MicroHorror

It wasn’t like Barty had heard it would be. There was no tunnel with a light at the end. There was only the light, and it was in the shape of a door. It followed him around.

Barty knew he was supposed to go in, and he could feel it pulling. But he wasn’t ready to go yet. He was trailing his murderer, a big, rough-looking man, with eyes that were either enlightened or crazy.

A voice came from the door. “It’s as I said. The tunnel leads into this realm, and the door leads out.”

“Ohhhh,” said a second voice. “That’s why the people who die and come back report seeing a tunnel.”

“Yes, those who die and come back have their memory erased for the door, but they’re allowed to remember the tunnel because that is easily explained away with silly scientific theories. But that’s mainly a side note in your retriever training. More important is the psyche of your subject. This particular spirit is trailing his assassin, trying to decipher how a ghost exacts revenge. What he doesn’t realize is that this assassin only kills those who are ready to die and don’t know it yet.”

“So the spirit doesn’t realize it was ready to die?”

“No, and he also doesn’t realize that the anger he feels is not really due to his death, but the life he had before death. He feels he must act on that anger. That’s why he has not come through the door and ascended.”

“Ohhhh. I get it.”

Barty darted away from the door, but not really. It tailed him just fine. Two glowing spirits came out and grabbed him.

“He’ll be purified upon entering the next realm,” said the initial voice. “The anger he feels will be stripped away.”

“No!” Barty screamed. “I’m not ready!”

They took him through the door.