PUBLISH’D AFRIKA MAGAZINE FACEBOOK SHORT STORY COMPETITION – August 2023 Leg/ Nompilo Gumede

THEME: KNOCK YOURSELF OUT
TITLE: THE ALLEGORY OF THE AFTERLIFE.
Written by Nompilo Gumede

“Time of death, 16:07,” the doctor pronounces my death to others. If I am dead, then how is it possible for me to hear what the doctor is saying about me? I want to ask myself many questions about my death, but my brain activity slips slowly away until I sink to complete darkness. The darkness does not linger for long. I open my eyes and realise that the stab wound I died from is no longer painful or visible. My body is bare, clear of all scars and rashes I acquired in the world of the living. I look around, inspecting my surroundings. I am starting to think I am in heaven. I am in a lush, beautiful paradise. I lie on the grass and enjoy the rest and peace I feel, peace I have never felt before.
“Khayelihle.” On top of the soothing experience I am currently indulging in, a calming unworldly voice nourishes me even more by calling out to me. I do not see the owner.
“Who are you? Where am I?” I am still amazed by the beautiful creation that surrounds me.
“I am God. Welcome to the spiritual heaven. Stand up and reflect on your life. You still have a long way to go,” says the voice, leaving me in disbelief. If I knew death was so peaceful, I would have never been scared of it. The wise man once said, “To fear death is nothing other than to think oneself knows what one does not.” Now it makes sense; the living has been ignorant. Presuming death might be the greatest of evils.
I was wrong; everyone was wrong.
As instructed, I stand up, and this crystal-clear lake catches my attention. It is so clean and calm that one can see what is at the bottom. I walk there to admire it.
At the bottom of the lake, I see a soothing thing that resembles a vision. I see a new baby crying until her mother lets her suck the nipple, her hands folded into a little fist. The little hand holds her future, her purpose in the world. She grows into a naughty toddler who always is rewarded with a smack on the bum for her naughtiness. This reflection is a cute sight; I giggle before it hits me that the baby girl is me.
I grow up to be a school child and progress to puberty. I start to sneak out of the home to see my boyfriend. I have my first sex that leads to pregnancy. My parents are disappointed in me, and my boyfriend runs faster than Caster Semenya when I tell him the news. I drop out of school and stay at home until I give birth. I leave the baby with my mother, steal her money and buy alcohol. I turn into a well-known alcoholic, disappointing my parents even more. The following year I decide to change my life. I pray to God for forgiveness. I apologise to my parents and decide to return to school and secure a future for this child I have brought into this cruel world. On the first day of school, I kiss my baby goodbye and promise her a better future. I hug my mother and father, telling them they will be proud of me. They both smile, already feeling proud, and I bid them goodbye.
Before I make it to the school gates, tragedy befalls me. Two men wearing balaclavas attack me, demanding my not-so-expensive phone. I have no intention of dying for a phone, so I give it to them without a fight. The other is thirsty for my blood; he stabs me with his okapi knife. One, two, three, four… he finally stops when his friend holds him. They both run away. My neighbour sees me and calls an ambulance. I make it to the hospital bed, but the doctors do not get a chance to attend to my emergency because my life journey ends there.
What I just watched is not a vision; this is a reflection of my life, just as God said. I want to feel sad as I left my baby too soon, but this world does not allow the feeling of sadness. All I feel is peace.
“The heaven of firmament awaits your arrival,” the godly voice says. Now that I am hearing it for the second time, it is a female voice. Is God a woman?

THE SECOND HEAVEN
I know what to do, and I move my eyes and see the small pathway. I follow the way, still admiring the beauty of this place. This is what I call greener pastures. Everything is more vivid than the physical world. The sky is brighter than usual, and the flowers are more colourful and fragrant. The air is fresh and uplifting.
“Welcome to the heaven of the firmament, the heaven of knowledge and understanding of the divine.”
Before me, there is something that resembled the scales of justice. I think today is my judgement day, where I account for all my sins. My heart begins to pound hard. I am surprised I still possess the feeling of nervousness. I have not stripped all my human emotions.
The scales are moving up and down, alternatively like a seesaw.
“This is a scale of your good versus bad. Whether this scale judges you badly or good, justice can only be served when there is balance,” the godly voice explains, its unnatural echoes calming my skyrocketing nerves.
The scales begin to move more rapidly. The left pan is black, symbolising good, and the right represents evil. I move closer to the scales to see what occupies these pans. In the world of the living, evil and good are merely adjectives that describe wickedness and its opposite. Today I might be seeing what bad or good looks like physically.
My wish barely comes true. As soon as my eyes land on both scale pans, I see water. An unknown force compels me to put my hands on the pans. When I put my hand on the left pan, the scales become stationary. Water channels the spiritual contexts of my actions and emotions. I do the same to the right pan. I then move away when the object begins to move again.

