"Dang! Is this how people die?"
"So, this is how Arthur Fang dies at the hand of lowly scumbags, huh!" with these last thoughts filled with disappointment, self-reproach, mockery and regret Arthur Fang drifts away into a sea of unconsciousness.
"No, I don't want to die, Arthur Fang never gives up," screamed Arthur and woke up from his dream-like state.
"Where am I?"
"Dang! Why is it so dark and quiet?"
"What! Didn't I die? Oh, God! I can see, I can feel, I'm not dead, I'm still alive...Wow! I'm so alive.
"Arthur, you were shot by a gun, you have a big hole on your chest, living after this doesn't make any sense, use your damn brain Arthur, use logic", like always, a part of him which questions himself every time reasoned out a rational argument.
"No, it doesn't make sense. If I'm dead how can I be talking to myself."
"Hmm, let me check my chest wound first. What? I don't see my body. Where is my body? I cannot feel my body at all. I don't even have a body! I'm surely dead," his mind was on a roller coaster and he surely wasn't enjoying it at all.
"Let me take a deep breath and adjust my mind, panicking won't help at all. What the heck! I cannot even breathe I'm not alive. Forget it, let me figure things out slowly," he calmed himself.
"First, I have died and this is my soul talking. So, death is not the ultimate end after all."
"I see, this is consciousness. I can feel my presence everywhere, I can see the in and outs of everything about my life, even those of my own life experience which I didn't remember well or be aware of, everything that occurred in my life is crystal clear. Surely, the awareness of my being in this state is up to the fullest form."
"Is this a kind of Nirvana that Buddha talked about, the consciousness of the soul, the ultimate liberation from every illusion?"
"No, it cannot be... This is not a liberation, I feel like I am trapped in this eternal darkness, all alone with no sense of time. No, there is no concept of time, this is eternity," helplessness and void filled him. It was totally disturbing and frustrating to spend an existence like this, a complete hellish experience with no sense of beginning and ending.. Isolated in darkness for eternity. "Didn't they say that a ferryman would come and pick your soul up on a boat and cross the river Styx or Yellow springs? Is it because the last rites of my dead body are not performed yet? How long am I supposed to wait?"
"Forget it, I don't have any answers."
"Wait, let me see through...There should be Heaven and Hell."
As soon as he thought that he saw both the said places. One was filled with constant bliss and the other, a perpetual torment. It was just a kind of revelation or dream-like vision but he felt the experiences of both places. Well, not the actual experiences of those places but more like a part of his consciousness knew everything under heaven. It was a feeling of omniscience that he felt and not the actual knowledge of every knowledge under the heaven. His gaze towards Heaven was repelled immediately, he only felt that it was very much better than life on earth and he knew he does not deserve to enter that place.
He realized then that his place surely belongs to hell and he shuddered. It was the scariest thing he ever saw in his life. Hell was filled with fire, brimstone and lava erupting everywhere but it was filled with complete darkness. The darkness was so heavy and overpowering that light from the fire and lava seemed so dim and pale. Even, his consciousness suffered by those brief sights he gazed upon.
Luckily, he was still caged inside his little world of darkness which was much better compared to the gloominess of hell itself.
"Hmpf! Since I'm not inside Heaven or Hell am I in someplace where souls are supposed to be for a time being? A resting place before some kind of trial and judgement? Well, this place is much better than hell but it is nonetheless creeping me out, I'm getting a very bad feeling. I must escape from this dreadful place, I cannot spend my whole being in this horrible darkness for eternity."
"Maybe I'm not dead yet. What if I have become a vegetable lying in some hospital bed and still breathing? It is possible, perhaps I'm dead but my soul has not yet separated from my body or maybe I'm in a coma that's why my soul is in a state of limbo."
"Yes, I think I may be able to go back to my body. I have seen documentaries and read about the near-death experiences of many people. I just have to find a white light or tunnel of light and follow it." Renewing himself with hope and anticipations Arthur then spread his consciousness towards the surrounding darkness. Extending his awareness in every direction. It was the same everywhere; dark, empty and endless. He felt that his consciousness was reaching a threshold; the absoluteness of soul and a barrier where he could not expand anymore. It was like he was absorbing the darkness itself and becoming the darkness himself. But, even after consuming and merging with darkness, the expected light that is supposed to come was nowhere to be seen leading him to be a little aggrieved. Having no option of doing anything he tried reaching out more and more which felt like same as ever without any change. It was just a bizarre sensation, fully awake and sharply aware of everything, which is only darkness and solitude. Everything is past, present and future at the same time. It was like rotating inside a loop without motion. Then, suddenly the darkness enveloping him started to disappear into his body. It was like sucking all the darkness away and without darkness around his vicinity he felt like his whole being is exposed to light perceiving nakedness and was blinded by an extremely bright flash of light.
"Is my darkness purified? Why do I feel the pureness of light?"
Then he felt a strong suction towards the bright light, he discerned he was saved, he has come back to life.
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