Death Bed
She knew the end was coming soon. The eighty-five-year old’s breath was starting to get laboured, much more than more than usual. Her children and grand children were too busy to be by her side. They assumed that their beloved granny Caroline will be alright and be released from the hospital, just a bit of cold. But Caroline knew that this was it. But she wasn’t sad, she’s had a good life. Her husband passed away a decade ago. We all get old she thought. All in all she was happy with how she lived her life. She lifted up her electronic bed and looked outside the window. It was a nice day, there was a woman and a young girl sitting on a bench in the courtyard, probably visiting someone in the hospital. It was quiet in the room except for the beeping of her life support machine. Caroline kept on watching the woman and the little girl. As if she sense her, the little girl, around eight years old looked back at Caroline and gave a warm smile. Caroline smiled and gently waved at her. The beeping of the machine sped up as she waved. I’d better not exert myself she thought. She leaned back into her pillow and took a gentle breath. She closed her eyes, she could feel her heart struggling. The machine beeped faster. She wasn’t going to miss this life, she’s had a good run, been to most places she’s wanted to go, had few lovers, a good husband and ten grandchildren. Though there weren’t anyone with her at this moment, she didn’t mind it. She’d rather pass without anyone at her most vulnerable moment. Everything went black and silent.
Caroline was sitting on a beach. She was all alone on a big sand dune. The sun was warm and the cool sea breeze soothed her. She didn’t know for how long she was sitting there on the sand when the scene changed. In the next moment she was on top of a mountain, snowy and appeared to be subzero temperatures. But somehow, she wasn’t cold. It was as if she was watching a movie. She then found herself floating and effortlessly, she could see herself flying out into space.
The sky was pitch black. The world was beautiful from the edge of space. Caroline gathered that she must have left her body because none of this made sense. She floated anywhere she wanted. For the next few moments, she lived her life from beginning to end, finishing at the edge of space. just for a life, she did it one more time. When she wanted one more turn, everything went pitch black. That’s when she knew that it was all over and it was finally time to move on. She was scared and excited at the same time. It was all true what they said about the afterlife, there was a bright tunnel that opened up. It was beautiful and it called for her gently. Slowly at first, the white tunnel pulled her in faster and faster.
It was warm and comfortable in the tunnel.
She opened her eyes, she was eight years old again, sitting next to her mother, they were walking down the Saturday markets. Little Caroline was happy with her favourite strawberry ice cream cone.