Abhratamakya Jarimah

A Chapter by S.G.Burns

Chapter 2

"Oh, That ... well there's something you should know about Limbo ... " Miyako said in a sad voice.

She paused to think on how to tell Charlene about the chain. Charlene was getting anxious, "Well?! What?!"

"God tests you when you first get into limbo. Have you ever heard of the afterlife?" Miyako asked in a serious tone.

"It's egyptian. I've heard of it!" She said hystarically.

"Well, in Limbo, to prove your worthy to join God and his heavenly angels, you must first go through a series of tests. The first test you have is to accept your dead. And if you don't, the chain will eat your heart, and you will be sent to hell."

"What? What kind of a test is that?"

"It's just like an alcoholic in an A.A. meeting. It is a sin to not accept your wrongs. If you can't accept your an alcoholic, then you wont ever get any better then you already are. It's the same with accepting your fate, if you can't accept the fact your here in limbo, then you'll never succeed in being with our lord, and if you can't accept the fact that your dead, then you'd might as well live in grief down with Satan." Miyako explained.

"Okay okay, then I agree. I accept I'm dead! Now get this thing off me!" Charlene exclaimed.

"Your not meaning it. You must accept it in your heart, not to just get the chain off you. If you lie, then you're still no better then you are."

"Well how long do I have until it eats me?"

"However long Death wants you to continue on. No one knows when their time is up, but Death knows everything."

"Death?" Miyako asked. She hadn't seen death before, let alone seen him in her sleep. Did it touch her? Why was it her time?

"Yes, Death isn't what you think. He's not some skeleton in a black robe known as the "grim reaper", he's actually a very kind man! It's not the fact that he's bad, and it's not the fact that he chooses to kill. He's offering redemption. No one knows when 'Their Time' is, only Death. And he chooses when he thinks you deserve a better life. Natural disasters causing death, Suicide, even in your sleep. He chooses when you die. If you were to jump off a building to commit suicide, you wouldn't die, even when you hit the ground. When you fall onto the pavement below, Death draws an line on your forehead with purified oil, and however long he makes that line, is how long you have until the chain eats your heart. But for the person who commits suicide, he just taps your forehead, so when you first get into limbo, you get sent to hell. instantly."

"So when does my chain die out?" Charlene exclaimed.

"Only Death knows. He's the one that drew your line. He's the ruler of Limbo. So he chooses when your time is up. But heed this warning ... even if you pass this test, you'll have a series of other tests. Not too many people pass these tests. You must do the tests, and if you don't complete them, then you'll be sent to the fallen angel. But if you succeed to prove your worth ... everlasting life with God, will be your reward."

"And how exactly do you know that?" Charlene was starting to think Miyako was full of herself.

"That is a secret, young Charlene."

Charlene gasped, "Whoa! How did you know my name?" 'So Cliché' she thought to herself ...

Miyako looked into her eyes, that pierced into her soul it seemed, and she said, "that is a secret that you may never know."

Charlene thought she was absolutely crazy. This proved it. Then it hit her, something she never bothered asking before, "If you know all of this, then why are you still here? Why aren't you doing your test? Where is your chain?"

Miyako looked down at her chest, holding above her heart. She looked up, only for a second into Charlene's eyes, and just silently walked away. Charlene looked down, as she felt completely like an idiot.

"Wait! Miyako!" But, it was too late, when Charlene called out, it was like Miyako disappeared into thin air, no where to be seen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, since Miyako obviously wasn't coming back for a while, Charlene decided to walk about the village, looking for more answers. Such as the purple trees, the blue volcanoes in the distance, and the red kangaroos that acted like Dolphins, until someone toppled over her.

"There! Now your decent" a young man said.

"Excuse me?! What did you just do? I could've broken my arm!" Charlene yelled. She stopped to look at herself. The young man had dressed her up with another robe, considering she were still naked. Her cheeks grew red, as she completely forgot she had even done that.

