He stood motionless, unable to make sense of what was happening.
A man was bleeding to death right in front of him. The sight of blood horrified him. He felt his heart racing and his hands shaking uncontrollably.
He looked around at the people around him.
Blank.
No emotions.
The three people standing around the dying man didn't express any emotion. They didn't feel anything at all. They all had an uncanny aura. Their faces were blank, devoid of any feeling.
"Help me."
The man lying in his pool of blood cried. His pleas fell on deaf ears as the three figures continued to stare blankly.
Blank.
No emotion.
Asher kneeled quickly to assess what he could do to help this dying man. He kept looking around at the wound where he was stabbed.
"It's okay. I'll do something."
Asher said, trying to reassure him.
"Somebody call an ambulance."
Asher said it out loud.
He could see from his peripheral vision that nobody had moved.
"What the fuck, guys—"
He said as he turned back up to look at these strangers he had just met.
Smile.
A very disgusting smile had crept onto their faces.
A smile without any actual joy.
A smile where only the ends of their lips are pulled up.
Humans smile not just with their lips but with their eyes too. The muscles under the eyes engage in a genuine smile.
However, these people didn't smile.
To smile in a situation like this.
"Ah, I see now. There's no ambulance in heaven."
---
It was another normal day for Asher, a 35-year-old man who had nothing much going on in his life apart from his work.
He was working in one of the most well-paying sectors of the world.
Investment banking.
He didn't love his job, but he didn't hate it either.
He just realized one day in high school that he was interested in the finance industry and wanted to pursue a career in investment banking.
However, it wasn't that he was interested in the finance industry.
He just got influenced by the saying that "the finance industry pays people a lot."
Was it bad to base his life decisions on other people's opinions?
Yes.
Did he feel bad about it?
Of course not; he was one of the top earners in the industry even though he was young.
The decision to pursue finance was an external influence, but he didn't hate it.
"Ah! I need to hurry."
Asher said as he started to hurry towards the direction of his office building.
"I forgot I had to give some final touches to my financial model before presenting it to the portfolio manager."
He started rushing faster and faster.
With each step, he accelerated more toward the direction of the office building.
As he hurried while crossing the road, he didn't notice one of the cars rushing at full speed and was about to run the traffic light.
The driver quickly tried to slow down the car and applied the emergency brakes but couldn't.
He hit Asher.
It all went blank to him.
"Huh? What? Just a second ago I was running, and now all I can see is the sky?"
Asher had gone blank. His mind is clear.
Adrenaline rushed through his body. Trying to calm his mind. Trying to stop all the pain.
Two people rushed from the footpath and looked down towards his body.
One of the men quickly brought out his phone.
"Hello, there was an accident—"
It was all starting to fade now.
"I understand now."
Asher understood what had happened. He was part of an accident.
He didn't resist much.
He accepted it all.
Asher didn't hate the idea of death. He was at peace with it. He knew death would come for him sooner or later, so it was easier for him to cope with this situation.
"Will I be able to see heaven? Maybe hell? Or reincarnate?"
He was excited. He was an inquisitive person and wanted to know what fate held for him after his death.
Everything slowly started to fade into darkness.
Darker and darker and darker.
Until it was pitch black.
Black was incorrect because nothingness holds no color.
"Would this be described as what a blind person sees?"
"Nothing."
"Is my brain still functioning? Because it seems I can still think."
A loud crashing sound started to reverberate everywhere.
It grew louder and louder each second.
"What the fuck is this noise?"
He thought as he tried to hold his ears closed, only to soon realize he had no hands at all.
The noise grew louder and louder until it stopped.
But with this, it was the end of Asher.
Or rather, the end of his thoughts.
---
A beautiful sky and a fresh atmosphere.
Tall buildings occupied the landscape.
But no vehicles in sight.
There were people, but the population was sparse.
Asher opened his eyes.
Asher stood in the middle of the road. He looked around in awe, taking in the peaceful scene before him.
"Where am I?"
He asked himself loudly. The only sound he could hear was the wind rustling through the trees.