Life-After Read Free Page B

believed there was a link between animal, man and God though his life energy that flowed through all living things. My scout, Luis spoke to me at length about it. He believed that everything we were existed in this life energy or what some called a soul. I remember him telling me that it could never be destroyed and would pass on to the afterlife to be rejoined with God.
    I listened because that was what you did when someone spoke to you. While I did not push his words away I did not give it much though either. Believing in an afterlife when the chances you were going to die were high was almost par for the course in the military. Even when the meteor was discovered, I did not turn toward God for help. Then again I did not turn to the scientists either. The only time I considered the possibility of an afterlife was after Clara died. I had to believe. To think that her light was extinguished to never shine again would be too much to bear. I fought to avenge her and a part of me hoped I would see her again.
    As I sat up I almost expected to awaken to discover this was all a dream. I also thought of the possibility that I was captured by the enemy, but there was no evidence that they ever took prisoners. There was no way to tell where I was. There was no light anywhere, in fact I could not even feel the air and yet I could breathe normally. It was the kind of darkness you would experience in your nightmares. It was thick and yet with no specific texture or feeling to it. The darkness surrounded me. It felt as if it was closing in around me.
    My thoughts were all I had and once again they turned to death and the afterlife. It was my grandfather that told me that at the moment of your death was the time your life came under review. He said it was a time to look back on your life and see what you have accomplished and what was left undone. I wondered if that was what I was experiencing. Was I to reflect on my life and if so to what purpose? I told Davis that you would see your loved ones when you died. A self-evaluating man would say that I had said that because I hoped it was true. Standing there in the darkness if I was to reflect it would only be on Clara.
    After thinking about her daily, seeing her face whenever I closed my eyes, I thought back on a time when I was too timid to ask her to marry me. On the battlefield I took charge and kept my fear in check, but when it came to expressing my feelings for the woman I loved I was left speechless. With every fiber of my being I wanted to propose to her, to let her know I wanted to be with her forever. A part of me almost turned away. I could not have imagined my life without her and I almost walked away. Finally after far too much procrastinating I gathered to courage to ask for her hand.
    As my thoughts about Clara continued the darkness surrounding me began to fade. Slowly, as if coming out of a coma I could hear the distance sounds of people talking. At first I believed I was awaking from whatever had happened to me, but as the darkness faded further and the voices became clearer I soon recognized where I was. It was not just the sounds that were familiar, I could smell it. The distinct smell of food permeated from all around me. I did not dare to rub my eyes even as impossible as the image before me seemed. There from total darkness a world from my past was coming into view.
    Third City in New Chicago was Clara’s favorite restaurant. It was a single circular room fifty feet in the air overlooking Lake Daily. Every table had a window view and the room rotated so you would have a panoramic view of the city. It was in that restaurant that I asked Clara to marry me.
    Watching a place from my past appear before me should have raised every red flag I had. My thoughts had just been on proposing to Clara and a restaurant long destroyed appeared before my eyes. It should have bothered me, but it did not. I was happy to see it because I knew I would see her.
    The small circular wooden