Robert Meets the Greeter
Destination Final Series – Scene 3
The night sky glistened with starlight beneath the silky glow of a full moon. With the exception of the high-pitched vibrating noise of a symphony of crickets and an occasional low-pitch croak of a frog in the distance, there was absolute silence after the crash. Tamara is stunned from the violent impact of the crash and it took her a few minutes to gather her senses.
Tamara’s thoughts are slowly reactivated as she hurriedly evaluated the situation. Everything happened so fast her mind went blank. The crash was so violent it distorted her vision causing her to see only faint blurred shapes and objects. Tamara was delirious but she still managed to focus her faded vision on the driver’s seat. Still unable to see clearly, Tamara could see the distorted image of an empty driver’s seat. Fear gripped her mind as she tried to imagine what might have happened to Robert.
Still incoherent and not certain about what was really happening to her, Tamara desperately called out to her husband, but there was no answer. She wondered where he might have disappeared to. It wasn’t long before Tamara focused her attention on the large gaping hole in the windshield. A frightening and bone chilling sensation ran up her spine as her vision slowly returned. As she looked at the shattered windshield it now became evident that Robert had been ejected from the vehicle, exiting through the huge opening in the windshield. This just can’t be happening, she thought. Tamara once again called out to her husband,
“Robert! Oh my God Robert, answer me!”
Tamara is unaware of the unseen apparition standing next to the torn and bloody body of her husband. This ghostlike figure is the spirit of Robert Banks. As Robert looks at his bloody, broken body lying on the ground, he tries to make sense of this bazaar reality. For the moment he does not remember the chain of events that led up to this eerie experience. As he stood there looking at himself many questions ran through his mind. Where am I? How can I be here and there on the ground at the same time? This must be a dream, he thought. Robert did not know he was dead, nor did he have a clue of the uncanny things that were in store for him.
Then from out of nowhere a ghostly presence appeared. Materializing out of thin air there appeared a tall glowing life form that resembled a man; he was standing only a few feet from Robert. What is that? Robert thought. He could clearly see that this was not a man. His body was powerfully built like that of an athlete and when he spoke his voice was like the roar of thunder. The being had a semi-transparent appearance, as though he was made of glass, but it was evident that he was not a glass figurine either. The creature was a solid three-dimensional being of the likes of which Robert had never before seen. There was a bright glow of light radiating from his body; so bright was the light, it illuminated the entire street.
Robert had never experienced anything like this. When he saw the out of the ordinary looking being he was enthralled with fear; not knowing what to make of the creature he was reluctant to say anything. But after observing the peculiar being for a moment Robert found the courage to speak,
“Who are you?” Robert asked.
The glowing being answered,
“My name is Zoë,” said the glowing being. “I am the Greeter, an angel of life sent by God to be your guide; I have come to escort you to your eternal future.”
Perplexed and shaking with terror Robert then asked,
“Where exactly am I?”
Zoë answered, “You are on Planet Earth but you are in another dimension, the dimension in which spirits live.”
Robert had heard contorted accounts of life after death, and he had read strange stories of people who have had out of body experiences, but he always considered them to be stories that people make up, and he never seriously believed them, and besides, the stories that he’d heard and read about were nothing like what he was experiencing at the moment. None of them ever made mention of a glass-like creature named Zoë who called himself a Greeter.
Robert believed in the existence of God but he had never seriously considered God as a real entity. The contemplation of a Supreme Being who had no beginning and claims to have created the universe from nothing had never become a profound reality for him. To some extent Robert did believe that there was a literal place called Hell, but he had long ago resolved in his thinking that the compassionate God he was taught to reverence would never send people to a place like Hell. He had often wondered why such a God would even create a place like Hell.
Robert was confused about what he really believed about God and Heaven, the Devil and Hell. Could it be that these things really do exist? Robert wondered. Turning his attention once again to Zoë, he asked,
“Heaven and Hell, do they really exist?”
Zoë looked at Robert and asked, “Why do you ask me these questions? What I believe is of no consequential importance. What you believe is all that really matters at the moment. Let me ask you a question Robert… Do you believe that you are dead?”
“I don’t know what to believe,” he answered. “But if I am dead I want to go back. I don’t want to die now.”
Then Zoë’s whole demeanor changed and he appeared to be grieved and filled with indubitable concern. Sorrow could be heard in the tone of his voice as he slowly and sadly answered,
“You can’t go back Robert.”
“Why can’t you bring me back?” asked Robert. "You brought me here didn’t you? I want to go back… just bring me back. Please... I promise I will change my life.”
“It’s not that simple Robert,” said Zoë. “And furthermore, I did not bring you here. It is God who has brought you here, as is the case with everyone. Mankind was created by God to live one life in the physical realm, and after that they must each stand before Almighty God where they will be judged. I have only come as a guide, to accompany you to your eternity. Because your body has been destroyed beyond repair you can never go back to the physical world you once knew.”
Robert suddenly sees the whole picture, examining it in the theatre of his mind. Now I remember… my family and I were together and we were on our way to my mother-in-law’s house. Tamara was sitting in the front seat next to me. In the back seat Alicia was in her child seat behind me, and Rock was sitting behind his mother. That punk JC shot me and now I’m de… He stopped short of saying the word “dead”. NO! It can’t be… I can’t be DEAD, he thought.
Then as if by magic, an enormous cavernous black tunnel-like hole opened in the atmosphere directly in front of them. The black hole just appeared from nowhere. It was dark inside; it was so dark that not even the light of Zoë’s radiant glow could breach its darkness. Resembling a huge black circle painted on an artist’s canvas, the enormous black hole just hung there, suspended motionless in space. Perhaps this was the tunnel—the gateway to eternity that Robert had heard about.
In a surprising move without warning, Zoë grabbed Robert by the arm. He is helpless and unable to resist his captor, and though he doesn’t know what is in store for him, Robert senses somehow that it won’t be good.
“Come,” said Zoë. “I’ve had enough of this unproductive talk; we have wasted too much time. Now we must go!
With a firm grip on Robert’s arm Zoë stepped into the dark hole, pulling Robert in with him. Then, as suddenly as the gateway had opened, and with the same connotation of magic, the gapping mysteriously shadowy opening closed behind them. Both Zoë and Robert were gone, without a trace, leaving no Earthly clues to Robert’s final destination.
Excerpted from my upcoming novel, Destination Final