"I'm sorry about that, here, let me help you back up off the ground." The young man took her by the arm, and carefully lifted her off the ground. Charlene was scanning him up and down. She had never seen someone like this before. His skin was in a brown color, and his eyes were red. He had short, white hair, and he was very tall. He seemed to have a serious look on his face, as if Charlene had just insulted him somehow.

"Thanks bud. What's your name?"

"Abhratamakya Jarimah"

Charlene was totally lost, "umm ... I think I'm just going to call you A.J." as she smiled nervously.

"Alright, I suppose that's fine with me." A.J. told her.

"So, how did you die?" Charlene asked him, feeling very silly.

"Well, I was hunting in the woods looking for food for my family, when all of a sudden, this huge object came in from the sky, and landed on me. It had the words, 'U.S.A.' on them. I'm not too sure what that means exactly, but it must be a killing machine. I just hope it does not go for my family, and that my family is safe." A.J. had said, in a weary voice.

'oh boy, U.S.A., they must've set their shuttle ontop of him by mistake. Probably not realizing he were there ...' she thought to herself.

"So where did you live?" Charlene asked.

"I lived in Yohan Stiffleir" A.J. pronounced.

"Oh boy, let me guess, you come from Venus, right?" Charlene questioned in a sarcastice voice.

"Venus? I don't even know what that is, lady."

"You know, a planet? That's in the milky way galaxy?" Charlene was starting to sound like Miyako, acting all smart.

"Oh, yes, planet. I live on Pluto. I just figured that's where everyone lived ... " A.J. explained.

"Ohh boy, bud, you've got a lot to learn. For instance, I come from planet Earth, and that U.S.A. thing that landed ontop of you was from my planet. They must've been trying to find new life on other planets. It's called a Shuttle Craft, but I can only guess that your planet haven't gotten into that kind of technology quite yet ..." Charlene explained.

"No, I suppose not. We've never seen anything like that, I'm sure of." A.J. pronounced sadly.

Charlene figured it was time to change the subject, "So, how long have you been here?"

"I'm not too sure to be honest with you ... All I know is that I'm here, and now I don't know where to go."

"Well, what about that chain in your chest?" Charlene asked.

"Oh, That has disappeared. It was totally random. I have no idea why it was there, but it's gone now, and I'm glad my skin's back to normal. Although ... " A.J. had drifted off in thought.

"Although what?" Charlene was really getting interested in this guy, for reasons she didn't know of.

"Although I don't know what to do next. A girl with blonde hair had told me I'm in limbo, but I don't even know what this 'limbo' is. All she said was that there were a series of tests, but I don't know who to talk to to do these tests." he explained.

"Oh, well, apparentally, limbo is a place where people go when they die. Some people believe you go straight to heaven, and others believe you just sleep in death. But I guess when you die, you go to limbo, which is sort of a judging place. If you pass these tests, you go to heaven to live with God and Jesus I guess, and if you fail, you go spend the rest of eternity with Satan. Or the Devil. Or whatever you call him." Charlene explained.

"Ah, that makes sense." A.J. said in a disbelieving tone, "So, then if I'm being judged, where do I go now?"

"You know, I'm not to sure ..."

Charlene figured that if this guy didn't even know where he was, she guessed that he had no idea what was with the purple trees and what-not. But where was Miyako? Where did she wander off to? Did she say something that made her upset? Well she must've said something or else she wouldn't have walked away like that. And she was saying something about 'death'. She wondered where she could find him. And what about her chain? Shouldn't it be gone already? She already knew she was dead, so why is it still there? She had so many questions that she needed answers to, but if half the people here didn't know anything, then she'd be wandering around in limbo just like everyone else. As Charlene was deep in thought, she heard screaming from behind her.

"What's wrong with that guy?" A.J. questioned.

Charlene had turned around, seeing a guy in a white robe clawing at his face, and screaming in pure agony. As his skin caught on fire, he was turning to a crisp, and poking his eyes out of his socket.

"Whoa! What the hell's going on with him?!" Charlene was scared, and was starting to wonder if something was attacking him.

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