The right stays down. Does this mean the goodness in me outweighs the evil? I question my life. I broke most rules growing up, gossiped, had sex before marriage, lied, and so on. I can’t remember the good I have done except on my last day in the world of the living.
As if the scales can read my thoughts, the left pan descends while the right one ascends until they reach equilibrium.
“Your scale of justice is balanced because you lived a virtuous life. You made mistakes in your pan of sins, and you owned up to them in pursuit of the good. You did not just avoid the negative, but you strived for the positive. By understanding this balance, you understand divinity. Virtue is a gift from the higher power.”

THE THIRD HEAVEN
I have mysteriously relocated to the next heaven, the heaven. The woman’s Godly voice that has been speaking to me is not coming from anywhere. It now comes from me. With each step I take in this journey, I connect more to this voice. Now I can’t feel the nervousness. This place is channeling more happiness and peace. Not happiness in a sense of temporal bliss, but this is endless and has no boundary. Like I am glass and this happiness is water; it has filled me and is even spilling.
“You are in the heaven of ecstasy, and that is what you feel. You are getting closer to meeting God. Therefore, you need to be stripped of all other human feelings. This will happen through purification.”

THE FOURTH HEAVEN
“Now that the scales of justice have been balanced and have been connected to divinity, it’s time to purify all your sins in the pan of sins. To meet God, you need to be purified and be cleansed of all imperfections. You are now free from sin.”
As the rain continues to fall, I feel my body becoming lighter and my soul expanding. I feel as if I am being lifted by the gentle breeze and carried away by the clouds. The raindrops shimmer like diamonds, reflecting the light of the sun and bringing a sense of joy and wonder. I am surrounded by trees and flowers, releasing their sweet fragrance into the air. A rainbow appears in the distance as if to symbolise beauty and hope. The rain stops, and eyes shift from the rainbow to something shiny like gold. It is another pathway to heaven.

THE FIFTH HEAVEN
Now I feel like I’m in the heaven our parents and pastors told us about when we were growing up—a place carpeted by precious gems, glittering in the sunlight. Diamonds sparkle like raindrops creating a scintillating display of colour. Trees laden with jewels like sparkling harvest.
“Khayelihle,” the intensity of this inner voice reverberates like a thunderstorm, but the tone is warm and embracing. “Welcome to the heaven of the throne, the realm of wisdom. Before you proceed, you are to be made aware of the laws that govern your universe. The first one is the law of attraction. Everything you achieve in the world of living is something that you manifest. Everything you focused on was drawn to you. The second law is the law of cause and effect, the law of karma. You reap what you sow. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. The third one is the law of abundance; the world of the living has endless resources the living need. To attract what you need, visualise it. Therefore, to have a meaningful life, focus on positivity, be careful of what you sow because you will reap it. You focus on the lack; you manifest the lack,” the voice explains, each word resonating in every cell of my body.

THE SIXTH HEAVEN
After the universe insight session, I move on to the next realm. It is called the heaven of splendour. For the first time after passing the first heaven, I take a glance at my physical body and realise that it is metaphysical. I look like an unexplainable creature of the higher realm. My soul feels empowered. Like a spiritual Divine being, I feel the connection between myself and the physical world. Right now, I see my mother holding my child, weeping for me. I close my eyes, connecting my soul to hers, my heart to heart to her. I tell her everything is okay. As if she can feel my presence, she stops crying, wipes her tears, and passes my words to my child. It’s going to be okay. I have attained an ability to interact with the physical world. I am going to make a good ancestor or a spiritual guardian. The name of this realm matches exactly how I feel, splendid. I am in control.

THE SEVENTH HEAVEN
I finally reached the highest realm of the universe. All the flowers and bliss are no more. It’s pure white, with no colours or shadows. There is also no sense of space. There is only a sense of pure consciousness. I feel my consciousness expanding to hold within all existence. I’m no longer a separate individual. I am part of the divine consciousness that animates all creation. My separation from the world dissolves. I become pure awareness.
“Welcome to the heaven of might.” If this realm had a ground, I would have dropped my jaw to the ground. This is my voice; I have been talking to myself from the beginning.
“Where is God?” I say out loud.
The inner voice replies, “I am your higher subconscious. I am the supreme being within. God is within you. I am the infinite light. You and I are both subconscious and conscious. We are both in control of the universe. We can filter what is drawn to us. We are in control.”
After these words, I feel the compulsion to chant something.
“My deepest desires are within my dreams; I am connected to every creation. I am part of something greater than myself. I am surrounded by boundaryless possibilities. I am guided by endless wisdom. I am worthy of abundance, happiness, and meaningful life. I am filled with creativity, inspiration, and motivation. I am connected to the eternal flow of life.”
—
Beep, beep, beep. The sounds echo in my ears. I open my eyes, my nose overwhelmed by the hospital’s stale smell.
“She is back!” screams the doctor while my mother cries tears of joy and disbelief.
“I thought I lost my child. I thought you were going to abandon us. Why did you scare me like that? Where did you go?” She floods me with questions, not believing that I am back, back from the secret heaven.
“I was on a journey of self-discovery,” I proclaim.

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PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine Facebook Short Story Competition is funded by the National Arts Council, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme 3