Week 9 Storytelling: Crossing Over

She was dead. She had to be. There was no way one survives being run over by a train at maximum velocity and only walk away with minor scrapes and bruises. The world looked the same as it did before. Maybe a little darker, but it was hardly noticeable. She sat up on the train tracks and looked around. Everything was so quiet except for the echoing sound of footsteps as if they were being made down a vacant marble corridor. She turned to face her grandfather. Her grandfather had been dead for 5 years. She had been thinking of him just before the train hit, she remembered. That settled it. She was definitely dead.

She took her grandfather's outstretched hand and followed him as he took her towards the town she had just been sitting outside. He spoke not a word, and she asked no questions - too intrigued by the sights in front of her. There were screams coming from the village that startled her. As she and her grandfather entered the town, she noticed there were some people on all four limbs being whipped. What was more strange was the people doing the whipping were faceless. Her grandfather must have noticed her terror because he finally spoke up.

"This town is for Shades who beat animals in their life."

She let out a gasp. The gasp caused the faceless woman directly in front of her to shoot her head up form the job she was doing. Even without eyes, she felt the faceless woman was staring into her soul - which would be all of her considering she was dead. She backed away slowly and followed her grandfather to a river. It sounded like a waterfall with all the echoes coming from the waves. The river was uncrossable, but if they could get across, there was a single hut on the other side that had smoke rising from the chimney.

"Follow me." her grandfather said.

The Land of the Dead

She watched as her grandfather took step after step on the surface of the water. It was as if there was an invisible bridge he was crossing. She followed him across the river. As they walked into the hut she saw a table prepared with dinner and her grandmother sitting in one of the seats. She sat down next to her and her grandfather sat down in the other seat. There was a question burning in the back of her mind that she just had to ask.

"Grandfather, how did you find me as soon as I died?"

"I was the last person you were thinking of, wasn't I?"

She nodded.

"The Shade of the last person you thought of in life is the Shade who guides you to your home in the Land of the Dead. You are now, home. Please, let us eat."

Author's Note
This is obviously from The Land of the Dead. It's an Alaskan myth and I kept most of it intact. I took out some of the things I veiwed as lesser points just to keep the story focused. It's a fun story (yes, I said "fun") to read and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you're looking for any insight as to how the Alaskans think - particularly in regards to the Afterlife. It's pretty cool stuff.