of your brother. It was hard for me to realize that his death was real...I`m going through the same things you are right now. Although it doesn`t look like it, on the inside I feel the same." Ray put his hand on Storm's shoulder for a second, then got up and left.
Phoenix says: At the same time, phoenix left and his eyes opened to look at the angel back in heaven.
Phoenix says: [back to you and me]
Phoenix says: [I almost never get tired of this by the way.]
Yuoo says: At this point, the angel, whose name is Yuoo, looked over at Phoenix.
Yuoo says: [Fennec angel, yippie!]
Yuoo says: Phoenix asked, "What's going to happen to Storm?"
Yuoo says: "Well, if you want to know, just follow the story, and see what happens, but I will tell you this..."
Yuoo says: [the story meaning, looking into Earth's future]
Yuoo says: "In all things, Aslan works them out toward good, for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Yuoo says: "Aslan knows where Storm's decisions will take him, so he made Storm to be who he is."
Yuoo says: Phoenix asked, "So what now?"
Yuoo says: Yuoo replied, "Well, first of all, take a look at yourself."
Yuoo says: Yuoo pointed Phoenix towards a mirror. Phoenix looked and saw...
Yuoo says: himself...
Yuoo says: and himself, and himself. You see, his body was no longer just a product of the world around him, a product of the decisions he made.
Yuoo says: [I'm trying to say that Phoenix, though he was still "himself," he is now much larger and more complete of a person he was before.]
Phoenix says: [I see. Go on.]
Yuoo says: Imagine being an earthworm or an aemoba.
Yuoo says: Although it is very small, you have some sort of mind. Some sort of thinking goes on (however tiny), or else you wouldn't be a living creature.
Yuoo says: Now, imagine that you suddenly become a human. [or an anthropomorphic hedgehog, in Phoenix's case]
Yuoo says: Deep down, you still have the very core of who you were before, but you now have a vast army of resources, abilities, and substance to call upon, to call your own.
Yuoo says: As C.S. Lewis will say in the last Narnia book [sorry for the spoiler], what you were before is merely a flat shadow of who you are now.
Yuoo says: Now, to all the people who are reading our story, you might be saying,
Yuoo says: "Boy, that's a nice, surreal, happy ending, but it doesn't seem real. What does Phoenix do all day now, sit on a cloud and think about the Universe?"
Phoenix says: [Yeah, what do I do?]
Yuoo says: Well, Phoenix now does whatever he wants.
Phoenix says: [PLAY DDR!]
Yuoo says: Phoenix plays DDR, but what is more,
Yuoo says: he now gets to experience something.
Phoenix says: [Death?]
Yuoo says: [no]
Phoenix says: [sorry]
Phoenix says: [I got carried away.]
Yuoo says: [That was funny though.]
Yuoo says: When people dance or play DDR, they do it to be free. They do it to turn their body into a moving, rythmic work of art. On a limited scale, they achieve this.
Phoenix says: [......I never thought of it that way....]
Yuoo says: Phoenix, however, when he plays DDR, his dance is infinately more a work of art, his true soul being set aflame.
Phoenix says: [Oh it doesn`t consume my soul,]
Phoenix says: [and i`m not THAT good.]
Yuoo says: [By "set aflame," I mean that your heart is glowing, full of energy.]
Phoenix says: [true]
Yuoo says: What I'm saying is, when you do something (like play DDR) on this world, you only get a small piece of joy or pleasure in return for all the footwork you do. In heaven, whatever you do, you receive the joy or pleasure (or whatever the right words is) in its purest form.
Phoenix says: [Coolieo!]
Yuoo says: [Yeah.]
Yuoo says: [I'm borrowing a lot from the Narnia series.]
The chat continues a while, but the story ends here.