Summary - Liana dies and realizes there is more to the afterlife than expected. It is her goal to move through it peacefully
tw)): death and poison after life, a short story by @eeIeven It started out as a normal day. Sitting in my room. Or, in other words, laying in bed. Sitting there in a spiraling depression. Life had been like this for months. Ever since my mother died, I haven't been able to get back on my feet. My father has been at work most of the time. Only coming home to make dinner. He then left early in the morning. I should be at school. But I'm not. I don't have the energy. I don't have the energy for anything anymore. My mother brought happiness into my life. Now that she's gone, there's no sign of it. I get out of bed, my head feels all fuzzy. I need to eat some food. I stumbled downstairs for some coffee. Although it does have caffeine that would give me energy, it just makes me more depressed as I sip from the pot. My fuzzy brain gets fuzzier. I suddenly feel so woozy, as if I'm about to pass out. And I do. "Her name is Liana Shwartz. She died of poisoning. A heavy dose of arsenic. Have you found the person who did it?" A sharp feminine voice pierces the silence. "My liege, her father did it. He also killed her mother and made it look like an accident." A high-pitched voice says. "Ah. And he did this for the sheer fun of it?" "Yes. He is quite horrible, as he didn't even realize his own daughter was mentally ill." "Mentally ill? I'm not mentally ill." I say in a slurred voice. I then notice that I am conscious. I open my tired eyes to see a lady with hair made of snakes sitting on a throne made of gold. There is a tiny dwarf-like man at her side. An assistant, I presume. "Oh, our victim is awake! How pleasant." The lady says. "I'm Medusa, the runner of things around here!" "And where is 'here'?" I ask, standing up to find what I would suspect to be the interior of a volcano. There is molten rock for the floor and walls, lava waterfalls are decorated around the space, which is about the size of a football field. "Liana, honey, you're dead. Welcome to the afterlife!" Medusa smiles. "I must be dreaming." I say woozily before passing out once again. I wake up in the comfiest, and warmest bed I have ever been in. I suppose there are some perks to being dead. I look up to find myself in a room with walls and floors of the same molten rock I saw earlier. I get up and look around the room, there are post-its everywhere telling me how things work. They're all from Medusa. I walk over to the lava waterfall in the corner of my room. It's about the size of a shower. A post-it note is right beside it. USE THIS AS A SHOWER. DON'T WORRY, IT CAN'T HURT YOU. YOU'RE DEAD! So I do take a shower, and I afterwards change into a red flowy dress I find in my granite dresser. My stomach grumbles. Boy, am I hungry. I look around the room for something, and there is a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies sitting at the desk. I smile. My favorite! I gobble them up within a matter of minutes. Gosh, if being dead was like this, I could get used to it. "You like it?" Medusa asks, suddenly appearing from behind me. "Yeah." I whisper after jumping at her out of the blue appearance. "How was the lava shower? Did you love it?" She questions. "It felt a little tingly on my skin. But it was a good tingle. I liked it." I smile. "Great. Hope you're ready for The Trials, then." "What are The Trials?" "Oh. You have to convince the judges of the afterlife that you're worth their time, and if you do, you get to stay!" "What if I don't convince them?" "Well, then you're sent to the dungeons. But you do not need to worry about that. I just know they'll like you!" "What do I even need to do for The Trials?" "Just answer their questions. It's simple!" "Okay." I sigh. She grabs me by the shoulder and ushers me out the door. To The Trials I go. "Welcome, Liana." Judge #1 booms. There are three judges, and they insist I call them Judge #1, Judge #2, and Judge # 3. I do not understand the point of that. "What are you most afraid of?" She asks for the first question. I think back to when I was still alive. What was I most afraid of? "Death." I say it truthfully. Wait, that doesn't make sense. I'm already dead. I wish I could take that answer back! "Alright, second question. What is your favorite color?" Judge #2 asks. "Pink." I reply. What kind of question is that? All three judges glared at me. "Send her to the dungeons!" They exclaim. "Wait, no-" I plead, hoping they'll let me go. "Honey, are you still reading?" My dad asks, walking in. My eyes jerk open to find my book sitting in my lap. Tales Of Death And Life. Shoot, I must've fallen asleep. "Sorry, dad. I fell asleep." I admit. "It's okay. Just make sure to put away the book when you're getting tired. I don't want you to have another one of those creepy fantasy dreams." He says kindly, closing my door quietly. I close my eyes and fall asleep.
