People began to circle around Edwards body, trying to help him. But it was useless; he was dead. He had been run over at very high speeds, and his body was completely crushed. Now it was sinking in. If he had just stopped the mugger, maybe he wouldn't be dead.

3 minutes earlier

A tall and bony man walked through the busy streets of New York. He wore a suit that was snugly fitted to his body and had a badge on the right side of his chest that showed his name, "Edward." He carried a briefcase in his left hand and a cup of coffee in his right. 

The cup was emitting a nice warmth which was especially beneficial since winter was nearing. But Edward couldn't sip on his coffee just yet. As he was scared he might burn his mouth when he took a sip so, he was waiting for it to cool down. As Edward kept walking, he passed a homeless man holding a sign that read. 

"Anything will help."

Edward felt pity for him, but for some reason, he didn't give the man any money, even though he had some change in his pocket from the coffee he bought just minutes ago. As he kept walking, he saw a woman being mugged by someone. The mugger was pulling on the woman's purse while the woman was fighting to keep it. 

"GIVE IT HERE!" The mugger yelled.

Edward didn't agree with what the mugger was doing, and he could have stopped him, but he didn't and just kept walking.

As Edward took a few more steps, he realized his coffee had probably gotten cool enough to drink. So, Edward brought the cup to his face, and just as he was about to take a sip. A car hit him. It had lost control when someone ran right into the middle of the road. That someone was the same mugger who was trying to escape after stealing the woman's purse.

People began to circle around Edwards body, trying to help him. But it was useless; he was dead. He had been run over at very high speeds, and his body was completely crushed. Now it was sinking in. If he had just stopped the mugger, maybe he wouldn't be dead.

But wait... if he was dead, how was he thinking? Was he really dead, or was he somehow still alive? As time passed, Edward's eyes started opening up. Edward expected to be in a hospital bed or maybe an ambulance, but to his surprise, he woke up to neither of those things.

"You're not dead... well, at least not anymore."

Edward's eyes flickered open, and the first thing he saw was a crow, staring right at his face.

"What?!" Edward flinched back "Are you?" he pointed at the crow in disbelief.

"Yes," the crow replied calmly. "I am a talking crow."

"How?" Edward questioned

"We're in the afterlife. Anything's possible here."

"The afterlife?" Edward said "So, is this heaven? Not quite what I imagined."

He looked around. The place was bleak, like a desert, except it was devoid of life. The sand beneath him was gray, the sky was white, and the clouds were black. There wasn't a single sign of life. It felt like an empty void.

"This isn't heaven and It isn't hell either. This place is 'Nec' a realm between the two, where people like you end up." the crow said, pointing directly at Edward.

"People like me? What did I do?" Edward asked, still on the ground, completely confused.

"No, no, no. You're here because of what you didn't do—not what you did do."

Edward frowned, still not understanding.

"Edward, throughout your life, you never truly went out of your way to do good but you also never went out your way to do bad."

The crow continued. "When we judge whether someone goes to heaven or hell, we do it with a scale. One side of the scale is for good deeds, and the other for bad. If your good deeds outweigh the bad, you go to heaven. If the bad outweighs the good, well, then..."

"But In your case Edward, both sides of your scale are empty." 

"But that's where Nec comes in." the crow said, staring directly at Edward with its glowing red eyes. "People like you who are neither good nor bad must prove they're worthy to enter into heaven."

"How do I prove myself worthy?" Edward questioned.

"Nobody truly knows." the crow said "But don't worry, I'll be here to help you for however long you remain here."

Edward began to stand up, still shaken, and looked around the desolate landscape. The gray sand stretched endlessly, and in the distance, he could make out a few dead trees. Everything seemed drained of color, life, and hope. Edward smacked himself in the face, believing he was dreaming or possibly in a coma. But to his surprise, nothing happened.

"Is this….real?"