My Afterlife Realm

When someone passes away, they are given an afterlife of their choosing. A specially tailored realm for them to exist in, and they can visit other people's realms as well. Some people aren't sure what they want, so they have a guide to help them through the process. This guide is a floating silver orb capable of speech.

As my life ended on Earth, my guide stared at me and said, "You led an extraordinarily charitable existence. There's something different that you might be interested in that I don't get to recommend often."

The guide explained the idea, and I took a great liking to it. I decided to go with the guide's suggestion.

I spend my time wandering through hills of luscious grassland with various trees and flowers in my afterlife realm. Standing at the top of it all, the distance is filled with colorful peonies, rose bushes, marigolds, petunias, and lavender, just to name a few. There's also a forest filled with pines, redwoods, sequoias, and elms. Birds merrily chirping to one another adds to the serenity.

Sometimes I have friends and family who visit me as they enter the afterlife. My younger brother recently paid me a visit and said, "How come you live here? It's so boring! You can have anything you'd want in the afterlife. My realm is a castle I created with my own imagination. Why do you have this?" He shares the sentiment of every visitor I have. While it may seem unoriginal, I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my realm.

I devoted my life to helping other people, and I didn't realize at the time how much of an impact it would have. It just seemed like the right thing to do. I was blessed with health and moderate fortune, and I wanted to help. Donating blood, giving away clothes, teaching people how to read, building houses for the less fortunate, and giving money to medical research were just some of the things I had done. It all had an incredible influence. Even though I didn't always meet the person who received my help, I knew it was the best thing to do.

Each plant, flower, and tree contains a soul's story of someone I helped. I can put my hand up to a tree and hear the tale of how my blood donation saved another person's life. They tell me how grateful they were for my kindness, and I can listen to how they lived and had a newfound appreciation for living. The stories go on and on. Sometimes the charities I gave to had an extensive reach because of my donation. The stories never grow old, and it fills me with warmth.

My brother looked at me with a frown. "I'm sorry I called your afterlife boring. I didn't realize how it was so special."

"No need to apologize," I said.

I take him to a marigold flower and put his hand on a petal. A story reaches his ear.

"Thank you for teaching me how to read and write. It was brutal learning as an adult but well worth it. I finally felt able to get started with my own life and pursue a career as an educator. Because of you, I was able to teach other kids like me and give them a chance that I never had when I was younger."

My brother removes his hand from the flower. "Wow." He turned to me and smiled. "You know, you left a profound impact on my life too."

"I know. You have a tall, proud redwood in my forest."